Funnel Cakes and Strawberry Sauce

i’m back with another recipe to help grow your waistline like mine

we blew it this weekend with the cinnamon rolls and this next recipe, but it was well worth it, and every once in a while, i think its okay to just go crazy!!

i wanted to make a fun surprise dessert for Father’s Day…something that we don’t normally have. so i pulled out this recipe that i had cut from the newspaper years ago when they ran a column on Fair Food:

and attempted to whip up some Homemade Funnel Cakes.

let me tell you…they are fantastic! and do not be intimated like i was at first, cause they are a cinch to make!! and a bonus…now you don’t have to wait for the Fair to come to town to enjoy this goodness!!

FYI: the recipe says it yields 8 cakes, so i doubled the recipe since i was feeding a crowd, and was left with an obnoxious amount of batter! i think the recipe yields more like 10-11 large cakes!

First off, combine some powdered sugar and cinnamon in a container and mix well. i didn’t measure…just kept adding cinnamon until it tasted right! Set to the side.

Sift all your dry ingredients together.

Mix the eggs and milk together in a large bowl:

Add in the lemon extract:

And whisk liquid ingredients well. Fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture, and stir until smooth (its okay if there a some small lumps, but get it as smooth as possible.)

Heat oil in an electric skillet or large saucepan until its 375 degrees. Spoon the batter into a small funnel, while covering the hole with your finger. move the funnel over the oil, remove your finger, and scribble and crisscross the batter into the hot oil.

Fry until golden brown on both sides (takes a few minutes on each side.) When done, drain on paper towels for a few seconds, and immediately sprinkle with cinnamon powdered sugar.

Top with homemade Strawberry Sauce, if desired.

Strawberry Sauce:

(so so easy and quick!! this recipe comes from Rachel Ray)

Wash and drain 2 lbs fresh strawberries:

Coarsely chop the strawberries:

Juice 2 lemons (my sauce turned out a little bit tart, which we like, but if you want, you can cut back a bit on the lemon. just taste it and add juice to your liking!)

Put strawberries and lemon juice in large saucepan. Add in 3 TBSP of dark brown sugar (i actually used 4 TBSP).

Stir until sugar dissolves. Cover partially and cook over medium/low heat about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until strawberries are soft.

Take off heat and cool completely. Once cooled, place in blender and puree a few seconds until smooth.

this sauce keeps in the fridge for 10 days or in the freezer for 6 months. it was excellent over the Funnel Cakes, as well as vanilla ice cream. or use it with this granola recipe in a yogurt parfait.

but we used the sauce the next morning on waffles that we made with our leftover Funnel Cake Batter. it was delish!!

i have yet to tell you about a new purchase i made this weekend!!! and i’m excited to show it to you but am just not quite ready! so hoping to do that later this week!

be back soon,