Making Funnel Cake
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Start to Finish: 25 minutes Servings: 4 Difficulty: Intermediate

You don’t have to wait for a carnival to come to town to enjoy deep-fried funnel cakes. Make them at home with ingredients you probably already have on hand. You’ll need a plastic squeeze bottle or a pastry bag and tip to extrude the batter. If you don’t have either of these tools, you could use a measuring cup with a pour spout, although your funnel cake may come out a bit uneven.

Adapted from a recipe by Stephanie of Girl Versus Dough on Tablespoon.com

Ingredients

  • Vegetable oil for frying

  • 2 cups milk

  • 4 eggs

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 4 cups Bisquick Original baking mix

  • Powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar for topping

Directions

Pour oil about 2 inches deep in a large stock pot or dutch oven. Heat it over medium-low heat until it reads 350 degrees Fahrenheit on a candy thermometer. If you have a deep fryer, set it to 350 degrees F.

Whisk together milk, eggs and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Add the Bisquick Original baking mix and whisk until fully combined. Ladle the batter into a squeeze bottle or pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch round tip.

When the oil reaches 350 degrees F, hold the squeeze bottle or pastry bag 2 or 3 inches above the oil. Slowly squeeze the batter in a wide circle, being sure to close the circle. In a continuous motion, continue to squeeze out the batter, filling in the circle.

Fry the funnel cake for 30 to 45 seconds, until the underside is golden brown. Use a spatula or tongs to carefully flip the cake over and fry for an additional 20 to 30 seconds.

Remove the funnel cake and let it cool on a paper towel. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar if desired.

Repeat with the remaining batter. Keep funnel cakes warm in a 200 degree F oven until you are ready to serve them.

Tips

If you want to go all-out, serve your funnel cake as a sundae topped with vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup, whipped cream and a cherry.

Get creative with your funnel cake batter -- add up to 1 teaspoon of any combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, ground ginger or allspice to give your homemade funnel cake new layers of flavor.

Warnings

Be extremely careful when working with hot oil. It can splatter, especially when you add the funnel cake batter, causing severe burns.

Keep the oil at 350 degrees F for best results. You may need to allow time for the oil to heat up between funnel cakes.