Ingredients
2 lb flour
1 qt hot water (about)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brandy
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 nutmeg, grated
1 cup raisins
1 lemon (grated peel)
1/2 cup tepid water
6 tsp dried yeast
1 1/2 qt soy or other light oil - for frying
Directions
Place flour in large bowl (or on table) and into hole in middle, add
gradually about a quart of hot water as you blend. Beating as you go,
and sides are cleaned of batter, whip the batter thoroughly with the
wooden spoon and add water until the mixture begins to ball. Continue
whipping, as you gradually add the sugar, brandy, vanilla, nutmeg,
raisins and lemon zest (grated peel).
Lastly, blend in and whip 1/2 cup tepid water in which you let soak 6
teaspoons of dried yeast as you begin the recipe. Let batter stand
(about 15-20 minutes) while oil heats. Heat about 1 1/2 quarts soy
oil, or other light cooking oil, in pan at ideal depth of 2 1/2
inches. Whip the dough again. Have teaspoon and cup warm water handy.
When oil is hot enough (stops squeaking), take a small fistful of
dough and squeeze upward a ball about double, filling the teaspoon
that had been dipped in the warm water, then drop in hot oil.
Continue, dipping spoon in water before scraping off the ball of
dough, until your pan surface is nicely filled but not crowded. Take
this opportunity to whip some more air into your dough. You'll find
from time to time they have to be coaxed to stay turned. When both
sides are golden brown, remove and let cool slightly before rolling
in confectioners' (fine) sugar to coat. They're best on cold nights
between sips of your favorite whiskey ("rakija").
Source: Pavica Palaric Bajlov "Our Favorite Recipes" St. Anthony
Croatian Catholic Church Typed for you by Karen Mintzias
Servings: 1 batch
Prsurate (Holiday Season Drop Doughnuts) Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Bread; Breads; Dessert; Holiday; Nut
The History of Recipes
It is possible to trace the history of `recipes` way back into the far past, at least as far back into recorded history as ancient Egypt, and quite possibly further than that. However, in the main part, these early recipes were just simple pictorial instructions for meal preparation.
The truth of the matter is, the oldest recipe discovered so far, according to Professor Solomon Katz, is a series of stone tablets in the Sumerian language which show the preparation of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making anyone who tried it feel blissful. Later on, in The time of the roman empire 25BC a roman called Apicius assembled a collection of scripts describing recipes prepared by his fellow Romans. He describes how the meals of wealthy Romans were separated into starters, entrees and desserts, something we still use today. He also informs us how the ancient chefs made use of a wide range of spices and herbs, including a few you will know like basil, mint and asafoetida. Later, we have a couple of interesting books which date from the fourteenth century - a recipe book called `Forme of Cury`, and another named `Curye on Inglish`. Surprisingly, they are nothing to do with the indian curry that is familiar to us all today, but rather accounts of the types of meals cooked for the rich people of the time. Later, in the fifteenth century, knights returning from the crusades brought back many spices and herbs from Arab cuisine, including coriander, parsley, and rosemary. These new herbs and spices was responsible for an outbreak in books on cookery, many of which still exist in private cookery archives. During the following few hundred years, the upper-class families of Wesstern Europe competed with each other to serve up the most exotic meals, and because of this the best cooks and their recipes were highly sought after. Nevertheless, it was during the 1800s that cookery and recipe collections really came of age. The Famous Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally famous Fannie Merritt Farmer in the USA, dedicated years of their lives to assembling, testing, and writing down recipes to allow everyone to enjoy them. By the time we get to the 1900s, cooking books are in great demand, mostly due to higher levels of literacy, people having increased free time and being a little richer. The arrival of television brings us TV cookery programs and the recipe books that accompanied them. And that pretty much brings us to the present day and the invention of the internet, permitting us all to search through thousands of recipes just like those on this site. |
We hope you enjoy this Prsurate (Holiday Season Drop Doughnuts) recipe.
