Funnel Cakes

As yesterday was the last day of classes as an undergrad for me and I just handed in my final paper, I should be feeling two emotions right now. One, I should be excited to start a new chapter in my life and get out of this town (as much as I love it, it's way too small). A little part of me is, but the more dominant feeling is panic. When you don't have a job lined up for next year, it's difficult even to begin that chapter. I've only just started applying for a teaching position in every state so I'm sure something will pop up before August, but not knowing right this second bothers me.

Two, I should also be sad to be leaving everything that I've grown to love and everyone that I've met the past four years. Maybe it just hasn't sunk in yet that I'm graduating, but I don't feel anything. It'll probably hit me hard in September when I realize that I won't be driving down to see everyone again. Maybe even during graduation but I know I'll still be in town the following week with everyone, so maybe not.

Either way, a celebration was in order. My housemate decided to throw a Renaissance Festival at our house. But everybody was so busy that nothing was really planned. The only thing Renaissance about yesterday's gathering was a bit of sword-fighting and costumes. As for the food, I had planned on making everything festival related: funnel cake, caramel apples, maybe some popcorn. But I ended up spending more time on campus than I had planned so the only thing I made was funnel cake.



I've had funnel cake only once in my life and that was about 4 years ago. My Psych AP class went on a field trip to the zoo and there was a vendor just outside the entrance selling funnel cake. I don't think I enjoyed it very much because I don't remember the taste of it at all. It's incredibly easy to make. I made a mess in the kitchen though because one, we don't have a funnel, and two, I forgot to buy an empty ketchup bottle, which I thought would be a lot of easier to use instead of a funnel. So I went to my back-up: Ziploc bags. Hence, the funky shapes.



I was told by a person who has quite a lot of funnel cake in her life that this was the best she's had! An accomplishment for someone who's never made it before. I'm really proud of myself though for becoming more comfortable with frying. This batch makes a good number of servings. I must have made at least 7 or 8 medium-sized cakes and I still had batter left. I would have finished making them, but I decided to close the kitchen at 7 so that I wasn't missing all the fun. I also had a paper to write, which I finished today!

Funnel Cake
From Tasty Kitchen

- 3 cups flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups milk
- Powdered sugar, for dusting
- Oil, for frying

1. In a large, deep pan, heat the oil to 350 degrees.
2. Mix dry ingredients then whisk in the eggs, vanilla extract, and milk. Add a dash more milk if need to achieve the proper consistency (the batter should resemble thin pancake batter).
3. Pour 1/2 cup batter through a funnel (while making circular, swirling motions) into the hot oil. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes, flipping halfway through. Drain on a paper towel, coat with powdered sugar, and enjoy!