This is my second attempt with my great grandmother’s cookbook, “Rumford Complete Cookbook.” Whose name I find ironic since they seem to leave a whole lot of information out of each recipe. But perhaps things that are “understood” at the time don’t get passed down with the generations. No times; no temperatures. “Fast,” “Moderate,” and “Slow” ovens is all I have to go on with these recipes.
Be that as it may, these are German Crullers. Or are supposed to be. I think I made several mistakes. The first one being, I chose the recipe in the first place. I had never heard of crullers, and decided to just wing it and go by the recipe alone. And that should be enough, but apparently it is not.
I think they are fancy doughnuts. And they are supposed to be light and flaky. I read and re-read the recipe. I did everything it said to do. It just didn’t work out.
Maybe there was a typo, but I had to alter this recipe to get the dough thick enough to roll out. After mixing everything together, the “dough” was the consistency of a milkshake. There was no “rolling out” of that. But I probably added too much flour. They are really dense, but tasty anyway.
German Crullers
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon or nutmeg
1/3 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons Rumford Baking Powder
Beat the eggs till light and mix them with the milk and butter. Sift together the flour, salt, spice and baking powder; add the sugar and blend the two mixtures. Roll out, cut into rings and fry in hot fat till golden brown. Drain well and dust with sugar.
I had to add flour / by 3 cups to get the dough thick enough to roll out. I also added another cup of sugar, as well as another teaspoon of cinnamon. I must have not beat the eggs long enough to make them “light.”
I also did not fry them in fat, which I’m sure meant Crisco. I used canola oil. Oh! And the best part – I do not have a ring cutter, so I used an upside down glass for the main cut; and then used a knife to cut a hole in the center of each one.
I burned the first batch; got grease and dough all over the kitchen, and stunk up the house with a 1970’s fried food smell. I think I’ll stick with baking deserts from now on. Joe and I are trying to cut down on cholesterol.
Side note: We actually do have Rumford Baking Powder in town. Huh. I’ve just never noticed it. Arm & Hammer, Clabber Girl and Calumet are the only ones I’ve ever heard of. I found this at Wal-Mart. Is it just me, or does $3.97 seem high for baking powder?
Photos and Migraines 