November has arrived and, with it, our brand new book of the month: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow! Normally I save spooky stories like this for October, but as I was rereading Sleepy Hollow in preparation for this menu, I noticed that pretty much all the food was perfect Thanksgiving fare: pies flavored with pumpkin and apples, dressed turkey, cider, and so much more! Thus, I decided to save this menu for November, when people would be hankering for classic autumnal flavors, rather than Halloween-specific recipes.

I’m starting things off with delicious apple cider crullers. When Ichabod Crane describes the delicious food served at the Van Tassel party, crullers are high on the list, as is cider, so I decided to make a recipe that combined the two together. I’d never made crullers before and originally planned to find a recipe online, but when I realized they’re made with choux pastry, I whipped up a batch of the trusty choux recipe from my cookbook, simply subbing apple cider for half the water. The icing was easy to improvise too: just make powdered sugar icing and use cider instead of milk for the liquid. These were scrumptious and fun, a big hit with everyone at our house. They were gone by the end of the day!

A

Apple Cider Crullers

“Fain would I pause to dwell upon the world of charms that burst upon the enraptured gaze of my hero, as he entered the state parlor of Van Tassel’s mansion…the ample charms of a genuine Dutch country tea-table, in the sumptuous time of autumn. Such heaped up platters of cakes of various and almost indescribable kinds, known only to experienced Dutch housewives! There was the doughty doughnut, the tender oly koek, and the crisp and crumbling cruller…”

— The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

INGREDIENTS:

• For the Crullers
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup apple cider
  • 1 cup flour
  • 4 eggs, thoroughly beaten
  • vegetable oil for frying (about 8 cups or so, depending on the size of your pot)
• For the Icing
  • 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
  • 2 tbsp apple cider

 

Makes approx. 24 crullers

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Cut a sheet of parchment paper into 24 3-inch squares and set aside. Place a wire rack over a baking sheet and set aside.
2. Melt the butter, water, and cider together in a medium saucepan on low heat. Turn the heat to medium and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and pour in the flour all at once. Stir together quickly with a silicone spatula. Turn the heat back to medium. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Beat in the eggs 1/2 tablespoon at a time with a hand mixer on medium speed until smooth.
   
3. Fit a piping bag with a jumbo star tip and fill the bag with the dough. You may want to fill it only half full at first, since this recipe makes a lot of dough. I had a hard time maintaining consistent pressure while piping with a full bag, but maneuvering a half bag was much easier.
4. Fill a large pot at least 3 inches deep with vegetable oil and place over medium heat. Allow the oil to come to 370°.
5. While you wait, pipe a 2.5-inch circle of dough onto each of your parchment squares. Most of the recipes I looked at call for lightly coating your squares with cooking spray before piping on the dough. I forgot to do that for the first 10 squares, but they still slid right off while frying, just like they were supposed to. So…spray them if you want, I guess?
   
6. Gently lower 2-3 crullers into the oil, parchment-side-down. After about 10-15 seconds, you should be able to easily pull the parchment squares out of the oil with a pair of metal tongs. Discard the parchment. Fry the crullers for about 2 minutes on each side until they are a strong golden brown color. Gently remove them from the oil with metal tongs and place on the rack covered baking sheet to drain. Repeat with your remaining crullers.
7. While your crullers fry, stir together your icing ingredients until smooth. When all your crullers are finished, drizzle on the icing.
   
8. Serve at a party at the Van Tassel mansion!

 

 

Check out some of my other doughnut recipes!

Stranger Things Apple Cider Doughnut Holes

Tom’s White-Washed Jelly Doughnuts from Tom Sawyer