The trick to light fritters

Fritters in syrup disappear from plates quite easily; they’re delicious. But getting them just right -- so that they’re slightly puffy and crisp on the outside with soft, chewy centers -- takes a little practice.

The secret to a truly puffy fritter, we found, is in the beating and resting of the batter. It’s important to follow the beating and resting directions to the letter, otherwise you may wind up with flat, crunchy fritters, as we did more than once in the Times Test Kitchen.

The batter is beaten the first time for 10 minutes, then rests for an hour. Two more 10-minute beatings follow, but the resting time after each is reduced to 30 minutes. When we tried only two beatings with two one-hour rests, our fritters were flat. That third beating and third rest made all the difference.

We picked up a few other tips during our testing: Use a large nonstick skillet and fill it a little more than half full with oil. To speed up the frying, use two skillets at once. It’s also important to maintain the temperature of the oil (375 degrees). Be sure to turn the fritters during frying so that they brown evenly.

As they fry, they’ll puff up with little holes all over the surface: a sure sign of success.