Time to Make the... Fritters!

So in my last post I wrote about two of my most favoritest people on the face of this planet. Well this post is all about two more of my most favoritest people on the planet, Helene and Gracie. I am so going to get yelled at, but... Helene called today, like she does often - bless her cute lil cotton socks. :) It was a very uneventful conversation as both of our lives have been pretty tame this past week. She's been busy with her mom who is visiting from France and I have been busy with work. So why am I even mentioning this phone call? Because I'm wicked. But in a good way? MUAHAHAHA Anyhoo, at the end of the conversation I mentioned that I had taken out ingredients to do some baking this weekend and before I could tell her what I was baking, she interrupts with, "You'll be making doughnuts, right?" I didn't say much to that, other than I had hoped that I would be able to get the doughnuts made and that we'd see. She then told me that she wouldn't be mad if I couldn't squeeze the doughnuts in and I said that I knew she wouldn't be. The whole time not one giggle escaped my lips. But they wanted to!! As! If! I would not be contributing to this awesome event called, Time to Make the Doughnuts! Gracie and Helene came up with the idea of holding an event chock full of doughy delights known as the doughnut - and every variation thereof. :) I've never made a doughnut before, but as my ass & hips can attest, I've eaten my fair share. I've always wanted to make doughnuts - the kind that are fluffy and airy on the inside, with a soft crust that is enrobed in a sugary glaze. But I figured that doughnut will most likely be made by someone else, so I spent a week searching recipes and doing a lil research until I decided that I wanted to go the fritter route. There use to be this lil doughnut shop on my way to work which was owned by a friend. So every morning, I'd stop in and grab a cup of her coffee and her deeeee-licious apple fritters. Oh my God they were so good! The fritter was the big puffy and airy doughnut that I described earlier, but there were chunks of apples and raisins throughout the dough. The whole thing was covered in a crispy glaze that was actually more buttery than sweet. And they were HUGE! Seriously huge. One of those and I'd be good until late in the afternoon. Unfortch, my friend decided to get out of the business, so she sold it to someone else who only makes wedding cakes. What Evah. Okay now here's where this post stops making any sense.. I found a recipe that I knew was going to produce big fat apple fritters like the kind I ate at my friend's shop. They are a Dutch fritter called Olie Bollen, traditionally served on New Years Day. I saved the recipe and I printed the recipe, but ultimately, I didn't make them (yet). No.. because I never know when to stop browsing recipes. Hours, I could spend HOURS looking through cookbooks, mags and websites and never get bored. So that's what happened here. I found another recipe that I decided to go with because there was a sauce that went with them, and who am I to pass up a delectable sweet sauce? The recipe I went with is called Pan-fried Apple Fritters with Apple/Honey Dipping Sauce. I came across this recipe on a new website to me called, Care2. It's a great site focusing on living green, healthy living and human rights. I found this recipe in their Green Living area. These fritters are really easy to make, and can be residing happily in your tummy in under an hour. They are crispy on the outside and so tender and moist on the inside. These fritters are made with grated apples, which really lends to the moistness of the dough even though you squeeze all of the juice out for the sauce. I will be making these over and over again, of this you can be assured. The dipping sauce is delish, but these fritters don't necessarily need dipping. They are just sweet enough and again, very moist on their own. But, never one to pass up a chance to gild the lily, I decided to spoon the sauce over a couple of them. Heavenly. But very, very sweet. Hubbs ate his plain and demanded these be breakfast every Saturday morning from now on. Which is shocking because he's such an eggs, sausage, hashbrown kinda guy, yanno? heee! The only change I made to this recipe was to add the raisins and I used cardamom instead of ginger. And the only other change I'll make to this recipe in the future, is to cut the honey in the sauce from 1/2 cup to 1/4 cup so that the apple juice stands out more. Speaking of that sauce, it gave me another idea which I plan on trying in the very near future. A syrup made from reduced apple juice and a couple tablespoons of honey and then used as a sweetener in my tea. I'm thinking the combination of the apple fritters with a hot cup of apple induced tea is going to be THE BOMB, baby! I urge each and every one of you to make these lil fritters, I highly doubt you'll be disappointed. :) Thanks Gracie!! Thanks Helene!! Love yous guys! xoxo