Day 4 Christmas Cookies - Rosettes

The original 'funnel cake' ... only ... lighter and prettier! Sweet, light, delicate, and traditional - what more could a scandinavian or scandiphile want? Pretty easy to make once you get used to the system, said all the right prayers, danced around the kitchen in the right direction, and had a couple of shots of aquavit to get started.

The dough is really more of a batter that you dip pretty little rosette irons into before you deep fry them, remove them from the iron, and cover in powdered sugar. Traditional and commonly found shapes are generally stars & flowers but you can find some really nifty shapes that are out of the ordinary and fancy too! Nordicware has some great stuff in general, but their selection of rosette irons is out of this world.

Rosettes:

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup flour

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla or almond

1/4 tsp salt

* vegetable oil or canola oil for frying

***special equipment needed - a rosette iron (obviously), fry pan or deep fryer, skewers or a clean knitting needle, thermometer for the oil, and paper towels***

Whisk together all but the flour & salt, then sift in the flour and salt, mixing until it is a very thin batter, like that for swedish pancakes - think much like heavy cream. Chill for a few hours in the refrigerator - this will make for very crispy rosettes.

Set your fryer for 365 or pour 2-3" of oil in your frying pan, and get it to the same temp. Once the oil is hot, let your iron get to the same temp by submerging it in the oil, and bringing back to temperature.

Say a little prayer to Odin and Freya before you start. ;) This part is a little tricky.

Carefully dip the irons into the batter so that it covers the bottom and sides - NEVER the top!!! Quickly now. Move from the batter to the oil and submerge the entire rosette. Let it cook to a lovely golden brown, just a few minutes.... you'll know you did it right when it flares off the iron - then, you remove it the rest of the way off the iron, give it & yourself a second to celebrate your good fortune, then flip that sucker and let it FRY. When the color is to your liking, remove with the skewers/knitting needles and let drain on paper towels. Dust with powdered sugar.

It's the right thing to do.

Now, try to restrain yourself. Oh, wait - nevermind. Just remember to share.