How to... make apple fritters

To make the batter: 1. Separate the egg white from the egg yolk. Put the egg white in a clean bowl with no trace of grease or yolk, or it will not whip properly.

2. Whip the egg white until it is white and fluffy and forms a soft peak.

3. Sift the flour and salt and mix in the egg yolk and the beer until the batter has a smooth texture. It's better to add less liquid to start and add more if needed.

4. Just before you use the batter, stir in a little of the egg white, then carefully fold in the rest of the egg white, lifting the mix over the foamy white, and turning the bowl so the white does not lose its volume.

To prepare the apple: 1. Peel and core the apples. Hold them sideways and slice through in about 1cm-thick rings.

2. Sprinkle with the sugar, a pinch of cinnamon, brandy and lemon juice. Toss to cover and leave to macerate, preferably about an hour.

3. Mix the cup of sugar and tablespoon of cinnamon to make the cinnamon sugar for dipping the fritters in.

4. Put some flour on a plate for coating the apples. Remove the apple slices and pat dry on paper towels.

6. Dip both sides in the flour, then drop into the batter. Stir round to make sure they are well coated, then bring the bowl to the pan, and, using a fork, transfer to the hot oil.

7. Fry in batches of three or four fritters at a time depending on the size of your pan. Turn the fritters over when they start spitting. That shows the apple inside is cooking and the juice is coming out.

8. When lightly coloured, remove from the oil, drain briefly on paper towels then put in the cinnamon sugar, turning them over so they are coated. Serve with ice cream or custard.

Daniel Pfyl, hospitality management lecturer at Otago Polytechnic, shares some professional techniques.

This week, apple fritters.

Beer batter:
This batter can be used for many things, such as deep-fried fish fillets or banana fritters or, as Chef Pfyl demonstrates here, apple fritters.

1 egg
200g flour
¼ tsp salt
300ml lager (or cider)

To prepare the apples:
Use eating apples which will hold their shape.

4 large apples
40g sugar
pinch cinnamon
2 tsp brandy
2 tsp lemon juice
flour for dipping
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp sugar

Frying tips:
Put some mild-flavoured oil such as corn or rice bran in a saucepan to no more than about a third full. Heat it. Do not leave heating oil unattended.

Chef Pfyl uses a piece of potato to test when the oil is the right temperature. Drop a small piece of potato into the oil. When it is surrounded by bubbles and starts to sizzle, the oil will be at the right temperature. If the fat is the right temperature, less oil will be absorbed by the batter.

If you would like to request a particular technique, please let us know. Write to Tricks of the trade, Editorial Features, Otago Daily Times, P. O. Box 181, Dunedin, or email odt.features@odt.co.nz with tricks of the trade in the subject line.

To check earlier Trick of the trade columns visit: http://www.odt.co.nz/news/tags/trick-trade. More information on cooking from the Otago Polytechnic can be found on www.otagocookeryl4.blogspot.com

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