Homemade Funnel Cakes

Making a batch of these will transport you and your fam back to the scorching summer days at Canada’s Wonderland, minus the hour-long line-up, and wild $18 each price tag. They’re surprisingly easy to make, wildly affordable, and guaranteed to make people think you’re far more impressive in the kitchen than you actually need to be. No special tools required - just a little patience, since they fry up one delicious golden swirled cake at a time. But the best part of a homemade batch - no sharing! Try ‘em today!

Ingredients

Funnel Cakes (4-5 servings)

▢ 2 cups - all purpose flour
▢ 2 Tablespoons - white sugar
▢ 1 teaspoon - fresh baking powder
▢ ½ teaspoon - salt
▢ 1 cup - whole milk
▢ 2 large eggs
▢ ½ teaspoon - pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
▢ Vegetable oil, for frying (enough to fill 3” of your large pot per batch)

Topping

▢ 2/3 cup - icing sugar (for dusting tops)
▢ 1 lb - fresh strawberries, washed, sliced
▢ 1 teaspoon - white sugar OR
▢ 1 can strawberry pie filling (optional)
▢ vanilla ice cream or whipped cream

Handy tools to have set up -a dutch-oven pot for even frying, a thermometer for your oil, a (juice) pitcher or spouted measuring cup to pour batter, tongs, a cooling rack on a foil lined baking sheet for draining, a sifter for powdered sugar.

Instructions

For topping: Wash and slice your fresh strawberries. If using only fresh berries, sprinkle sliced fruit with the tsp of white sugar and use either wet berries, or add a small splash of water or fruit juice to mix and create a light ‘syrup’. I sometimes add to the water and sugar a dash of vanilla powder, or 1/4 tsp vanilla extract to my berries to be quite lush. Cover the berry mixture until ready to serve. This step can be done well in advance to really soften the berries in to the ‘'syrup’ when stored in the fridge. I imagine a nice l’il splash of alcohol can be added if that’s your style and not serving to children? I haven’t tried it.

If using just a can of pie filling, no additions are necessary, just open and serve. (You could try other pie flavours, like blueberry or apple.)

My favourite combo however, is 1 lb of fresh sliced strawberries, (no sugar or vanilla needed), added to about 1/2 a can of strawberry pie filling. You get the ‘goo’ of the pie filling and the texture and freshness of the fresh strawberries. It also helps serve a crowd if you’re making a double batch of the funnel cakes as I often do. Set this topping aside until ready to serve.

For funnel cakes: In a large bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, and vanilla extract until well-combined. Add salt, sugar, and baking powder - and mix. While whisking, gradually add the flour, stirring until mixture is smooth and lump-free. Batter should be pouring consistency. Rest batter to activate baking soda while heating oil.

TIP - I love frying in a dutch oven (an enameled cast iron pot - like Le Creuset - great for even heat), but you can use almost any large pot. It should be a thick pot,preferably not non-stick, and large enough to swirl around your batter to make a good sized cake! The larger the pot, the more oil it will take.

Pour your batter in to the ‘sharpest spout’ pouring device you have, such as a measuring cup, or a juice or milk pitcher, etc. I have a custom funnel cake pitcher because I’m hard core. Of course, an actual large funnel works as well, with your finger plugging the bottom to stop/start the flow, though this seems more tedious and messy than pouring..

Fill your medium to large pot about 3” deep with vegetable oil. Set over medium-low heat, heating oil to 370-375F. If you have a oil or candy thermometer, make sure the tip of your thermometer hits the middle of the oil to test, nottouching the bottom.

TIP - If you don’t have a thermometer, the oil will take about 10-15 minutes to get to temperature.

If you don’t have a thermometer, (or once your oil is heated to 375F) I recommend you do a test blob and drop in a tiny bit of batter. The batter should be slightly thick, but very pourable. It should hold it’s shape in the oil and expand slightly. Adjust it with flour or milk if it seems the wrong consistency. If the batter blob sinks with no action = oil is too cold. If it bubbles gently and floats = good frying temp! If it makes a lot of noise on the drop and browns quickly, pops or smokes = too hot! Scoop it out and adjust heat as needed. Wait a couple mins and try again.

Once oil is heated, slowly drizzle batter into oil in a thin stream, swirling around in a circle, but overlapping the layers on itself. You will dispense about a half to ¾ cup per cake for large, single servings. I go for some thin parts, some thick parts to get the varying crispiness of a great funnel cake. Fry for about 90 seconds, then using tongs, gently grasp and flip the cake over. Fry another 90 seconds until the thickest parts are just golden brown and there’s no longer any wet-looking batter. Do not brown too much / overcook - it does take a bit of practice to get your timing just right, but usually with tasty results either way.

Hold near the frying pot, a baking sheet lined with foil and a cooling rack on it. With tongs, gently grasp and remove the cake to drain on the rack, or place it on a plate lined with paper towels for a moment. No need to pat or flip.

Dust the cake with powdered sugar and serve while still warm. I like to set out the toppings and serve each fresh, one at a time, and let guests top their own cake while I move on to frying the next. This is when you can play favourites for who gets theirs first and who has to smell them and wait. I offer berry toppings and either whipped cream or vanilla ice cream and both are amazing. You could try other fruits, a caramel or butterscotch syrup, melted chocolate with crushed oreo cookies - the sky’s the limit. It’s dessert after all.

I have fried the whole batch and held them in a warm oven before, but like most deep-fried foods, fresh tastes way better than waiting.

TIP - Check oil temp periodically between cakes - you’ll often end up turning the burner down slightly to maintain temperature rather than keeping it the same heat the whole time. If making more than one batch, you may need to top up the oil part-way.

This recipe makes 4 or 5 cakes, depending on how heavy-handed your pour is. I often find I have to make two batches of the batter because everyone who smells these frying is suddenly no longer “too full” to try one, or no-longer too polite to decline dessert. They’re intoxicating, so delicious, and you’ll want your own after one bite. Many guests have declined needing their own until they have had a bite of someone else’s, then they casually make their way in to the cue in case there happens to be an extra one.. And I always keep frying until no one is lingering by my stove for the next one. Then that last one is mine, because I want to enjoy a fresh one

Funnel cakes are not your typical dinner party dessert, but they are delicious, nostalgic, cheap and easy to make - so these are a summer-time favourite that I pull out once, maybe twice a summer for special dinners with friends and family.

Enjoy! (If you make these, drop a comment below and tell me how it went!)