Funnel cake

Funnel cake is the most traditional thing you can get at basically every county fair or carnivalin United States of America. And why is it called funnel cake? Simply because you pour the funnel cake batter into the hot oil through a funnel. What I find funny is that in my country, funnel cake was translated as 'fried nest', which is pretty funny, but funnel cake indeed looks a little bit like a bird's nest.

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This is how a freshly made funnel cake looks like.

And since this is a very traditional dish and super easy to make, I decided to share its recipe with you.

Ingredients

This recipe will allow you to make five funnel cakes. If you would like to make just one, simply divide all the ingredients in the recipe by five.

• Two large eggs
• 3/4 cup of milk
• Half a cup of brown sugar
• Two cups of flour
• Two teaspoons of baking powder
• One cup of water
• Half a teaspoon of vanilla extract
• A pinch of salt
• Oil for deep frying (I used regular canola oil)
• Powdered sugar (if desired)
• Nutella or any other brand of chocolate spread (if desired)

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If you are too lazy to make the funnel cake batter by yourself, some stores sell a funnel cake mix.

Preparation

Funnel cake is incredibly easy to make (and even easier to eat), and it takes only about fifteen minutes from the start to the finish. First thing you need to do is take a medium sized bowl. Put both eggs inside without separating yolks and whites, and beat well. Then, add milk and vanilla and mix again. Add water, mix and let the mix rest for a few minutes.

In the meantime, take another medium sized bowl, and mix flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Then, pour it into the mix that you previously made. Mix until the mixture is smooth and there are no bumps in it.

Heat up the oil. How to try if the oil reached a perfect temperature? Simply pour a few drops of the funnel cake batter in it - it should make a hissing sound and turn golden brown right away. When the oil is ready, take a funnel and cover the bottom of it with your finger, then pour the funnel cake batter inside. Hold the funnel above the oil and take the finger away.

To make the perfect funnel cake, try to first make a zigzag pattern and then move the funnel in the circular pattern. Fry the funnel cake for approximately ninety seconds, then use a spatula to turn it around, and fry it on the other side for another ninety seconds. When done, take the funnel cake out with a spatula and drain the excess oil with paper towels. Simple as that.

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Pouring the funnel cake mix into the hot oil. You can make different patterns.

Storage and serving suggestions

Funnel cake has to be eaten while it is still warm. Seriously, it will taste bad even after an hour. So forget about funnel cake leftovers. As for serving suggestions, the most common thing to do is to sprinkle the freshly fried funnel cake with powdered sugar and eat it. Some people mix nutmeg and powdered sugar or cinnamon and powdered sugar, but I like the plain powdered sugar the most.

And since I am a big fan of Nutella and I believe that it tastes good on anything (Once, I even tried dipping the unsalted french fries in Nutella, and guess what, it tasted superb! ), I tried spreading it on the funnel cake that I made. It tastes really good because Nutella will become very liquid once it touches the warm funnel cake. The only downside of this experiment is that it is very messy - Nutella will be dripping everywhere. But try it anyway, it is worth it!

Variations

Yesterday, when I was at the gym, I was watching Travel Channel and a part of the show was dedicated to somehow weird carnival food, and in the episode I watched, they were focusing on funnel cakes. Most of them looked delicious and I felt like I gained a few pounds just by looking at them, but luckily, I was at the gym and that episode just gave me motivation to work out harder, so I can try making a funnel cake once I get home. So what were some of the funnel cake variations that I found interesting?

At a county fair somewhere in Georgia, there is a food stand where they are selling funnel cake corn dogs. Regular corn dogs are hot dogs, wrapped in a corn dough, just like the name suggests. That food stand uses the funnel cake instead of the corn dough. As you can imagine, the final result looks and tastes quite different from the original dish. Hot dogs are naturally a bit salty, and funnel cake is sweet, so that is quite an interesting mix of flavours. But I should not judge too much, since I recently started to become obsessed with salted caramel chocolate.

Funnel cake sundae is another one of interesting funnel cake variations. You basically make a regular funnel cake, wait about five minutes so it cools down a little bit, add ice cream and whipped cream on top, and drizzle everything with chocolate syrup. The final result is as delicious as it sounds.

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When making funnel cakes, you can experiment with different toppings.

Funnel cake corn dog, covered with peanut butter and chocolate sauce is definitely the weirdest one of these funnel cake variations. And what was even weirder? Customers’ comments. The reporter was asking them how they like it and they all said they loved it and that the sweetness and the saltiness perfectly compliment each other. I mean, I love trying new food during my travels, but this is something I do not think I will ever try. I mean, I like funnel cakes, I like hot dogs, I like peanut butter, and I love chocolate sauce. But I am not sure I would like all those ingredients mixed together. Well, the saying goes ‘never say never’, but still.

Conclusion

I tried making funnel cake at home several times, and it turned out pretty good, but it was never as tasty as funnel cake that you can buy at fairs and carnivals. Who knows, maybe I just need more practice. Or maybe funnel cake makers at carnivals and fairs have a secret recipe for funnel cake batter. But regardless, try making it at home, and experiment with toppings a little bit. I am sure it will become your new favourite dessert. You are welcome.

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