Best Homemade Funnel Cake How To Make Funnel Cake

All my experiments with food began only after I got married and reached the United States. Till then my favorite comfort food was my Indian food, mainly Dosa & Idli , Naan, Butter Masala, Tikka Masala. I never knew about funnel cakes. The only thing that I tried was the Indian funnel cake called Jalebis - one of the most popular Indian sweets or desserts that are eggless and prepared using flour, sugar, yogurt, and baking soda. As festival season is around the corner, to make it more interesting, do try this international version of jalebi 🙂 For all those who are new to funnel cake, I hope you get an idea of what it is by the end of this post 🙂

What is Funnel Cake?

Funnel Cake is not a cake. It is nothing but simple flour-egg batter stirred together, poured in hot oil in a zig-zag pattern, fried until golden brown, and topped with powdered sugar. It is a popular food from North America, mainly prepared at carnivals and fairs. You can serve funnel cake with powdered or confectioners sugar, or get creative and drizzle chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, dulce de leche, heavy whipped cream, jam/jelly, cinnamon sugar, or any of your favorite toppings like strawberries, ice cream - the options are endless!!

Funnel cake vs fried dough

Fried dough is generally a name given to a variety of bread made using yeast dough - may be bread dough or pizza dough, stretched into a circle and dropped in hot oil. Funnel cake, on the other hand, is not made from dough instead made using a batter of milk, egg, flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar, poured in hot oil in zig-zag patterns or swirling motion.

Some of my other favorite carnival and state fair foods

Anytime you have cravings for carnival and fair foods try these out. They are sure to satisfy all your cravings.

ChurrosOrange Shake Up Corn on the cobKettle cornElephant Ears

Also, check the simple 2 ingredient recipe for elephant ears using Puff pastry (palmiers or little hearts). What are your favorite carnival and state fair food and activities? Are you missing it the way we do with the current pandemic?

Ingredients

2 ¼ cups Whole Milk, more or less (Check tips)2 Eggs1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract2 ½ cups All-purpose Flour, more or less (Check tips)4 tablespoon to 5 tablespoon Sugar½ teaspoon Salt3 teaspoon Baking powder¼ teaspoon Cinnamon powder (optional)Oil, for fryingConfectioners Sugar, as needed You may reduce ingredient amounts to half or double as needed.

How to make the best Funnel Cakes at home from Scratch

Prepare Funnel Cake Batter

Heat oil in a pan or skillet on medium heat so that it becomes nice and hot.In a bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, and vanilla together. To this, add dry ingredients - flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Whisk together until it is smooth and creamy.If you feel the batter is too thick, add more milk; if it is too thin, then add extra flour. Basically, the batter should be slightly thicker than your regular pancake batter but of pourable consistency. (Check tips)

How to pour funnel cake batter and fry?

To pour batter into the oil you can use a funnel cake dispenser or Ziploc bags or refillable round nozzle squeeze bottle (nozzle with ¼ inch opening is the ideal size).Pour some of the batter into any one of the above pouring equipment and drizzle in swirling and overlapping (or zig-zag) motion in hot oil to get a funnel cake. Make sure some of the swirls are connected. This need not have to be a perfect circle.Let this cook for about 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown and crispy.Transfer it to a paper towel to absorb any excess oil.Sprinkle with confectioners sugar as needed.Funnel Cakes are ready. Serve them warm and enjoy.

Tips regarding flour, milk, and oil for Funnel Cake

The consistency of the batter plays a very important role in the success of funnel cakes. If the batter is too thin or watery, funnel cakes won’t hold together, start falling apart, and it is going to be a mess. If it’s too thick, you will not be able to pour it in a timely fashion, and it’s again going to be a mess. You will have to play around with the batter to get the right consistency. The amount of flour may vary depending on the brand and weather conditions.I have used whole milk and thus needed 2 ½ cups of flour. If using skim milk, the amount of flour needed may vary slightly.I generally don’t use any thermometer to check the oil temperature. I just drop few drops of batter and see if it sizzles and comes up immediately. But if you want the exact oil temperature, it’s 375 degrees F for crispy and golden funnel cakes.