Apfelküchle are sweet fried German apple fritters that are a nice treat which are perfect for a sweet lunch or dessert. In less than 30 minutes you can enjoy these apple ring donuts, battered in an airy dough and shallow fried.
Germans are crazy about desserts with apples. This one and German Apple Sauce, German Apple Streusel Cake or German Apple Pancakes are some of our favourite recipes in our family.
What are Apfelküchle?
Apfelküchle are deep-fried pastry cakes and belong to the family of fruit beignets recipes. Here fresh apple rings are battered in a thick dough and then fried in hot fat.
Apfelküchle originated from the German region of Baden-Württemberg. At first, they were always prepared just before the Fasting Season in Germany. (Faschingszeit). Especially during the "Schmotzigen Donnerstag" (fatty Thursday) which is the Thursday before Ash Wednesday which marks the start of the fasting period in Germany. This is the time when Germans like to eat deep-fried pastries such as the Berliner Donut.
Today these battered apple rings have spread across Germany and beyond its borders.
Name Origin
The most common name for these apple donuts is Apfelküchle. Apfel is the name for apples in German. "Küchle" is an expression that originates from Swabia and Bavaria and describes a round deep-fried pastry. However, in the southwest of Germany, it can also mean a dish made of potatoes, ground meat or fish.
Alternative names for these German apple fritters are:
- Apfelküchlein (litte apple cake)
- Apfelkücherl (deep-fried apple cake)
- Apfelradl (apple wheels)
- Gebackene Apfelringe (baked apple rings)
- Apfelbeignets (apple beignets)
- Apfelkrapferl (apple donuts)
In Austria this appe dessert is called Äpfelkiachle and in Switzerland it is called Öpfelchüechli.
Apfelküchle Recipe
There are many variations of these apple pancake rings. I have tested two variations, in one of them the batter is made with milk, and for the other beer is used.
Ingredients:
- tart apples
- lemon juice
- flour
- sugar
- salt
- milk or beer
- eggs
- neutral-flavoured oil for frying such as rapeseed oil or sunflower oil or clarified butter.
How to Step-by-Step instructions
- Peel the apples and remove the core with an apple corer or cut it out by hand. The hole should be about 2-3 cm large. Now slice the apples into about 1.5 cm thick slices. Squeeze some lemon juice over them and put them aside.
- In a bowl mix together the flour, sugar and salt. Add the eggs or milk or beer and whisk the dough until you achieve a smooth batter. Place the apple rings in the prepared batter.
- Using a deep saucepan or frying pan, heat the oil to about 170 °C (340 °F). If you do not have a cooking thermometer you can hold a wooden spoon in the oil. If you find that bubbles are forming, the oil should be ready.
- Carefully place the battered apple slices into the dough and fry for approximately 3 minutes on each side until crisp. Only place a few apple rings into the oil at a time, as otherwise, they might stick to another. Once baked, you can place them on a kitchen towel to soak up the excess oil.
- Serve immediately.
Recipe Variations
There are plenty of variations of this recipe.
- Use yeast dough to make the batter extra fluffy.
- You can also achieve more air in the batter by separating the eggs and whisking the egg white until stiff and then folding it into the batter.
- Other recipes like to soak the apples in some liqueur beforehand to enhance the aroma.
How to serve German apple fritters
Traditionally these fried apple rings were served as a sweet main course. Nowadays you can also find them on restaurant menus under desserts. You can enjoy them hot or cold. In my opinion, they taste best freshly fried, with some vanilla ice cream.
Here are some favourites sides for apple fritters:
- cinnamon and sugar, (zimt und Zucker in German) is a traditional choice
- Icing sugar/confectioners sugar
- German vanilla sauce
- compote such as rhubarb compote or cherry compote
- Rote Grütze (German berry sauce)
- Vanilla ice cream
- Sour cream
Storage Instructions
The fried apple rings can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can reheat them by gently frying them with a little oil in the pan.
I would not recommend freezing fried apple rings, as the batter will get soggy when defrosted. However, you can freeze them uncooked in the batter and simply fry them in hot oil straight from the freezer.
Did you try this recipe?
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Recipe
Apfelküchle (German Apple Fritters)
Ingredients
- 4 apples tart
- 150 g flour 5.2 oz
- 1 pinch salt
- 150 ml milk 5 fl oz OR 100 ml (3.3 fl oz) lager beer
- 2 eggs medium size
- 750 ml oil Use an oil with a neutral taste such as rapeseed oil or sunflower oil. Alternatively, you can also fry them in clarified butter which gives a buttery taste.
To serve
- cinnamon sugar 100 g sugar mixed with 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (affiliate link)
- vanilla ice cream
- german vanilla sauce
- rhubarb compote
- cherry compote
- rote grütze
- sour cream
- icing sugar / confectioners sugar
Instructions
- Peel the apples and remove the core with an apple corer or cut it out by hand. The hole should be about 2-3 cm large. Now slice the apples into about 1.5 cm thick slices. Squeeze some lemon juice over them and put them aside.
- In a bowl mix together the flour, sugar and salt. Add the eggs or milk or beer and whisk the dough until you achieve a smooth batter. Place the apple rings in the prepared batter.
- Using a deep saucepan or frying pan, heat the oil up to about 170 °C (340 F). If you do not have a cooking thermometer you can hold a wooden spoon into the oil. If you find that bubbles are forming, the oil should be ready.
- Carefully place the battered apple slices into the dough and bake for approximately 3 minutes on each side until crisp. Only place a few apple rings into the oil at a time, as otherwise, they might stick to another. Once baked, you can place them on a kitchen towel to soak up the excess oil.
- Serve immediately.
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