Funnel Cake is a dessert food that is often served at carnivals, fairs, feasts and other outdoor events. It is made by dropping batter through a funnel into boiling hot oil. The result is a thin cake that has a bit of a lattice design to it.
The cake is than dusted in powdered sugar and served warm. They have a long culinary history and deciding who actually invented the funnel cake is next to impossible. This long loved treat has its roots in German during medieval times.
It is mentioned in several old cooking texts and was initially served with salt and not sugar. The history of this treat is a long one and it spans across many continents. It landed in North America when the Pennsylvania Dutch immigrated to the new world.
In The Old Days
Funnel cake was an easy to make treat that was made from Sourdough much like pretzels were except instead of being baked or boiled they were fried. The dough was placed in a bowl with a hole in it and drizzled into a vat of boiling oil.
Once they were pulled from the oil they were sprinkled with a helping of rock salt and served as a crispy treat. According to legend the first sweet version of the treat was served in Pennsylvania Dutch country.
The Twenty Five Cent Treat
Kutztown Festival was the birth place of the modern day funnel cake. It was sold at a church fair sometime in the 18th century at the whopping cost of twenty five cents a plate. It was powdered with sugar and took off like wild fire.
Of course it is still very popular but costs a bit more than twenty five cents a plate.
Today’s Treat
Today you can find funnel cake covered in many different toppings. You can find it dipped in chocolate. Topped with whip cream is also a new twist on an old favorite. It can be covered with the traditional powdered sugars that are amped up with chocolate chips in the batter.
Caramel topping is drizzled on the treat and so many other variants of the funnel cake have erupted in the last 100 years. The invention of the funnel cake clearly stems from Germany although the individual that thought it was a great idea to drop some dough in a vat of oil will likely always remain a mystery.
Strong proponent of individual liberty and free speech. My goal is to present information that expands our awareness of crucial issues and exposes the manufactured illusion of freedom that we are sold in America. Question everything because nothing is what it seems.
