ApPle Zeppoles!!

After an intense workout at the gym I sat down to Giada's show Everyday Italian. Guess what she was making!? APPLE ZEPPOLES!!!!! mmm mmm! I was salivating at the thought of biting into those crisp yet soft pillows of heaven. Temptation got the best of me, so I took a stroll to my local Stop and Shop and bought all the necessary ingredients.

1 large granny smith apple (1 1/2 cups peeled and grated)
1/4 cup of sugar
1 stick of butter
1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/2 cup of water

1 cup of flour

4 eggs

2 tablespoons of confectioner's sugar (this is really up to you)

Olive oil

*I followed Giada's recipe. Here's a link http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_97065,00.html
I did not make the cinammon whipped cream. I did just work out!

Step 1: Peel and grate your apple. Approximately 1 1/2 cups.

Step 2: In a medium saucepan - Combine butter, salt, sugar and water over medium heat.
Step 3: Take pan off heat and stif in flour.
Step 4: Return to heat and stir continuously until mixture forms a ball (3-5 min)
(No pictures for these steps because I was too caught up in cooking)

Step 5: Transfer to medium bowl. Using an electric handmixer on low speed - add the four eggs BUT beat one egg at a time. Beat until smooth.


Step 6: Add the grated apple and stir.

Step 7: Get you oil ready! To fry, Giada used a small ice cream scooper and carefully dropped a rounded tablespoon of the dough into the sizzling oil. (I didn't have an ice cream scooper, so no perfectly round shaped zeppoles here!)


Step 8: Remember to turn it a couple of times. It should be puffed and golden. (About 4 min)







**(My zeppoles were not all so round. These were the roundest I could get them. Most looked like deflated teardrops.)



Final Step: Sift some confectioner's sugar on the zeppoles. Are you salivating?



The zeppoles turned out pretty well. I have to admit I was little bit dissapointed. It was not as crispy as I would like. Maybe it's because I couldn't make decent round balls or maybe their was too much wetness from the apples. I did realize my apple grating was all wrong. It was too long and stringy. It needed to be short and stubby. That made it harder to make nice round balls


***Oh well! I will try again soon. I still applaud myself for making delicious - not so crispy or round - apple zeppoles.