Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Tuesdays with Dorie: Mrs. Vogel's Scherben


Mrs. Vogel's what? I know, I wondered too. Scherben apparently means shards, which is what these deep-fried cookies are supposed to resemble. When I first read the recipe, I thought I might skip this week, but it's only my second one, and I didn't want to be a quitter just yet. It wasn't the name, it was the fact that I needed to deep-fry these things. Last time I deep-fried anything it was at a friend's place. I put a few too many potatoes in the oil and it bubbled up all over the stove. No fire, just a lot of fussing, and I will never hear the end of it! Anyway, the recipe only called for a few ingredients and I had them all, so I thought I'd try it out. The dough was very easy to work with, and I quickly rolled it out, cut it into strips and gave them a twist:



After chilling them for another hour, I fried them in a tall pot with not too much oil. No spills, no fires! It was only -11 outside so I opened the patio door = no smell either.



After draining, they were ready to be tossed in cinnamon sugar:

The next step in the recipe said something about dusting them with icing sugar, but I was thinking more along the lines of an avalanche, because I didn't really like these at first, and I thought more sugar would help. It did! Good thing, because I thought my future fried dough experiences would be limited to eating Beavertails. I packed them up and took them to a friend's, and they tasted pretty good when I got there. Maybe it was because I was starving and had to fight a gaggle of children for them, or maybe it's because Mrs. Vogel sure does know her Scherben.
Thanks to Teanna of Spork or Foon for picking this recipe. You can find it on her blog. Check out the rest of the Scherben (yes, I like typing that, and with a capital too) at the TWD site.

22 comments:

natalia said...

Ciao Mary ! Wonderful story and photos !!

Paula said...

Gorgious pictures. Scherben is supposed to be capitalized? I may need to make some corrections.

FYI, next week's recipe has raisins if you haven't noticed already. I just made it and I'm thinking it would be very good without them.

Teanna said...

Hahaha what a great post! I love the avalanche and thank you so much for frying along with me this week! Welcome to TWD!

Kayte said...

Oh, my yours look lovely! I could not be trusted in a room alone with that plate. Nope, not as good as those look. Great job.

Sabrina said...

I wasn't able to make mine this week, but yours look amazing!!! Nice work!

vibi said...

Thank you Mary for visiting me while I was away! I appreciate it very much... even more so, that it gave me a chance to discover your blog... which I don't think I had ever visited! But now that it is done... I will be back!

A happy new year to you and your family... and the greatest time amongst us TWD!

Bravo and those amazing little fried thingies! LOL

chocolatechic said...

What a brilliant idea to give them a twist.

I like it.

Cakelaw said...

LOL - an avalanche is a good metaphor. These cookies turned out great, and glad you enjoyed them.

Judy said...

Love the twist! And they look like they've been covered with snow. Glad you gave it a go this week.

Soy*Baby said...

I love the mountain of sugar. That's what they needed to make them worth eating. I really like your pictures and the twist you did is great.

judy said...

Lookin' good Mary! Congrats on the deep frying success - beats the veritable fountain of boiling oil that was seen in my kitchen.

TeaLady said...

Love the 'twist' you put on the scherben. Great job.

Katrina said...

I liked writing Scherben and saying it, too!
This was a fun one to try. Welcome to TWD and thanks for stopping by.

Tia said...

1) i love your blog name. really cute.
2) we have the same deep fry thermometer!
3) awesome job. the twists look so perfect especially in that one picture up close.

jayne said...

Lovely job! Your pictures are great - the avalanche look really suits the Scherben. (I like that name, too.)

Welcome to our crazy blessed life said...

Love it! Glad these ended up being good as an avalanche! :) Thanks for stopping by! I saw in an earlier post you went to culinary school. I am looking forward to reading more of your posts!

Anonymous said...

I agree that these were quite good when coated in powdered sugar. After a few bites that tasted too plain, I started dipping my Scherben directly into the powdered sugar bag! Your heavy sprinkling on top looks much more civilized. :-)

Anonymous said...

I like how you twisted them! Looks like they were a success! Good idea to air out the kitchen too!

Chats the Comfy Cook said...

These have a great look to them. Good looks never hurt a Scherben.

Mimi said...

Perfect Scherben. Mrs. Vogel would be so proud!
Great photos.
Mimi

Post Grad Hair Cut said...

Oh my those look tasty. I LOVE beaver tails.

Anita said...

They look lovely - not sure I'd want to wear a white shirt while eating them though - I would get so much icing sugar on me :)