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Cruller also known as a twister is a ring shaped piece of pastry which has been deep fried. The crullers are usually akin to a cake doughnut and topped with plain, powdered sugar. Variations of the cruller also include pastries which are topped with cinnamon flavored sugar and icing sugar.
The term cruller may have come from the French term which means a ring shaped doughnut prepared from a choux pastry recipe very similar to the cruller recipe. The pastry has an airy and light texture.
The crullers are consumed in Canada and parts of America especially in the state of New England and the central and Midwestern regions of the country. The German origin of the cruller has made it a popular dessert item in the Midwestern region of the United States which contains a large number of German immigrants. The older people prefer to call their pastries baked according to the traditional cruller recipe as crullers while the other Americans prefer to call the cruller as dunking sticks which is often shortened to sticks.
The Dunkin Donut chain has discontinued the production of cruller as they cannot be prepared easily with the aid of a machine. The cake stick is a new substitute baked by following the cruller recipe to an extent. The new product can be mass produced and is sold all across the United States of America.
A fried food resembling the crullers is consumed in Asia too. They are known as youtiao or Chinese crullers.
History Of Cruller Recipe
The term is believed to have originated from the Dutch word kruller which may have come from krullen meaning to curl. It was traditionally eaten by the Germans just on Shrove Thursday just before Lent in order to consume fat before entering into the period of mourning. The dish is known as Klejner in Danish and Klenäter in Swedish. Both the terms speak of a German origin. The Scandinavians prefer eat the cruller during Christmas.
Ingredients And Popular Cruller Recipes
Eggs, sweetened milk, sugar and a tablespoonful of butter are all the ingredients that go into baking an old fashioned cruller. A good amount of flour is also needed to prepare the dough which is made by mixing all the ingredients together. The dough is then fashioned into an uneven twisted shape and deep fried by dropping it in hot lard. A dusting of powdered sugar and cinnamon powder on the top of the fried doughnut is the only decoration allowed by the traditional recipes.
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