Apple Fritters

Apples: about 350g for two apples, so you're looking at fairly standard-sized eating apples, not the huge ones sold for baking whole. You want something that holds its shape when heated and has enough tartness to cut through the sugar and oil — a Granny Smith or a Bramley-adjacent firm apple works better than a soft, sweet one that'll collapse into sauce the moment it meets hot fat. If all you've got is something soft and mealy, slice it slightly thicker than a centimetre to buy it a little structural integrity, and expect a softer bite.

The egg does two jobs here, which is why it's split. The yolk goes in early with the sugar and gets whisked until it pales and thickens slightly — that's not decoration, that's starting to dissolve the sugar and build a bit of body before the flour arrives, so you don't end up with gritty batter. The white is saved and whipped separately for the air it holds, as above. If you're out of eggs or avoiding them, you lose some richness and the lift gets harder to replace — a small splash of sparkling water added right before frying is the honest substitute, not a miracle one, but it adds bubbles where the egg white would have.

Flour and milk going in alternately, bit by bit, is just insurance against lumps — tip all the flour in at once against liquid egg and sugar and you get pockets of dry flour that never properly hydrate, which show up later as little white specks of raw batter clinging to your fritter. Plain flour is right here, not self-raising — you don't want a cakey rise, you want a batter that clings thin and crisps; if self-raising is all you have, it'll still work, just puffier and a touch less crisp.

The fridge rest matters more than it looks like it should. Half an hour lets the flour's gluten relax and fully absorb the milk, so the batter coats smoothly instead of sliding off in patches — rush this step and you get thin spots on the apple ring that burn while the thick spots stay pale.

170°C is the number that matters most in the whole method, and it's worth having a thermometer or at least a test-drop of batter for it, since a domestic hob doesn't give you the steady, high-volume heat of a deep fryer — a small pan of oil cools fast the moment you drop something cold into it. Too cool and the batter soaks up oil like a sponge before it sets, leaving you with something greasy and pale; too hot and it colours in seconds while the apple inside stays crunchy and cold. Test with a small spoonful of batter: it should bubble up around the edges straightaway and turn golden in well under a minute, not sizzle violently or sit there sullenly. Any neutral oil with no smell of its own — sunflower, groundnut, a plain vegetable oil — will do; olive oil's flavour has no business here and its lower smoke point works against you.

Paper towels or a clean tea towel underneath when they come out isn't fussiness, it's the difference between crisp and soggy — fritters sitting in their own oil on a plate go soft from the bottom up within minutes. Icing sugar goes on once they've lost a little heat, otherwise it just melts into a wet glaze instead of sitting as a dusting. This makes enough for four, and it's a dish best eaten standing at the stove while the next batch fries, not one that waits well on a tray for everyone to sit down.