- 1¼ cups milk
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 5 pieces
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour (spoon flour into dry-measure cup and level off)
- 5 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon dark rum
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 jelly-roll pan lined with parchment paper, plus 1 lined with paper towels for draining the fritters
- To make the dough, in a heavy-bottom saucepan combine the milk, butter, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the butter melts. Remove from heat, stir in the flour with a wooden spatula, and continue stirring until the dough is smooth. Return the pan to the heat and beat the dough vigorously until it leaves the sides of the pan and the bottom of the pan is lightly filmed with the dough. Scrape the dough into a bowl and stir for a minute or so to cool it slightly. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating smooth after each addition. Beat in the rum and the sugar.
- Place half the dough into a pastry bag fitted with an open star tube (Ateco #824). On the prepared pan lined with parchment, pipe out circles of dough 2½ inches in diameter, in straight rows. Use the point of a paring knife to cut the paper into 5 or 6 pieces, cutting around the piped dough.
- In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil to 350 degrees. When the oil is hot, carefully invert 1 piece of paper into the oil. Use a large kitchen spoon to baste the top side of the paper with hot oil so that the fritters float away from the paper. Use tongs to remove the paper from the pan. Cook the fritters on both sides to a delicate golden color. Remove and drain on the paper-towel-lined pan. Repeat with the remaining piped dough.
- Mix the confectioners’ sugar and cinnamon together and sift a thick layer over the fritters.