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Recipes

Glazed Funnel Cake With Fruit Confetti

By Nicole A. Taylor
Glazed Funnel Cakes with Fruit Dust plated on a blue plate and checkered background
Photograph by Shawn Michael Jones, Prop Styling by Gerri Williams, Food Styling by Micah Morton

Many Americans adore the traditional fair-style funnel cake. Recreate the fun of the festival treat at home this Juneteenth with my version, made for individual consumption. They feature all that we love about funnel cake’s crisp, golden edges and pillowy, doughy center. A light ginger-tinged buttermilk glaze greets the funnel cakes after coming out of the fryer; they then get a colorful dusting of pulverized fruit and, if you choose, a shower of powdered sugar. These personal-size funnel cakes will be a crowd-pleaser for adults and little ones alike, with just the right amount of sweetness. To feed a crowd, you can easily double the recipe.

What you’ll need

Recipe information

  • Total Time

    1 hour

  • Yield

    Makes 8

Ingredients

¼

cup freeze-dried blueberries

2

cups (220 g) powdered sugar; plus more for dusting (optional)

1

tsp. ground ginger

½

cup buttermilk

¼

tsp. Diamond Crystal or Morton kosher salt, plus more

2

cups (250 g) all-purpose flour

2

Tbsp. dark brown sugar

2½

tsp. baking powder

2

large eggs

1

cup whole milk

1

tsp. vanilla extract

Vegetable oil (for frying; about 8 cups)

Special Equipment

Deep-fry thermometer

Piston funnel or squeeze bottle with extra-wide opening

Need to make a substitution?

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Place ¼ cup freeze-dried blueberries in a resealable plastic bag and finely crush with a rolling pin. Transfer to a small bowl; set blueberry powder aside for serving.

    Step 2

    Sift 2 cups (220 g) powdered sugar and 1 tsp. ground ginger into a large glass or ceramic bowl. Add ½ cup buttermilk and pinch of kosher salt and whisk until very smooth and shiny. Set glaze aside.

    Step 3

    Whisk 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour, 2 Tbsp. dark brown sugar, 2½ tsp. baking powder, and ¼ tsp. Diamond Crystal or Morton kosher salt in a medium bowl to combine. Whisk 2 large eggs, 1 cup whole milk, and 1 tsp. vanilla extract in another medium bowl until combined and smooth. Make a well in center of dry ingredients and pour egg mixture into well. Whisk, gradually adding dry ingredients to egg mixture, until just combined and no lumps remain (it should be the consistency of pancake batter).

    Step 4

    Fit a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot with thermometer; pour in vegetable oil to come about 1½" up sides (about 8 cups) and heat over medium-high until thermometer registers 375° Pour about ½ cup batter into funnel. Hold funnel over pot and release batter into oil, moving funnel in a spiral pattern to create about a 6"-diameter cake, then crisscross batter over itself. (If using a squeeze bottle, squeeze ½ cup batter into the oil in a spiral pattern to create about a 6"-diameter cake, then crisscross batter over itself.) Fry funnel cake until golden brown underneath, 2–3 minutes. Using a spider or tongs, turn over and fry until golden brown on the other side, 2–3 minutes. Transfer funnel cake to a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet and let drain. Repeat with remaining batter.

    Step 5

    Working one at a time, gently dunk warm funnel cakes in reserved glaze with your hand for a few seconds, then sprinkle with reserved blueberry powder. Dust with powdered sugar if desired.

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