During the holidays, a friend of mine posted a photo of rosettes she made. I flood of happy memories came to me, as I remembered the rosettes my gramma made every holiday season. I had totally forgotten about them, and was so excited at the thought, that I ordered a rosette iron to try my hand at making them. I expected it to be a challenge, but was happy to discover it was fairly simple once you got the hang of it. Note: powdered sugar on your shirt and sniffing in some powdered sugar while you are eating them is part of the experience! They are “light as a feather” and you can’t eat just one! I can’t always say this, but, “They turned out just like gramma’s!”
I ordered my irons from Nordic Ware (because their iron designs were exactly like gramma’s), and once I knew I would be making them FOREVER, I also ordered a heart shaped iron. Here is the recipe right off the box, which worked great for me, and I was happy to see there wasn’t a lot of sugar in it. I am going to experiment with other recipes, but I don’t see a thing wrong with this one.
My first batches were on the stove in a cast iron casserole pot, but I splurged and ordered a thermostatically controlled deep fryer. (The temp is critical, so now I don’t have to keep checking it with a thermometer.)
Traditional Rosettes 2 eggs 2 t sugar 1 c milk 1 c sifted flour 1/4 t salt 1 T lemon extract (I use vanilla)
Slightly beat eggs in medium bowl. Mix in sugar and milk. Sift flour with salt. Stir into egg mixture, and beat until smooth (about the consistency of heavy cream). Mixx inn extract until incorporated. Transfer to a shallow dish (I use a bread pan, as the double iron fits perfectly in it). Makes approximately 4 dz. rosettes.
1. Heat 2” of oil in high-sided pan to 325 degrees. Immerse rosette iron in hot oil until thoroughly heated (1 min.), and allow excess oil to drip off once ironic is lifted. 2. Immediately dip hot iron in batter so the batter covers all but the top of the iron. Allow excess batter to drip off prior to frying. 3. Immerse again into oil, covering completely. Remove from hot oil when bubbling subsides and pastry is golden brown. Use a fork to gently pull the rosette from the iron, Cool. Then sprinkle with powdered sugar in a sifter.
My first batch only made 14 rosettes. I discovered the batter was too thick, so I added a bit more milk in the next batch, and they turned out perfectly.
