Funnel Cakes! GFCF, Gum Free and Allergy Friendly!

Funnel cakes are the ultimate Fair Food. But how many of our GFCF kids have been deprived of this experience? Believe it or not they are easy to recreate in our own kitchens!

Designing this recipe was a bit of a challenge. The removal of gluten and casein from this recipe is a challenge in itself. But it could not be just that simple. You see, I am not a fan of xanthan gum, the “glue” that holds gluten free baked goods together in many a recipe. I was determined not to use it here. I also wanted to keep this recipe as allergy-friendly as possible so that more of my clients could benefit from this treat, but with no xanthan gum and no egg I thought we might end up with a disaster. Not so. It worked out fabulously. On our first try. I am lucky like that in the kitchen. 🙂

This recipe was an opportunity to use my new WonderMill Grain Mill. I have always had a hard time finding organic sweet white rice, which is an important part of many gluten free baked goods due to the texture it creates. I have always used my Vitamix to grind down organic sushi rice, since it has very similar properties. This always worked well enough, but the texture was still a little grainy. So when the people at WonderMill invited me to try out their grain mill, I happily accepted the challenge! It was AWESOME! We were really impressed by the quality of the flour it produced. We used the “pastry” setting to achieve a texture we really liked.

We actually did not make these funnel cakes with a funnel. We made them with a Ziploc bag! But “Ziploc Bag Cakes” really don’t really sound as appealing, do they? You could use a funnel, a ziploc bag, a pastry bag or a squeeze bottle to work your batter into the oil.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white rice flour – ground fresh on pastry setting
• 1/4 cup sushi rice flour – ground fresh on pastry setting
• 1/2 cup tapioca starch
• 1 tsp GF baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 5/8 cup water (we started with 1/2 cup and decided to add the 1/8 cup – use your judgement with the texture you want to work with)
• scant half cup applesauce
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp maple syrup
• ghee or oil of your choice 2″ deep (we have gotten away with 1″ when our funnel cakes were small)
• powdered sugar (optional – we used maple syrup instead for a little extra nutritional value)

Directions:

1. Mix all of your ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
2. Allow the batter to rest for about 10 minutes while you prepare the ghee or oil in your pot.
3. In a deep pot (so that the oil does not spit or splash up and burn you) heat oil until it just reaches its smoke point.
4. Pour your batter into your ziploc bag, pastry bag, or squeeze bottle.  If you are fancy like us, you will need to cut the tip off the corner of the ziploc bag to let the batter squeeze through.
5. Squeeze the batter on top of the oil in the center of your pot so that it floats on top of the oil.  Use a circular motion to squeeze out your batter and go round and round to form a spiral-shaped cake.  We made ours about 4″ wide.
6. Flip the cake after 30 seconds to 1 minute.  You are looking for that golden-brown yumminess.
7. Cook other side for another 30 seconds or so before placing it on a paper towel.
8. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, top with warm strawberry jam, maple syrup, or your own favorite toppings and eat warm.

I can’t help you with recreating the funhouses and the elephant rides. You are on your own there. But at least our kids can say they have eaten a funnel cake! 🙂