Funnel Cake Fun

Through the course of my many blog hops, I ended up at a Latte' with Ott, A and saw the Clabber Girl Contest going on.  I can't help but be interested in 

 A) baking

   B) a contest 

I'm not so very competitive, but I do love to share recipes with other people.  I also like to take yummy, scrummy, perhaps high in fat or calorie recipes and try to trim them down so they are healthier, but still delicious.  I know that funnell cakes are traditionally deep fried, but I'm just not having that in our house.  I fried each cake in about 1 tbs canola oil, which I will admit made them more "cake-like" and less crispy.  They were however, still delicious.  Here is my take on Funnel Cakes!

I reduced the recipe to make 4 funnel cakes, which is perfect for the girls and I to have as an afternoon snack.  There isn't much point in having left overs, or having too many and wanting to eat them all! 

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 1/2-3/4 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 3/4 cup and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 3-4 tbs canola/vegetable oil

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, mix salt, baking powder, and flour. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together egg, sugar and milk. Add flour mixture and beat until smooth. Batter will be thin enough to run through a funnel. I had to add more milk to the mixture, but I didn't measure how much.  I just added until it was thin.  Conversely, the instructions say to add the flour a bit at a time until you reach desire consistency.
3. In a skillet, heat 1 tbs oil to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4. Put your finger over the bottom opening of the funnel, and fill the funnel with a generous 1/2 cup of the batter. Hold the funnel close to the surface of the oil, and release the batter into the oil while making a circular motion. Fry until golden brown. Use tongs and wide spatula to turn the cake over carefully. Fry the second side one minute.  Sprinkle with sifted confectioners' sugar or cinnamon sugar. Add 1 tbs oil for each funnel cake you will fry.  If you have a good non-stick pan you can actually skip most of the oil, but the edges won't be crispy.