Pampoenkoekies – These South African pumpkin fritters are light, fluffy and literally melts in your mouth. Drizzled with caramel sauce and you’re in pumpkin heaven.
Ooh, this is exciting. This South African pumpkin fritter is the newest addition to my ever-revolving list of deep fried dough in celebration of the fall season, and I am very excited to share this with you.
Why all the excitement? Well let me count the ways…. First of all it’s a really great combination of flavors…. Secondly, because it is light as air (it literally melts in your mouth). And maybe most of all because it is quick and easy – ready in under 20 minutes. You can start eating these bite-sized treats.
So what is Pampoenkoekies? Pampoenkoekies is a traditional Afrikaans fritter that is served either as breakfast, snack dessert or a side dish depending on how it is made. They are a little bit savory, a little bit sweet, and a delight.
Here, I used freshly baked pumpkin – I had some leftover and decided to put it into good use. However, feel free to use canned pumpkin they taste equal good and make this snack easier to put together. The rest of the ingredients are flour, egg, sugar, milk, cinnamon and nutmeg.
You have the option of serving this with caramel sauce or roll in cinnamon sugar or dust with powdered sugar. You decide.
Stop wasting time, you need to hurry up and make this before fall turns into winter – I promise you would not regret it.
Enjoy!
Watch How To Make It
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Pampoenkoekies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup mashed pumpkin or puree
- 1 cup flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2- tablespoon sugar
- ¼ cup milk
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon all spice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- Oil for deep-frying
- Caramel glaze
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons water
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
Instructions
- In a large bowl -combine all the ingredients: mashed pumpkin, flour, baking powder, sugar, milk, egg, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and all spice. Stir until everything has been fully combined
- In a saucepan pour vegetable oil, until it is at least 3 inches (or about 5 centimeters) high (too little will result in flatter balls), and place on medium heat until oil is 350 degrees.
- The dough is going to be sticky and light, if you can, use your hands to grab a little bit of mixture at time and drop in the oil or use a spoon to spoon up the batter, and drop it in the oil. Do not overcrowd the pan. Do so in batch
- Fry for about 2-3minutes until it is golden brown.
- Use a slotted spoon or something like that to take it out of the oil. I usually place them on napkins right away to soak up some of the excess oil.
- If desired, you can roll the finished product in cinnamon sugar or use the caramel glaze
- Caramel Glaze
- Add water, sugar and corn syrup in a medium sauce -pan. Combine everything with a stir.
- Heat over medium high heat for about 5-10 minutes, depending on your stove. Swirl the pan if you feel the sides are getting browned too quickly. Do not stir the caramel it will cause crystallization. Wipe down any splatters with a brush from the sides of the pan as the sugar is caramelizing- make sure you get a brown color. It does make a difference in taste
- Lower the heat on the saucepan, and gently add the cream and butter there will be splatters so be careful. Finally stir the mixture into a smooth consistency. Remove from the heat and let it cool
- Serve with fritters.
Nutrition Information:
Rahma says
I am trying to make this…but how do you make the pumpkin puree?
imma africanbites says
Hi Rahma. You can buy a canned one in a grocery store. Or you can make it from scratch. You can check this one out >>> https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pumpkin-puree-recipe-1922629