Croatian fritule are miniature donuts that are a favorite Croatian Christmas treat, as well as being eaten during Carnival season and Lent, the period before Easter, but I find it really hard to stick to those rules. They’re perfectly delicious for breakfast with a cup of coffee or a sweet snack.
Fritule usually contain citrus zest and raisins and often are flavored with rum or brandy, including the Croatian rakija brandy. The rum or brandy keeps the fritule from picking up too much cooking oil. It’s optional to add the rum. If you decide to use it you could incorporate two or three tablespoons of rum or brandy or rum flavoring. There are many variations when preparing fritule. For example; apple and cinnamon, pumpkin, chocolate and many more. Each are uniquely tasty and worth trying.
The cooking time for the fritule is very short, but be sure the donuts are nicely browned before removing them from the hot oil, otherwise they can be under cooked on the inside. I would suggest to fry just a few balls of batter at a time, shaped with two dessert spoons – too many and they may stick together. And its equally important to fry them on low to medium heat, otherwise the will fry too fast and again could be under cooked on the inside. The texture should be crisp and golden on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside.
tasty croatian fritule recipe
ingredients
- three hundred grams of plain yogurt
- two eggs, beaten
- one hundred and fifty grams of smooth flour (also known as glatko brasno)*
- one hundred and fifty grams of course flour (also known as ostro brasno)*
- a pinch of salt
- sixty grams of sugar
- twenty grams of vanilla sugar (or two teaspoons of vanilla seeds)
- two teaspoons of baking powder
- one teaspoon of lemon peel zest
- thirty milliliters of rum
- oil, for frying
instructions
Combine all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl; the flour, salt, sugar, vanilla sugar (if using vanilla seeds add along with the yogurt instead), and baking powder.
Follow by adding the wet ingredients – yogurt, eggs, lemon peel zest, and the rum – and mix well to form a smooth dough.
Heat oil in a frying pan at a high temperature. Once the oil begins to boil, using a tablespoon or an ice cream scoop, spoon the dough mixture into the hot oil and fry until golden in color, about two minutes
Place the fritters on stacked paper towels to allow the excess oil to be absorbed. Serve with powdered sugar, chocolate sauce or any preferred topping.
notes
*If you do not having these two variations of flour, continue to use three hundred grams of all-purpose flour.
