If there is one snack that defines going to any sort of state or county fair, it’s funnel cake.
Huge chunks of fried dough that are super-greasy and topped with an entire bag of powdered sugar.
One cake will also set you back at least $5 which is kind of ridiculous.
When Betsy and I were at the fair last weekend, I was blown away by just how many funnel cakes shops there were. There must have been a dozen of them, all of them selling basically the same thing for the exact same price.
Can you say “COLLUSION”?
Turns out Homemade Funnel Cake it isn’t too hard and is a pretty fun treat to make.
Funnel Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 5.75 ounces bread flour, about 1 1/4 cups
- 4 large eggs + two egg whites
- Powdered sugar, for dusting
- 1 quart oil for frying
Instructions
- To make the Pate a Choux dough:
- Add butter, salt, sugar, and water to a medium pot and bring it to a simmer over medium heat until butter is melted.
- Weigh out bread flour and add to pan. Stir until flour is incorporated and the dough is thick. Turn heat down to low and cook dough for a minute or two. It should be slightly springy but hold its shape when poked.
- Transfer dough to a metal bowl and let it cool for five minutes.
- Start stirring eggs into dough one at a time. At some point start using a whisk to stir dough and mix in the eggs until they are well incorporated.
- Add thick batter to a pastry bag.
- Heat oil in a wide pan until it is 350 degrees. Then pipe in batter to make a small circle of strands.
- Fry cake until it is lightly browned on both sides, about 2 minutes per side.
- Remove and let drain, then sprinkle heavily with powdered sugar and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?
Homemade Funnel Cake
Pate a what?
I would bet a pretty penny that the vendors at the fair use some sort of mix to make their funnel cakes. I just have a hard time believing that they are all making the batter from scratch and they all just happen to taste the exact same.
If you want to make a batter from scratch though, the best thing to make is a pate a choux which is French for Dough That You Cook.
Note: That is not what it actually means in French. Don’t email me.
Importantly, this is the same basic dough that you use to make gougeres.
Start the dough by adding the sugar, salt, water, and butter to a medium pan. Cook this over medium heat until the butter is melted and the mixture is lightly simmering.
For the flour, use bread flour instead of all-purpose flour. The bread flour will hold more moisture.
Since this is a pretty finicky recipe, I recommend weighing the dough. You want about 5.7 ounces of bread flour which, if you don’t want to weigh the flour, is about 1.25 cups.
Once your butter is melted, stir in the flour and work the dough in the pan over the heat until it turns thick.
The final dough should hold its shape and not be sticky at all. There might be a bit of residue at the bottom of the pan which is fine.
This was my finished version and you can see where I poked it to test that it wasn’t too sticky.
The Eggs
Now we need to fold our eggs into the dough. Do not do this right away or you will end up with scrambled eggs and flour.
Instead, transfer the dough ball to a mixing bowl and let it cool for around five minutes. You should be able to stick your finger in it and hold it there.
You want about a cup of eggs which works out to be about 4 large eggs plus 2 egg whites.
Then just start stirring the eggs into the dough one at a time. At first it might be kind of hard to get the eggs to incorporate but eventually they should fold in and then you can use a whisk to make sure the batter is mixed well.
This was my finished version.
Cooking the Homemade Funnel Cake
The carnival trucks just have a huge vat of some sort of batter that the scoop into an actual funnel and pour into hot oil, but this dough is actually a bit too thick to pour easily.
This is good because it’ll mean a better texture in the finished cake, but getting it into the oil in strands requires a pastry bag.
If you don’t have a pastry bag, I think you could just scoop the batter into a large plastic bag and snip the corner off with scissors. That would work just as well.
While you are working on your batter, you can start heating your oil. You want it to be 350 degrees so it helps to have a deep fry thermometer so you know exactly where you stand.
Once the oil is hot, just pipe in some of the batter directly into the oil.
The batter is pretty thick so you’ll have to really press on it to get it out of the bag.
I made my cakes smaller than the huge ones you get at the fair…
They will only need to cook for about two minutes per side until they are golden brown and crispy.
Then scoop them out of the oil and let them drain on a paper towel for a minute or two, dust them with as much powdered sugar as you can handle, and eat them as soon as possible!
I thought the texture of these were much better than the carnival versions. They had a crispy outside and light and fluffy interior. They also weren’t completely soaked in grease like you sometimes see at the carnivals.
It’s a good idea to master this dough because you can make a ton of stuff with it. These guys are just the tip of the funnel.
karen
that looks a little better than the ones they make in masses on the boardwalk and at fairs. I do have fond memories (40 yrs ago) though as a kid going to Amish country in PA and getting funnel cakes there. They were so good.
CGCouture
Usually whatever I vote for doesn’t win, glad to see that wasn’t the case for once. ;-) Thanks for the recipe, I love funnel cakes, but haven’t had one in years….
Jean Gogolin
In my Pennsylvania Dutch family these were made in concentric circles. I guess I mean a continuing circle — start in the middle and keep pouring the batter around that mid-point until it’s as big as you want. Yum.
Nick
That takes a steady hand! No way I could make a spiral like that…
Andy Mathis
I’ve seen funnel cake mix, and funnel cakes made with a funnel. The batter reminds me more of a pancake batter.
This looks like it would taste better though.
Is this the same type dough that French Crullers are made of?
Nick
Yea, you’re right. The mix makes basically pancake batter. This is much sturdier stuff.
It’s not the exact same as the dough for French Crullers… that dough you can actually roll out and shape like doughnuts.
B @ DesiGrub
It looks more like a very good Jalebi (refer here http://desigrub.com/2011/03/best-jalebi/ ) to me more than traditional funnel cake. What if you dump it in warm sugar syrup instead of powdered sugar?
ps
I totally thought of jalebi as well! Is the funnel cake dough the same as used in elephant ears?
Connie
Genius! I never thought about cooking the cream puff dough in hot oil to make funnel cake. Great idea :-)
TnT_Terry
Wow this looks amazing, can’t wait to give this a try! I haven’t had one of these for about 10 years or so, think last time I had one was in Dollywood, in Pigeon Forge, TN. But since moving overseas to Norway, I haven’t run into anything remotely close to funnel cakes or fried dough. BTW Nick, do you use this same dough to make fried dough\elephant ears by chance? Thanks so much for sharing, bookmaking your site and going to pour through all your recipes when I get a chance.
Nick
Heya! Thanks for stopping by! I love this recipe. The dough isn’t really like the one I use for donuts. The donut dough I use is closer to an enriched/yeasted dough. This one gets crispier on the outside and is more liquid so it pipes easier and fries crispy. Perfect for funnel cakes! Cheers!