Even though these recipes are from cookbooks published in the 1800s, they can easily be followed today. If you don’t have access to lard or don’t care to use it, there are many other cooking oils you can use.

Fritters can be pan fried or deep fried, and you’ll want to use an oil with a high smoking point (refer to article from “Serious Eats)”.

Also, don’t put too many fritters in the oil at once; it’ll lower the temperature and make them soggy rather than crispy.

INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS

BATTER FOR FRITTERS
Put six ounces of flour into a basin with a pinch of salt, the yolk of one egg, and one-fourth pint warm water. Work this round and round with a wooden spoon till it is perfectly smooth and looks like thick cream. About half an hour before the batter is wanted for use, whip the white of one egg to a stiff froth and mix it lightly in.

TO FRY FRITTERS
Have plenty of nice sweet lard and test the heat by dropping in a teaspoonful before you risk more. If right, the batter will rise quickly to the surface in a puff-ball, spluttering and dancing, and will speedily assume a rich golden-brown. Take up with a skimmer as soon as it is done, shaking it to dislodge any drops of lard that may adhere. Pile in a hot dish, sift pounded sugar* over them, and send instantly to the table. Fry as many at a time as the kettle will hold, and send in hot fresh ones while the batter lasts. A round-bottomed saucepan or kettle, rather wide at top, is best for frying them.

*pounded sugar – sugar used to be sold in cones or loaves. You would cut some off and pound it to a specific amount for a recipe.

APPLE FRITTERS
Pare some nice apples. Cut them into slices about a quarter of an inch thick, and stamp out the core with a round cutter. Lay the rings in the batter, and cover them well with it. Lift them out with a skewer, and drop them into hot fat. When lightly browned on one side, turn them on to the other. Drain them on kitchen paper. Dish on a folded napkin, with castor sugar* dusted over them.

*castor sugar – superfine sugar ground finer than table sugar, but not the same as powdered sugar.

CUSTARD FRITTERS
Take half a pint of cream in which some cinnamon and lemon have been boiled. Add to this five yolks of eggs, a little flour, and about three ounces of sugar. Put this into a pie-dish, well buttered, and steam it till the custard becomes quite set. Let it get cold, and cut it into slices about half an inch thick and an inch and a half long. Sprinkle each piece with a little powdered cinnamon, and make it quite dry with some powdered sugar. Then dip each piece into batter, throw them one by one into boiling oil, drain, and serve hot.

ALMOND, CHOCOLATE, COFFEE, VANILLA FRITTERS, &c.
These fritters are made exactly in the same way as custard fritters, only substituting powdered chocolate, pounded almonds, essence of coffee, or essence of vanilla, for the powdered cinnamon.

ORANGE FRITTERS
Only first-class oranges are adapted for this purpose. Thick-skinned and woolly oranges are no use. Peel a thin-skinned ripe orange, divide each orange into about six pieces, and soak these in a syrup flavored with sugar rubbed on the outside of an orange. If liqueur is used, make the syrup with brandy. After they have soaked some time, remove any pips, dip each piece into batter, and fry in hot lard.

APRICOT FRITTERS
These can be made from fresh apricots or tinned ones, not too ripe. If they break, do not use them. When made from fresh apricots, they should be peeled, cut in halves, dipped in powdered sugar, then dipped in batter. Throw into boiling oil, and finish like apple fritters. Some persons soak the apricots in brandy first.

BANANA FRITTERS
Banana fritters can be made from the bananas as sold in this country, and it is a mistake to think that when they are black outside they are bad. When in this state, they are sometimes sold as cheap as six a penny. Peel the bananas, cut them into slices half an inch thick, dip them into finely powdered sugar and then into batter, and finish as directed in apple fritters. Some persons soak the slices of banana in maraschino first.

BANANA FRITTERS No. 2
Mix and sift one cup flour, one and one-half teaspoons baking powder, and one-fourth teaspoon salt. Add one egg well beaten and one-fourth cup cold water, and beat well. Press two bananas through a sieve, add to the batter, and drop the mixture from a tablespoon into hot deep fat. Drain on soft paper, dust with powdered sugar, and serve with currant jelly or lemon sauce.

PINE-APPLE FRITTERS
These can be made from fresh pineapples or tinned. They should be cut into slices like apple fritters if the pine-apple is small, but if the pine-apple is large they can be cut into strips three inches long, one inch wide, and half an inch thick. These must be dipped in powdered sugar, then into batter, and finished as directed for apple fritters. If any liqueur is used, maraschino is best adapted to the purpose.

CRANBERRY FRITTERS
1 egg well beaten
1 cup flour
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
1 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1⁄2 cup chopped cranberries
1⁄4 cup water

Mix ingredients in the order given. Drop from a tablespoon into hot deep fat, and cook about three minutes. Drain on soft paper, and dredge with powdered sugar.

CREAM FRITTERS
Stir five whites into one cup cream, then mix with two cups of sifted flour. Put in one saltspoon* nutmeg and a pinch of salt. Beat all up hard for two minutes until the batter is rather thick.  Fry in plenty of hot sweet lard, dropping a spoonful of batter for each fritter. When golden brown, drain, and serve upon a hot, clean napkin. Eat with jelly sauce. Pull, not cut them open.

*saltspoon – a miniature spoon used with an open salt cellar for individual use before table salt was free-flowing. One saltspoon equals one-fourth teaspoon.

JELLY FRITTERS
1 cup sponge-cake crumbs—very fine and dry.
1 cup boiling milk.
4 eggs.
2 tablespoonfuls powdered sugar.
1 teaspoonful corn-starch, wet in a little cold milk.
2 tablespoons currant or cranberry jelly.

Soak the cake-crumbs in the boiling milk, and stir in the corn-starch. Heat all together to a boil, stirring all the time. Beat the egg yolks light, and add to the mixture as it cools, with the sugar. Whip in the jelly, a little at a time, and put in the whites—beaten to a stiff froth—at the last. Fry immediately.

RICE AND CURRANT FRITTERS
Mix and sift one cup flour, then add one and one-half teaspoons baking powder, one-third teaspoon salt, two tablespoons sugar, and one-fourth teaspoon nutmeg. Add one egg well beaten and one-third cup water, and beat well. Stir in one cup cooked rice and two tablespoons washed currants. Drop from a tablespoon into hot deep fat. When done, drain on soft paper, and serve with a jelly sauce.

photo credit Laurel L. Russwurm on flickr

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