Chocolate French Crullers with Dried Raspberries and Fudge Glaze

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From slinging s'mores at one of her The Baking Bean pop-ups to creating pastries for hot NYC spot Kimika to competing on popular cooking shows, there's never a dull moment for pastry chef Clarice Lam. Made with a classic choux dough, her French crullers are likewise full of personality, featuring a crunchy crust, an airy center, and a colorful topping of dried raspberries and fudge. Dip the chocolate crullers in the warmed fudge glaze so the dried raspberries stick for a sweet-tart topping that's as tasty as it is beautiful.

By Clarice Lam

Updated on July 20, 2023

Tested by

Food & Wine Test Kitchen

Active Time:

1 hr 15 mins

Total Time:

1 hr 15 mins

Servings:

Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

Crullers

1 ½ cups water
½ cup unsalted butter (4 ounces)
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoons kosher salt
1 cup all-purpose flour (about 4 1/4 ounces)
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa
4 large eggs
Vegetable oil, for frying

Fudge Glaze

¼ cup unsalted butter (2 ounces)
2 tablespoons plus 1 tsp. whole milk
1 ½ cups unsifted powdered sugar (about 6 ounces)
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa
¼ teaspoon kosher salt

Additional Ingredients

¼ cup freeze-dried raspberries (about 1/4 ounces), crushed lightly

Directions

Make the crullers:

Combine 1 1/2 cups water, butter, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil over medium. Remove from heat. Vigorously stir in flour and cocoa until mixture comes together and begins to form a ball. Return to heat over medium, and cook, stirring constantly, until dough is tight and pulls away from sides of pan and a thin skin forms on bottom of pan, 2 to 3 minutes.
Transfer hot dough to a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until no longer steaming, about 1 minute. Reduce mixer speed to medium; beat in eggs, 1 at a time, until dough is smooth and glossy, about 2 minutes. (The dough is ready when you can draw a line in dough using your finger and the dough slowly caves in on itself.) Transfer dough to a piping bag fitted with a large star attachment. Cut 10 (4-inch) squares of parchment paper; pipe a 3 1/2-inch dough circle onto each parchment square.
Pour vegetable oil to a depth of 2 inches in a large Dutch oven. Heat over medium until oil reaches 350°F, adjusting heat as needed to maintain a consistent temperature. Working with 1 parchment square at a time, invert square, and gently place in oil, dough side down. Parchment will release within 5 seconds; remove and discard. Fry cruller until slightly puffed and cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer cooked cruller to a wire rack set inside a baking sheet. Repeat frying process with remaining dough circles.

Make the fudge glaze:

Microwave butter in a medium-size microwavable bowl on medium (50% power) until melted, 1 to 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds. Whisk in milk. Add powdered sugar, cocoa, and salt, and whisk until smooth. Return to microwave, and microwave on medium until warm, about 30 seconds. Remove from microwave; whisk until smooth. Dip top of each cruller into warm fudge glaze, and quickly sprinkle with crushed raspberries.

Photo by Caitlin Bensel / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Audrey Davis