Today, we’re going to be conquering our “fear of frying” by making Clementine Paddleford’s famous crullers. Clementine is the lady with the pencil, above! Her Cruller Recipe comes from Kelly Alexander and Cynthia Harris’ fantastic book about the American tastemaker: Hometown Appetites. [There’s an adapted version of that recipe in the New York Times, if you have a subscription — however, that recipe seems to be formatted oddly, with a few extra 1’s in the ingredients list — So, you should really buy the book! It is a lovely read!]

As we prepare our fry-up, we’ll write a holiday haiku.
That’s a poem of 3 lines, with 5, 7, and 5 syllables per line, respectively.

Print Recipe

Clementine Paddleford’s Crullers

From Hometown Appetites, by Kelly Alexander and Cynthia Harris

Servings: 16

Author: Clementine Paddleford, c/o Kelly Alexander

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour sifted
4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
t tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1/2 cup egg yolks about six extra-large
1/2 cup buttermilk or sour milk [I used 1/2 c whipping cream with 1 tbs lemon juice]
1/2 cup half-and-half
1 cup sugar
1-2 quarts vegetable oil for frying

Instructions

Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices into a large bowl and set aside.
Beat the egg yolks in a separate large bowl.
Mix the egg yolks with the buttermilk and half-and-half.
Add the sugar to the wet ingredients and stir until well-blended.
Add the sifted dry ingredients and beat until smooth.
Turn a portion at a time onto a lightly [WELL] floured surface and roll or PUT OUT to 1/2-inch thickness.
Cut with a 3-inch doughnut cutter OR a 3-inch biscuit cutter, then make a hole in the centre of each with a 1-inch cutter or the end of a wooden spoon handle.
In a heavy 6-quart pot filled no more than halfway with oil, heat oil to 365 degrees.
Fry doughnuts 45 seconds to 1 minute on each side until golden brown.
Drain on paper bags [OR rags or papertowels on a wire rack.]
[If desired, dust with icing [powdered] sugar, melted chocolate, or a glaze of icing sugar mixed with milk or lemon juice by the tbs.]