Pampoenkokies (Christmas Fruit Fritters)

Pampoenkokies (Christmas Fruit Fritters) is a modern South African recipe for a classic fritter made with a home-made rich fruit mincemeat style batter that's typically served for Christmas. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic South African version of: Christmas Fruit Fritters (Pampoenkokies).

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

40 minutes

Total Time:

60 minutes

Additional Time:

(over-night soaking)

Makes:

Rating:

Tags : Vegetarian Recipes Cake Recipes South-africa Recipes

Here is an interesting recipe that I picked up in South Africa. In essence it's a dry fruit Christmas cake mix that's adapted to be cooked as a rather indulgent fritter with a beer batter coating. Great if you want to serve something different at Christmas time, but tasty any time of year. They can be served by themselves as a snack any time. As a dessert, they work well with custard in winter, and equally well with ice cream in summer.

Ingredients:

For the Fritters:
65g caster sugar
3.5g ground almonds
6g mixed peel, chopped
25g currants
25g raisins
25g sultanas
6 Granny Smith Apples, cored and cubed
100ml dark rum (or South African brandy)
1 tbsp freshly-ground orange zest

For the Batter:
120g plain flour
1 tsp (level) salt
140ml pilsner-style beer (at room temperature)
2 eggs, separated
2 tsp oil

35g cake flour
oil for shallow frying
icing sugar, for dusting

Method:

Combine the flour, sugar, ground almonds, mixed peel, dried fruit, powdered egg and apples in a bowl. Mix in the rum and orange zest until thoroughly combined then cover and set aside to rest over night.

When ready to cook, prepare the batter. Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Beat together the beer and egg yolks together then beat in the oil. Add this mixture to the flour and beat to form a smooth batter. Cover with clingfilm (plastic wrap) and set aside to rest for 30 minutes.

Drain the excess liquid from the fruit mix. Add 2 tbsp of the fruit liquid to the batter mix.

In a clean and dry bowl beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter.

Toss the fruit mix with the 35g cake flour to cover then lightly fold into the batter.

Heat oil to a depth of 1cm in a large frying pan. When hot, add spoonfuls of the batter mix and cook in batches until golden brown on both sides (flip over half way through cooking).

When cooked, remove the fritters with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Allow the fritters to cool slightly before dusting with icing sugar and serving.

Find more Christmas Recipes Here