Ah – Valentines Day – my friend Beatrice just asked me about my Valentines Plan. I told her I have none and that I am not a big fan of this day. According to the commercials that are running 24/7 the week of Valentines Day the humble ones under us desire overpriced roses and really bad tasting Russell Stover chocolates and the greedy ones want a diamond ring or necklace. I mean seriously advertisement industry – I am sorry I can not happily go along with this stereotype. Yeah here I am again – the “negative German” rebelling against the status quo.

Beatrice and I pretty much said the same thing at the same time without even having chatted about this prior – maybe its a German thing?  We literally “forbid” our loved ones to submit to this pressure. Like with all holidays and/or customs, most of the people don’t know anyways what the real meaning behind such a holiday or custom like Valentines day is. So that my readers and I are educated, here the high level summary of Valentines day:

Valentine was a Christian martyr who got beheaded by the romans for performing weddings for soldiers who weren’t supposed to be married and for ministering to Christians. Since the 15 hundreds the English gave their loved one a small gift or a poem in honor of Valentines day; supposingly the English brought this custom to the US in the early 18 hundreds and in World War 2 the US soldiers brought this custom to (Western) Germany. I am not so sure that’s exactly true but that’s what Wikipedia states.

So not really for Valentines Day but because its Friday and I have time to make a good tasting dessert that even my non chocolate loving husband will like (non liking chocolate that’s like not liking air..maybe a Nebraska thing?), here the recipe for some Apple Fritters with Bourbon Ice Cream. I’ve tried two recipes, one from Bon Appetit featured on the outrageously good Lottie and Doof blog and one from the book The Craft of Baking by Karen DeMasco. The Bon Appetit Fritters are more “doughy” and heavy on the apples the Craft of Baking Apple Fritters were much crisper which I preferred, but both were very delicious. The Bourbon Ice Cream didn’t freeze completely solid for me. It came out more like a slushy granita, very tasty but not your creamy type of ice cream, which I attribute to the 5 tablespoons of Bourbon. I didn’t think it would be enough alcohol to affect the freezing of ice cream, but since alcohol doesn’t really freeze I guess it makes sense that the end result was slushy, strangely enough though the Lottie and Doof photos as well as the Bon Appetit ones show solid ice cream. Well if you end up making it tell me how you got it solid.

Here my little kitchen helper checking out what’s going on in the bowl!

Bon Appetit Apple Fritters:

Ingredients:

Fritter Coating

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Apple Filling

• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 pound Pink Lady apples (about 3), peeled, cored, cut into 1/3- to 1/2-inch cubes (about 3 cups)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup sparkling apple cider
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Fritter Base

• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 2 large eggs, separated
• 2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• Safflower oil (for deep-frying) or Crisco

Instructions:

Fritter Coating

1. Blend sugar and cinnamon in small bowl. DO AHEAD Coating can be made 3 days ahead. Cover; store at room temperature.

Apple Filling

1. Melt butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add apples. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon; toss to coat. Sauté until apples are browned in spots and tender, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Add cider and vinegar. Cook until all liquid evaporates, stirring often, about 4 minutes. Set filling aside in skillet to cool.

Fritter Base

1. Place double layer of paper towels on work surface. Whisk flour, sugar, lemon peel, baking powder, and spices in large bowl to blend. Whisk buttermilk, egg yolks, and melted butter in medium bowl to blend. Gradually stir buttermilk mixture into dry ingredients. Beat egg whites and coarse salt in another medium bowl until peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into fritter base, then fold in cooled apple filling.
2. Pour enough oil into heavy large saucepan to reach depth of 1 1/2 inches (5 to 6 cups). Attach deep-fry thermometer to side of pan. Heat oil to 320°F to 330°F over medium heat. Working in batches of 5 or 6, drop batter into oil by tablespoonfuls. Fry fritters until deep golden brown and cooked through, turning fritters occasionally and adjusting heat to maintain oil temperature, about 4 minutes per batch. Using slotted spoon, transfer fritters to paper towels. Drain briefly, then toss warm fritters in cinnamon-sugar coating. Transfer to large rimmed baking sheet. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature. Rewarm in 350°F oven 5 minutes, if desired.
3. Mound fritters on platter. Serve with Bourbon Ice Cream.

Bourbon Ice Cream:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 2 cups half and half
• 1/2 cup nonfat dry milk powder
• 6 large egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• 5 tablespoons bourbon
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Bring first 3 ingredients to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until milk powder dissolves completely. Remove from heat.
2. Combine egg yolks, sugar, brown sugar, and coarse salt in large bowl; whisk until thick and blended. Gradually whisk hot cream mixture into yolk mixture. Return mixture to same saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat until custard thickens enough to leave path on back of spoon when finger is drawn across and temperature registers 175°F to 178°F, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Mix in bourbon and vanilla extract. Refrigerate custard uncovered until cold, stirring occasionally, at least 3 hours. DO AHEAD Custard can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated.
3. Process custard in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to container. Cover and freeze until solid, at least 6 hours and up to 2 days.

The Craft of Baking by Karen DeMasco Apple Fritters:

Ingredients:

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour ¼ cup plus 7 tablespoons granulated sugar 1¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon Kosher salt 2 large eggs, separated 1½ teaspoons unsalted butter, melted 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ½ cup beer (lager or pilsner) Directions In a bowl, whisk together the flour, 1/4 cup of the sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of the cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon salt. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, butter, and vanilla. Whisk in one third of the flour mixture then one third of the beer to the egg yolk mixture, just until combined. Add the rest of the flour mixture and beer in two additions and whisk well to combine. Set the batter aside at room temperature to rest for 30 minutes. While the fritter batter is resting, peel, core, and slice the apple into ten 1/8-inch-thick rings. Spread out the rings on a large plate. Stir together 1 tablespoon of the sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of the cinnamon, and sprinkle the mixture over the apple slices. Let the slices sit for 20 minutes to soften and absorb the sugar. Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks, and gently but thoroughly fold them into the batter. In a wide, shallow bowl, whisk together the remaining 6 tablespoons sugar, remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Add enough oil to a deep-sided skillet or wide pot to measure 2 inches. Heat the oil to 375°F (190°C). Working in small batches, dip the apple rings into the batter to coat both sides, and fry, turning once, until the apple fritters are golden and crisp, about 3 minutes. Drain the fritters on paper towels for a few seconds, then toss the fritters in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Serve warm. Happy Valentines Day to you (in the end I am a sucker for romance, so what the hell) and Guten Appetit!