Enjoy A Playful Take On A Popular Fair Food By Turning It Into French Fries

Fair foods are fun, fried, and delicious. From deep-fried ranch dressing and fried pickles to fried jelly beans and deep-fried Oreos, these creative and indulgent foods are a big reason fairs and festivals are so popular. While fair food-makers come out with new creations every year, funnel cake is a quintessential fair food that's been around for centuries. (It first appeared in a German cookbook in 1879and is thought to have been introduced to the United States by German immigrants known as the Pennsylvania Dutch.) 

Classic funnel cake consists of overlapping ribbons of deep-fried dough dusted with powdered sugar. It's often served with chocolate sauce, strawberries, or whipped cream. You typically need a knife and fork to eat this tasty, albeit messy dessert. But turning your funnel cake into fries is fun and makes it a lot easier and less messy to eat and share this sweet treat. 

Making funnel cake fries is similar to making funnel cake except you pipe the batter into straight lines a few inches long instead of a continuous ribbon. You don't need any special equipment, just a piping bag or squeeze bottle with the tip cut large enough for the thick batter. Or you can buy a bottle with a wider opening, like the Whiskware pancake batter bottle.  

It might seem like a good idea, but there's a reason you can't make funnel cake in the air fryer. Instead, use hot oil and fry in batches to avoid overcrowding. They only take about a minute per side, so it shouldn't take too long. When you're done, place the hot cake fries on a plate lined with paper towel to soak up the extra oil so they stay crispy until you eat them.

Now comes the fun part — the toppings. It wouldn't be funnel cake without the powdered sugar on top. Use a fine mesh strainer or a duster like the Cusinium powdered sugar shaker to sprinkle the funnel cake fries with powdered sugar. Just as some people prefer drizzling the ketchup right on their french fries instead of on the side, some people enjoy drizzling toppings over their funnel cake fries. However, another option is to ditch the fork and use your fingers to dip the funnel cake fries in ramekins of chocolate sauce, Nutella, strawberry jam, marshmallow dip, caramel sauce, or whipped cream.