Apple Fritters with a Winter Berry Glaze
Doughnuts are definitely within my top 5 favourite sweet treats. Crisp golden surface with a fluffy buttery dough waiting on the inside. I love the crunch of a plain sugar coating but I can’t deny the allure of a beautiful shiny glaze either.
With winter just around the corner, food feels very beige. I’m not grumbling about this, a lot of my favourite foods are beige - Apple Crumbles and Sticky Toffee Pudding to name a few. But I really wanted to make something bright and colourful. I constantly have a stray bag of frozen berries hanging around my freezer just begging to be used. In this case was a lonely bag of winter berries. They actually make the perfect mix of berries for a sweet glaze like this. They strike a balance of tart, flavourful and sweet. I was a bit worried about the flavour not shining through but it really does. It sets to a wonderful matte shine and matches perfectly with the apple filling studded with a few stray blueberries.
Ingredients - makes 10
Brioche Dough: - original recipe from The Boy Who Bakes
180g plain flour
180g strong flour
20g caster sugar
1 tsp salt
7g active-dried yeast
85ml whole milk
3 eggs
150g unsalted butter, room temperature
1 litre of vegetable oil, to fry**
Apple Filling:
3 x golden delicious apples, peeled and chopped into 1cm dice
squeeze of lemon juice
100g soft light brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp vanilla paste
20g unsalted butter
15g plain flour
45g frozen blueberries
Winter Berry Glaze:
250g frozen winter berries
25g caster sugar
200g icing sugar, sieved
10-20ml whole milk
1/4 tsp vanilla paste
**please be very careful frying the doughnuts as the oil will be extremely hot.
Method:
The day before: Prepare the brioche dough and make the filling
Place the flours, sugar, salt, yeast, milk and eggs into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix on medium speed for 5-10 minutes until you have a smooth dough. With the mixer on medium speed, gradually add in the butter in small pieces, making sure the butter is incorporated before adding in more. Once all the butter has been added, increase the speed to medium-high and knead for 10 minutes until elastic and smooth. Leave to prove at room temperature for 30 minutes-1 hour or until doubled in size. Knock back the brioche and place into an oiled container, cover and leave to rest in the fridge overnight.
For the apple filling, place all the ingredients into a pan apart from the flour and frozen blueberries. Cook the apples on low heat until just about tender. Add the flour and cook for a further minute, or until the juices have thickened. Transfer the filling into a bowl and place into the freezer for five minutes to stop the apples from becoming too soft. Cover and refrigerate.
The next day: Shaping, frying and finishing with the glaze
For the berry glaze, place the frozen berries and caster sugar into a saucepan over low heat. Cook for 5-10 minutes until the berries are soft and all the juices have been released. Take the berries off the heat and strain into a container. Discard the berry pulp (or I like to eat it with yoghurt for breakfast) and refrigerate the berry juices until cold. Sieve the icing sugar into a bowl and add 80ml of the cold berry juices along with the vanilla and 10ml of milk. Stir together until smooth and pourable. Add in another 5-10ml of milk if needed, cover and set aside.
Cut out 10 squares of baking paper for your fritters to sit on later and set to one side. Take the brioche out of the fridge and knock it back by punching it down. Tip it out onto a floured surface and roll it into a 5mm thick rectangle. Sprinkle the surface with a little flour. Place the apple filling on the bottom half of the dough, using a fork to pick up the apples so that you don’t scoop up too much liquid (or your fritters will be very sticky!) Push the frozen blueberries into the same half of the dough. Sprinkle over a little more flour and fold the top of the dough down over the bottom half. Lightly press down the dough to ensure its stuck together.
Using a floured bench scraper, cut the dough into 2cm squares by cutting into horizontal strips and then again vertically. Portion the dough into 100g pieces. Knead and press each portion together until they form somewhat of a ball. Don’t be afraid to use plenty of flour here, they’ll be very sticky. If they aren’t kneaded together enough, they are at risk of falling apart when you fry them. Pat and shape each fritter until they are a 1cm thick disc. Place onto a baking paper square and onto a baking tray or chopping board. Repeat with the rest of the portioned dough. Place a tea towel or loose clingfilm over the fritters and leave to prove at room temperature for 30 minutes.
When you have 10 minutes left, pour the vegetable oil into a deep pan until it is at least halfway full. Put the oil over medium heat until it reaches 180°C. When you’re ready to fry, place a cooling rack over a layer of kitchen towel ready for the fritters.
Pick up a fritter by the corners of the baking paper and lower gently into the hot oil. Be very careful not to burn your fingers. Fry as many fritters as comfortably fit in the oil without overcrowding the pan. Once the fritter has been frying for a minute or two, remove the baking paper with some tongs. Fry the fritters for a couple of minutes on each side until golden. Remove the fritter from the oil and leave to drain on the cooling rack. Repeat with the rest of the fritters, keeping an eye on the oil temperature and adjusting the heat to keep it at 180°C. If your fritters start to fall apart when you fry them; stop frying and re-knead the dough so that they are stuck together a bit more. Prove at room temperature for another 15-20 minutes and fry.
As soon as the fritters are cool enough to pick up (it’s important that they are still warm), dip each of them into the winter berry glaze and leave to cool completely. Best served on the day they’re made.