Yes, another Apple fritter recipe. I have several in my repertoire from a presentation I made at Kingdom A&S several years ago. This one and two others come from one of my favorite sources The Cookbook of Sabina Welserin, a German manuscript cookbook dated by her own hand to 1553.

Apple Puffs

• 1 cup sifted flour

• 2/3 cup of water

• 1 egg

• 1or 2 large apples, peeled, cored and sliced thin

• Butter (and a little oil)* for frying

Sift flour before measuring. (Sifting the flour helps ensure smooth blending and aerates the flour for a lighter batter. When using wholegrain flours, it reduces coarseness.)  Blend flour and water till smooth and beat until you see small bubbles or blisters forming in the dough, beat in egg. Melt butter in a skillet.

Dip apples slices in batter one at a time (The apple slices need to be dipped one at a time otherwise they stick together and do not get coated properly.) and fry in hot butter. Watch temperature of butter carefully as it can burn easily.

*(Adding some mild flavored oil to the butter will raise the scorching point of the butter and help prevent burning. While I cannot prove this as a medieval technique, it is the sort of trick that might have been passed along from cook to cook.)

Original text:

For the English translations of the recipes I have relied on the work of Valoise Armstrong. Her translation has been published privately in conjunction with Cariadoc's Miscellany and is available on line.

101 To make apple puffs

Then put flour in a bowl and put some fresh spring water therein. It should not be too thin. And beat the batter very carefully, thin it after that with eggs, and when you put the thin apple strips in the pan of butter, then shake the pan well, then they rise up.

Apples-While some varieties of medieval apples, such as Court Pendu Plat, Golden Reinette, Rambo and Fameuse, are still cultivated none were available to me locally. So like the medieval cook, I relied on the fruit available from my local market.  My initial choice for the apples was Braeburns. They are a nice all-purpose apple, readily available in my local market and performed well in the redactions.  Subsequent study revealed Golden Delicious might be a more authentic choice. Although they were not grown in medieval times, one of their ancestors may be the Golden Reinette.  This proved a pleasant surprise in testing and became my primary choice.  Other apples that tested well were Jonagolds and Romes. Tart apples, such as the Granny Smith, did not impress me and also seemed to not hold the batter as well. 

The notes above were excerpted from a presentation I made at the An Tir Kingdom A&S competition. For the full text see

finished product

fritters frying, note the use of pottery over charcoal This is simple plate with a raised lip acting as my frying pan.

Want more fruit fritters?  See these recipes.

• Apple Fritters 1350
• Apple Pillows
• Puffed Apples
• Cherry Puffs

Other recipes from The Cookbook of Sabina Welsersin

• Almond Tarts
• Chard Pie
• Dutch Oven Custard
• Genovese Tart
• Raison Pie
• Rice Buns

A few more fritters

• Dulcamine
• Frytours of Mylke
• Imperial Fritters
• White Fritters