These easy German apple fritters come from my great grandmother's 1910 Gold Medal Flour cookbook. Just sprinkle with powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar and serve, or add a scoop of ice cream for the ultimate sweet treat. You'll love this simple vintage dessert!
Joe, Grace, and I visited my Old Grandma this past weekend.
Old Grandma is my grandma, my mother's mother. I have always been very close to her, especially since we lived on her land until I was 9. I visited every other weekend all through college, way more than I went home to see my own parents. But that's the way it is, right? You can tell your grandma stuff that you can't tell your parents.
My mom passed away in 2013, and Old Grandma stepped in to fill the void.
Wondering why we call her Old Grandma? Well, when my kids were born, my mom wanted to be called Grandma, and Old Grandma was totally fine with that. When we asked her what she wanted our kids to call her, she said Old Grandma. She liked the way it sounded and besides, she is pretty old. (93 in 2021.)
Some of the best times in my life have taken place at my Grandma's house.
Anyway, shortly after we woke up on the second morning of our visit, Old Grandma brought out this even older than her cookbook. She was beaming.
The first thing she pointed out to me was that the owner, Kate Rodgers, signed her name on the top of the book, along with the date on which she received it. Kate Rodgers was my grandmother's grandmother, and she acquired this cookbook after she had been married and had several children.
Though Kate Rodgers wrote October 24, 1912 on top of the Gold Medal Flour Cook Book, its copyright date is 1910.
The illustrations and recipes in the book are amazing. They are simple and delicious and use almost no measurements. Can you imagine, a cookbook with no measurements? It's true.
I wonder if there are no measurements because in 1910, very few people had the luxury of measuring tools. Or maybe they had more cooking savvy than we do today. Or likely both.
Anyway, here's the 1910 recipe for apple fritters:
I simplified and adjusted the recipe below to make it easier for a 2021 reader to follow. I also added a quick and easy German fritter batter to make the apple fritters a little heartier. The originals were little more than fried apple slices, and the recipe below is more like German apple fritters. I hope you enjoy!
German Apple Fritters from the 1910 Gold Medal Flour Cookbook
Ingredients
- 3 Granny Smith apples
- 1 cup Brandy plus 1 tablespoon, divided
- ½ cup lemon juice
- ½ cup sugar plus 3 tablespoons, divided
- 1 cup flour Gold Medal All Purpose Flour, of course! Plus extra for dusting
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 large egg beaten
- 6 tablespoons butter divided
- ½ cup milk or less, as needed to thin batter
- powdered sugar
- cinnamon
Instructions
- Peel, core and slice the apples.
- Mix 1 cup brandy, ½ cup lemon juice, and ½ cup sugar until all the sugar has dissolved. Soak apple rings in a this mixture for an hour or until they have acquired the taste.
- Drain and dust the apples with flour.
- In a small bowl, mix together 1 cup flour, salt, and 3 tablespoons sugar. When well blended, make a hole in the center.
- In a smaller bowl, whisk together the egg, 1 tablespoon of brandy, and 1 tablespoon of melted butter. Pour into the hole in the dry ingredients, gently stirring until a thick batter forms.
- Thin batter with just enough milk to make it workable. You'll be dipping the apple slices in the batter, so it needs to be thin enough to submerge the apples but thick enough to stick to them rather than sliding right back off. It should barely run off the spoon when poured.
- Heat 3 tablespoons of butter in a skillet. When it is hot enough, a drop of batter will immediately bubble and sizzle. When this happens, dip 3 or 4 flour-coated apple slices (one at a time) into the batter, turn over to completely coat both sides, and then carefully place into the hot butter. When the bottoms are golden brown, flip to cook the other side. They cook quickly so keep an eye on them.
- Repeat with remaining apple slices, adding butter 1-2 tablespoons at a time to the skillet as needed. Be sure to allow fresh butter to heat to the correct temperature before adding more apple slices.
- Sprinkle cooked apples with powdered sugar and cinnamon and serve very hot (with ice cream and/or whipped cream?).
Nutrition
Nicole Feliciano says
Wow, 1910! What a nice treat to go back in time. Sorry I am late, checking in with all the chefs...busy week getting the kids back to school. Thanks so much for stopping in at Momtrends and sharing.
Nicole Feliciano says
Wow, 1910! What a nice treat to go back in time. Sorry I am late, checking in with all the chefs...busy week getting the kids back to school. Thanks so much for stopping in at Momtrends and sharing.