Sourdough Funnel Cake

A home-cooked county fair treat using your sourdough starter. Soft on the inside and crispy on the outside, these Sourdough Funnel Cakes are a fun way to use your sourdough starter.

Funnel Cakes are commonly sold at carnivals, and you can’t help but smell this deep-fried sweet treat when you are walking around the rides and food trucks. A few other names they have been called are Dribble Cake, Funnel Fries, and Carnival Cake (to name a few). Whatever you prefer to call these hot, crispy, fluffy, funnel cakes covered in a good dusting of powdered sugar, they are sure to be a hit if you like fried food.

Typically, funnel cakes don’t have sourdough starter in them, but I made this recipe with sourdough for the fun of it. Some chose to discard their sourdough starter and are looking for ways to either use up the discard or maybe like the added flavor that sourdough starter adds to recipes. To me, discard is just unfed sourdough starter, and I don’t usually discard mine, but I like to have fun and experinment, and that is how I ended up making this for the first time. I use my starter unfed right out of the refrigerator cold.

A quick treat that is easy to make- It took me longer to heat the oil than it did to mix up the batter. It’s a lot like making pancakes.

You can make the batter ahead of time- If you want to have the batter ready to go, you can mix everything ahead of time and keep it in the refrigerator for a few days. Or this would work well if you want to fry up half the batter and keep the remaining batter in the refrigerator to fry a few days later. Give the batter a quick mix and stir in any separated liquid before frying.

To make the Sourdough Funnel Cake you will need the following ingredients:

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour

1 c sourdough starter (discard) I use my starter right out of the refrigerator cold and unfed.

1 c milk

2 eggs

3 Tb sugar

1 Tb vanilla

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp sea salt

powdered sugar for topping optional

Peanut oil or oil of choice for frying

Wisk the milk, eggs, and vanilla together in a medium size mixing bowl.

Next add in the sourdough starter, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

Place your oil in a heavy bottom pan, at least 2 inches deep. Heat the oil to 350-375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Using a funnel or glass liquid measuring cup pour 1 cup of batter into the hot oil carefully back and forth in a crisscross motion and a bit circular.

Fry for 30-60 seconds or until golden brown and then flip and repeat on the other side.

Remove the funnel cake from the hot oil and place it on a paper towel to catch any extra oil. Then, serve immediately with your favorite toppings.

Although these are best fresh and served immediatly you can store them for later. Let them cool completely and then store in a plastic baggie or air tight container, at room temperature or in the refrigerator. They can become soggy, as long as they haven’t turned bad you can reheat them until they are warm in the oven to get back some crispness.

I would reheat it in the oven until warm to

The most popular topping is a dusting of powdered sugar, but you can also add chocolate, a combo of butter, sugar and cinnamon, custard, ice cream, whipped topping, etc.

Freezing Funnel Cake

You can freeze funnel cakes if you want to store any extra ones you make or want to make them in advance. Let the funnel cakes cool completely before packaging. Store them in a freezer-safe bag, or air-tight container.

To Reheat the Funnel Cakes

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees place the frozen funnel cake or cakes onto a cookie sheet and reheat for 10-12 minutes or until heated through and crispy again.