Oliebollen
Dutch New Year's Eve fritters with raisins, currants and apple
DutchOn the last day of December the queues outside the oliebollenkraam, the caravan-like stalls that pop up in every Dutch town, stretch round the block. Oliebollen ('oil balls') are the food of Oudejaarsavond, New Year's Eve: round, yeasted fritters full of raisins, currants and apple, deep-fried and buried in icing sugar. Families fry big batches at home in the afternoon and eat them with champagne at midnight. They are best within a few hours. Chef's tip: dip your two scooping spoons in the hot oil before each ball; the sticky dough slides off cleanly and the balls come out round instead of ragged.
- Total time
- 60 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 20
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole milklukewarm
- 1 oz caster sugar
- 1 ⅛ lb plain flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 3 ½ oz raisins
- 2 ⅝ oz currants
- 1 applepeeled and cut into 5 mm dice
- 1 tsp lemon zestfinely grated
- 8 ¼ cups sunflower oilfor deep-frying
- 2 ⅞ oz icing sugarto serve
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Method
0/7 doneStep 2: Stir ⅓ oz fast-action dried yeast and 1 oz caster sugar into 2 cups whole milk. In a large bowl mix 1 ⅛ lb plain flour and 1 tsp salt, add the yeast milk and 1 egg and beat with a wooden spoon for 5 minutes into a thick, sticky, elastic batter, somewhere between a dough and a pancake batter.
5 minStep 3: Fold in the dried fruit, 1 apple and 1 tsp lemon zest. Cover and leave in a warm place for about 1 hour, until doubled and full of bubbles.
60 minStep 4: Heat 8 ¼ cups sunflower oil in a deep, heavy pan to 350°F. Use a thermometer: below 350°F oliebollen soak up oil and turn greasy, above 375°F they brown before the centre cooks.
Step 5: Scoop a ball of batter with an oiled spoon, push it into the oil with a second spoon and fry 4 or 5 at a time. They usually flip themselves; turn any that don't.
Step 6: Fry for 6–7 minutes in total, until deep golden brown and they sound hollow when tapped with a spoon. Break the first one open to check the inside is fluffy, not doughy.
35 minStep 7: Drain on kitchen paper and dust thickly with 2 ⅞ oz icing sugar while still warm.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 190 kcal
- Protein
- 4 g
- Carbs
- 32 g
- Fat
- 6 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does oliebollen take?
- About 60 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 40 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 20 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- What can I use instead of whole milk?
- Semi-skimmed milk with 1 tbsp cream per 240ml (1 cup).
- What can I use instead of fast-action dried yeast?
- Fresh yeast, three times the weight.
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