Orange Fritters

(Serves 4-6)

Ingredients

• 50g butter
• 175g plain flour
• Juice of 4 oranges
• 4 medium eggs
• 6 Tbsp caster sugar
• 1 tbsp finely grated orange zest
• oil, for deep-frying

Method

In a saucepan, bring 150ml water to the boil with the butter, add the flour and beat with a wooden spoon until it forms a shiny, smooth dough which pulls away from the sides of the pan. Remove from the heat and beat in 1 Tbsp of the orange juice. Allow to cool a little and then beat in the eggs one by one, making sure each is incorporated before you add the next. Stop when the paste begins to lose its shine.

Meanwhile make a dipping syrup: heat the rest of the juice, diluted with its own volume of water, with the sugar in a small pan. Let bubble gently for a couple of minutes, remove from the heat, stir in the orange zest and reserve.

Heat a panful of oil. As soon as its hazed with blue, drop in marble-sized blobs of the orange paste; use 2 tspn and fry only a few at a time. Wait until they bob to the surface and puff up before you flip them over to cook the other side. (If the oil’s too hot, the outside will burn before the inside is cooked; if it’s too cool, they’ll be oily and heavy. You’ll soon get the hang of it.) Transfer to kitchen paper with a draining spoon and dip them in the syrup before you serve them. You can finish them with a drizzle of warm honey if you prefer. Or with a dusting of sugar and cinnamon.