Tangled Britches or 18th Century Dutch Crullers
Have you ever tried Crullers? Perhaps you have had the modern version from your local bakery or the grocer’s. But have you ever had crullers from 1747? I can tell you that they are certainly interesting!
These little fried donut-like treats are inspired by The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. In the story of Ichabod Crane who is chased by the Headless Horseman, Ichabod is positively obsessed with dreaming about food! He mentions a giant feast the Van Tassel farm where crullers, oly koeks, and many other cakes are available for the tasting.
crullers in history:
In The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, crullers are mentioned as a dessert available at the Van Tassel Feast:
“Not those of the bevy of buxom lasses, with their luxurious display of red and white; but the ample charms of a genuine Dutch country tea-table, in the sumptuous time of autumn. Such heaped up platters of cakes of various and almost indescribable kinds, known only to experienced Dutch housewives! There was the doughty doughnut, the tender oly koek, and the crisp and crumbling cruller; sweet cakes and short cakes, ginger cakes and honey cakes, and the whole family of cakes. And then there were apple pies, and peach pies, and pumpkin pies; besides slices of ham and smoked beef; and moreover delectable dishes of preserved plums, and peaches, and pears, and quinces; not to mention broiled shad and roasted chickens; together with bowls of milk and cream, all mingled higgledy-piggledy, pretty much as I have enumerated them, with the motherly teapot sending up its clouds of vapor from the midst—Heaven bless the mark! I want breath and time to discuss this banquet as it deserves, and am too eager to get on with my story. Happily, Ichabod Crane was not in so great a hurry as his historian, but did ample justice to every dainty.”
The cruller is a deep fried pastry that is similar to doughnut, though the historical recipes that I researched did not use yeast. It is a little rectangle of dough that fried and coated in sugar or powdered sugar. French crullers are generally more of a dense dough, which results in a fluffy, light, and airy pastry.
The named cruller comes from the 19th-century Dutch word “kruller” from “krullen” which means “to curl.” Traditionally, they are served on New Year’s Eve, which the Dutch colonists celebrated in good fashion.
to make tangled britches:
Now, I obviously had trouble with this recipe, as you can see in the video! This recipe is adapted from the Better Homes & Gardens Heritage Cookbook, and I honestly was not a huge fan. You may choose to give it a try, but I would like to adapt this recipe into my own at some point because it was just… bleh. But my mom liked them!
I tried to follow the instructions from their book to twist the crullers into a classic “tangled britches” shape, as shown in more modern Danish crullers. However, this dough was so soft, that I decided to go with an Amish “tangled britches” shape. These cracked me up. They do look like the legs of pants all tangled together!
frying the crullers:
Because this dough is so soft and thin, it really only needs to be fried for about 1 minute. Lard also reaches its smoking point faster than other fats, like canola oil, so you will be cooking a bit faster. If you do not want the flavor of lard on your crullers, you can use another neutral cooking oil to fry in.
Once fried, the crullers are then drained on a wire cooling rack set over a baking sheet to catch any oil drips.
After cooling for a few minutes, you will dust the crullers with powdered sugar.
final thoughts:
I feel badly sharing this recipe because I really did not like it at all! I want a do-over. But, alas, they are part of my Youtube video on recipes from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow… so here they are. This is a recipe that I would like to research a little more deeply and try again. I feel like they were simply not made correctly. However, if you would like to give them a try, then please let me know how it goes for you!
xoxo Kayla
Dutch Crullers Inspired by The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (58 g) salted butter, softened
- 1/3 cup (74 g) brown sugar, packed
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) milk
- 1 3/4 cup (228 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground mace
- 1 quart (960 ml) lard, for frying
- 1/2 cup (60 g) powdered sugar, for dusting
Instructions
- Begin by creaming together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Then, stir in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the milk. Stir in the flour, salt, nutmeg, and mace with a wooden spoon until it forms a shaggy dough.
- Divide the dough into 2 pieces. Then, roll out each piece on a lightly floured work surface. Roll the dough into 8 x 16-inch (20 x 40-cm) rectangles. Then, cut them into 2 x 3-inch (5 x 8-cm) rectangles. To each rectangle, make about 4 to 5 slices that are made about 1/2-inch (1-cm) from the top end of the dough. They should look like little claws.
- Heat the lard in a pot over the stove to 375° F (191° C). Once the fat is nice and hot, fry the crullers about 3 to 4 at a time, turning them over halfway through frying, for about 1 to 2 minutes each.
- Drain the fried crullers on a wire cooling rack set over a baking sheet to catch any oil drips. Once the crullers have cooled for a few minutes, dust them with powdered sugar.
- Serve warm.
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