Strawberry Fritters, 3 Ways

The French have been making Strawberry fritters for centuries, in fact Menon, in his 1793 French cookbook entitled The French Family Cook, gives us this Strawberry Fritter recipe for the first time in print that I am able to find.

"Make a paste with some flour, a spoonful of brandy, half a glass of white wine, the whites of two eggs beat and green lemon shred fine. Mix it well, neither too thick nor too thin. It should rope in falling from a spoon. Dip some large strawberries in to it, fry them and glaze them with a salamander". This is also the earliest reference to a salamander I found as well.

Fresh Whole Strawberry Fritters with Warm Chocolate Sauce
This is a tasty treat for you guys out there to make on Valentine's Day. Simple, sweet and warming to the heart.

1 quart vegetable oil
2 eggs, well beaten
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
3/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 pint whole strawberries, hulled
Warm Chocolate Sauce, recipe below

Preheat oil in heavy pot until it reaches 350-degrees F or use your deep fryer according to manufacturers instructions.
Combine first 6 ingredients and mix well. Stir in strawberries, a few at a time, being careful not to mash them. With 2 forks, remove a strawberry at ta time and gently ease them into the hot oil. Cook only 2-3 at a time to cook evenly and to keep the temperature of the oil hot. If the temperature drops, that means that the strawberries will be cooking in the oil longer, therefore soaking up more oil.
Cook for 2-3 minutes or until the batter has evenly turned a medium brown in color. Remove to a paper towel lined platter or rack to drain. continue with remainder of strawberries. To serve, pour Warm Chocolate Sauce over the top.
Makes 2-3 servings

To make Warm Chocolate Sauce: Place 1 cup chocolate chips with 3 tablespoons milk, heavy or light cream or half-and-half in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir and microwave in 15-second increments until completely melted and warmed.

Chopped Strawberry Fritters with Caramel Sauce
Follow the recipe above but don't add the extra 2 tablespoons milk. The batter should be very thick. Stir in a pint of strawberries that have been hulled and chopped. Scoop out a tablespoon at a time and cook as directed above. Serve with warmed Caramel Sauce drizzled over the top.

Grilled Fritters
I have enjoyed fritters of every type for many years, but now I would love to keep some of the oil out of them. This is a great recipe with that in mind. I was tempted to make these one day for breakfast for me and the kids but one thing led to another, and trying to get 3 children off the school in the morning is hard enough, so I decided to make the compote up ahead of time and made it for them for dessert later in the night. Of course the first thing they asked was "Where's the ice cream?"

Grilled Sweet Strawberry Fritters with Apple Compote
Although my children wanted ice cream with this dessert, I love the warmth of everything, especially during the chilly days. Everything is just such a gooey mess, I loved it.

1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional
1/3 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
1 cup chopped, fresh, hulled strawberries
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, more as needed
Simple Apple Compote, recipe below


In a bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon peel and cayenne pepper. Add the milk and egg, mix well. Fold in the chopped strawberries. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Scoop out tablespoon-sized dollops of fritter batter into pan, gently, and slightly flatten if necessary. Don't crown pan, leaving an inch between each fritter. Grill 2-3 minutes per side or until browned. Add more butter if needed between each batch of fritters. Remove to paper-towel lined platter and finish with the rest of the batter. Serve warm with Apple Compote.

Makes 2-3 servings

Simple Apple Compote

2 cups apple juice
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 large apples, peeled, cored and chopped

Place the juice, cinnamon and sugar in a saucepan, over medium-high heat, and boil until reduced by almost half. This will take about 4-5 minutes. Add the chopped apples and continue cooking, and stirring, until the apples are crisp tender. Remove form heat.