Oliebollen

If you've ever been in the Netherlands in November or December, you've probably noticed the stalls selling deep-fried yeast dough dumplings, also known as 'oliebollen' - literally translated as oil balls, but believe me, they are a lot nicer than it sounds. To my surprise, oliebollen even seem important enough to merit an English Wikipedia entry!

These oliebollen were pretty well made, especially given that they were home made ones. DH substituted the apple cubes for succade, which he really liked, but I wasn't a fan - though I think that one of the reasons I didn't like them was that they were too big, and therefore too hard as well.

However, I think the recipe is too brief to give it all the credit for this success, as the deep-frying part is crucial for it to succeed, but is not adequately discussed. It's essential to use a sugar thermometer - in our experience, we'd even recommend keeping the temperature around 175°C instead of 180°C. Also, the recipe instructs you to deep-fry as many oliebollen as will fit your pan in one layer - you definitely shouldn't do that, as chances are that that will lower the temperature of the oil considerably!

By the way, using my Zyliss ice cream scoop was the easiest and most effective way to produce round oliebollen, which is not only a question of beauty but also helps cook them consistently.