Strübli – Carnival Baking – Les Poissonchats

Where I come from there is a very fun tradition called Fasnacht, carnival. I have been many things in life so far, however, Fasnacht would allow me to even take it a little further and magically shapeshift into princesses, pirates, cats, sorceresses and whatnot, if only for a few days.

Fastnacht marks the start of lent and is the blast before the sorrowful days of cabbage stew and old bread. You’re allowed to do anything and eat until you can’t take it anymore.

Strübeli fit very well into Fasnacht, when back in the old days, loads of cakes and treats were baked in hot fat or oil for the occasion. Strübli are made from a liquid dough with eggs, milk and wine or cider, deep fried and coated in powdered sugar. One ought to ideally eat them while they aren’t fully cooled out, so keeping them for the next day really would be a pity.

Mind, you’ll need to have a long and quiet moment for doing Strübli, and a steady hand, this recipe involves deep frying and we don’t want to you to hurt yourself. Now.

What you’ll need

3 eggs, 150g of flour, a pinch of salt, 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1dl of wine or apple cider, 3dl of whole milk, 20g of butter, copious frying oil (sunflower seed oil works best because of its neutral taste), powdered sugar

How to cook them

Heat milk, butter and wine. Mix the flour with the salt and sugar, add the warm milkbutterwine and mix well. While continuously mixing, add one egg after the other and continue mixing for about 5min.

Pour the oil into a smaller frying pan with a high rim. I used my small cast iron which has a diametre of about 15cm. Add enough oil for the Strübli to swim, i.e. 1.5 fingers at least. Gently heat the oil at medium heat. You can start the deep frying as soon little bubbles form. With a large spoon, carefully drizzle a spiral of liquid dough into the fat. Start outside and work towards the inside. It might require a little precision but it’s awfully easy once you get the hang of it. The Strübli taste better the thinner and finer you manage to make them. Fry golden (about three to four minutes) and turn for another two minutes. Let the Strübli sit on a cooling rack for some minutes and coat with powdered sugar.