FRENCH FRITTERS OF BRANDY FRUITS

12 brandied apricots (or other fruit)
small waffles (wafers)
batter from "French and English Fritters"
Sugar

Take a dozen apricots (or other fruits) preserved in brandy, drain, and cut them in half; then wrap them in wafers cut round and previously moistened, dip them in the same kind of batter as that used for fritters English-and-French, and fry them; sprinkle them with sugar, and serve.

From The Cook's Own Book by "A Boston Housewife" (Mrs. N. K. M. Lee), Boston, 1832.

Comment: We have yet to figure out just what makes a product qualify for the designation "French," which Mrs. Lee applies to a great number of different items which have no readily apparent common factor. The only thing we can think of in this case is that the technique of wrapping a filling in a thin pancake is known to the French as a crepe--although they do not as a rule then dunk the whole thing in fritter batter and fry it. Call it what you will, this looks like an interesting dish.

"Batter for Fritters, English-and-French" you would of course have looked up on p. 81 of Mrs. Lee's book. Since that does not exactly fit into an Internet format we reprint it here for your convenience:

"Put a glass and a half of water, a grain of salt, and two ounces of fresh butter into a saucepan; when it boils stir in a sufficient quantity of flour to make it a rather firm batter, keep it stirring three minutes, then pour it into another vessel."

To this we add the note that you may have to practice this a few times to get it to the proper consistency: not so thin that it immediately drains off the fritter leaving it as naked as it was before you started, and not so thick as to turn the whole morsel into an inedible wad of dough with a tiny morsel of brandied fruit concealed somewhere within.

Return to Recipe Index