In the past years that the Belle Vue Wedding Venue is up and running, we never had a function without the traditional Pumpkin or Butternut Fritters served as a side with the main meals.
They are juicy, soft, and sweet and can opt as a dessert. With this one function we had, the dessert was a Black Forest Cake and we all know that a Black Forest Cake is drenched in cherry liqueur. When the dessert was served, one of the guests came into the kitchen (which freaks me out – guests don’t belong in a kitchen) and said: “I am a recovered alcoholic, please are there any leftover fritters that I can have for dessert.” And this is how this dessert saw the light of day.
I altered the original recipe by drenching the fritters in a lemon syrup instead of the traditional caramel syrup. The white chocolate sauce is adapted from one of C. Louis Leipoldts’ recipes which he served as a dessert soup. His recipes are interesting, it reads like a story, no lists or numbered methods. No, a story. Here follows his Chocolate Soup recipe in Afrikaans:
“Maak vier eetlepels vol fynmeel bruin in ‘n kastrol en voeg versigtig by drie koppies kokende melk; roer goed dat daar geen klontjies kom nie; voeg by twee eetlepels suiker en twee eetlepels fyngemaakte vanieljesjokolade. Laat opkook, gooi oor geroosterde brood en dien op.”
Translated to English: “Brown four tablespoons of fine flour in a saucepan and gently add three cups of boiling milk; stir well so that there are no lumps; add two tablespoons of sugar and two tablespoons of vanilla chocolate bring to a boil. Pour soup over toasted bread and serve. “
Lemon Butternut Fritters with White Chocolate Sauce
Ingredients
Fritters:
- 750g Butternut, cooked, mashed and cooled (About 1kg raw Butternut).
- 2 Eggs
- 5ml Salt
- 300g Cake Flour (2 cups)
- 15ml Baking Powder
- 500ml Sunflower Oil, for deep frying
Lemon Syrup:
- 400g Sugar (2 cups)
- 500ml Water (2 cups)
- 125ml Lemon Juice (1/2 cup)
- Zest of 2 lemons finely grated
- 15ml Maizena
White Chocolate Sauce:
- 30ml Cake Flour
- 30ml Sugar
- 500ml Milk
- 60g White Chocolate, chopped
- 30g Butter
Instructions
- Mix the mashed butternut, eggs, and salt together until well incorporated.
- Sieve the cake flour and baking powder and mix it into the pumpkin mixture to form a soft dough.
- Heat the sunflower oil in a deep saucepan over moderate heat.
- Add tablespoonfuls of the batter into the heated oil and fry until light brown / golden color and cooked.
- When cooked, remove from the fritters from the oil and place it on kitchen paper to drain the oil.
- Transfer the drained fritters to a dish and keep warm.
Lemon Syrup:
- Add al the ingredients, except for the maizena, into a saucepan over moderate heat and bring to a boil.
- Dissolve the maizena in a little bit of water and add it to the syrup and cook for 5 minutes.
- Pour half of the sauce over the fritter and allow it to soak for 5 minutes.
- Turn the fritters over and pour the rest of the sauce over it.
- Keep warm until ready to serve.
White Chocolate (Quick Method):
- In a microwave-safe bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, and milk together.
- Heat in microwave for 5 minutes on high. Pause every minute and whisk thoroughly to ensure that it is lump-free.
- Finally, add the white chocolate and butter and stir until thoroughly mixed.
White Chocolate (Leipoldt’s Method):
- Start by making a roux. Melt the butter in a saucepan that is big enough to take double the amount of liquid. When the butter is melted add the flour and whisk until well combined.
- Add the milk, little at a time, and whisk continuously to prevent lumps from forming. When all the milk has been added, bring to a boil.
- Remove from the heat and add the white chocolate and stir until the chocolate is fully incorporated into the sauce.