Apple Beignets with cream sauce - Sunday Family Lunch part 3

I love these apple beignets since childhood. For me it was always a feast when my Mum made them for lunch. She would serve a soup, most times a roasted semolina soup first and afterwards as a main course apple beignets and hot chocolate. She would fry them in a pan in small batches and than generously turn them in a sugar and cinnamon mixture. Sometimes she would serve vanilla sauce with them. Sweet childhood memories...

Even though I use the same dough my Mum uses for her apple beignets this is a bit a grown up version as I soak the apples upfront in some Calvados, lemon juice, sugar and cinnamon. And I upgraded the Vanilla sauce a bit as well.

Here the detailed recipe which is enough for four people as a main course or for at least eight people as a dessert.

To start off I take 4-6 apples, peel them and cut them in slices about 5-7mm thick. I cut out the core of the apples to get rid of the seeds and any hard parts. In a cup I mix together 40ml Calvados, 20ml lemon juice, 2 teaspoons of sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. I now layer the apple slices in a bowl and sprinkle them with the Calvados mixture. One layer of apples, 1-2 tablespoons Calvados mixture, one layer apples and so on and so on. Than I cover the bowl with some cling foil and let it stand for about 1 hour. Before dipping the apples into the dough I pad them dry with a paper towel. Calvados is a French brandy made out of apples.

For the dough I take 4 eggs (each about 60g) and separate the egg white from the yolk. In a very clean fat free bowl I beat the egg white until it is stiff and snow white. In another bowl I beat the yolk with 1 tablespoon sugar and 2 tablespoons warm water until I have a pale yellow foam. Now I add to the yolk mixture about 150ml milk and stir it carefully until both are well blended. If you stir too viciously the yolk mixture will loose its volume. Stir in half of 240g sieved flour and stir, again carefully, until you have a smooth mixture. Now put the egg white on top of the mixture and sieve the balance flour on top of it. Stir it all carefully together using a big whisk for it.

Let the dough stand for a few minutes.

In the meantime I heat in a deep pan about half litre refined cooking oil or cleared butter. Next to the stove I put a tray or big plate lined with several layers of paper towels. On this I will put the beignets after frying. The kitchen towel will absorb the excess fat. I usually prepare the beignets using only one hand that I have the other clean to handle the sieve spoon. Now I dip the apple slices into the dough that they are evenly covered and fry them in small batches in the hot fat. Once they turn brown on the lower side I turn them around. When golden all around I remove them from the fat and put them onto the paper towels. I do this until all apples and dough are used up.

In a plate I mix 3 tablespoons fine sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder. Before serving I dust the beignets on both sides with the sugar mixture.

For the sauce I pour 300ml whip cream with 1 table spoon vanilla sugar, the seeds from 1 vanilla bean and 125g quark or fromage frais into a bowl and mix it with the mixer at high speed until the sugar is completely dissolved.

To serve I put 3 apple beignets onto the plate. I pour 1 tablespoon maple syrup (per portion) over them. And I give 2 tablespoons of vanilla sauce next to it.

Enjoy and have fun in the kitchen!

Love

Carola