Apple fritters with rosewater

Serves 6 Preparation time 10 minutes plus resting time Cooking time 15 minutes

This is a quick warm indulgence for an autumn afternoon. Feel free to replace the tapioca flour with potato or rice flour, or a combination of the two. And instead of rosewater you could sprinkle the fritters with cinnamon sugar right at the end.

You need

• 5 Granny Smith apples • 2 lemons • 150g tapioca flour* • 4 tablespoons almond flour

(or use finely ground almonds) • 1 teaspoon (5ml) baking powder • 2 teaspoons (10ml) rosewater • 1 egg • ½-1 cup (125ml-250ml) milk • 25g butter, melted • 2 handfuls almonds, toasted

and finely chopped, plus extra • oil for deep-frying • rosewater syrup or honey

This is how

Core the apples, slice into rings and immediately place in a bowl of water into which you have squeezed the juice of one lemon, which will prevent the apple from turning brown.

Combine the tapioca and almond flour, baking powder, rosewater and egg in a mixing bowl. Add just enough milk to create a runny mixture, the consistency of pancake batter. Beat until the mixture is smooth and free of lumps, then beat in the melted butter and almonds.

Heat the oil in a saucepan until hot but not smoking. Test it by dipping one of the apple rings into the batter and frying it in the oil. It should turn golden brown on one side within 2-3 minutes. Turn over and fry the other side. Drain on kitchen paper. Fry the rest of the apple rings, 3-4 at a time, in the same way.

Cut the second lemon into wedges. Scatter the extra almonds over the apple rings, drizzle rosewater syrup or honey over them and serve right away with the lemon wedges.

* See the sidebar on tapioca (“One and the same?”) alongside our bread recipes on page 94.

‘Anyone can count the seeds in an apple, but only God can count the number of apples in a seed.’