Funnel cake — a thin batter poured through a funnel (or from a squeeze bottle) in a spiral pattern into hot oil, fried until golden, and dusted with powdered sugar — is the definitive American fair and carnival food and a Pennsylvania Dutch creation. The technique descends from the German *Strauben* or *Drechter Kucha* (funnel cake in the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect), brought to southeastern Pennsylvania by German immigrants. The dish migrated from the Pennsylvania Dutch farmers' markets to county fairs across America and is now present at every state fair, every carnival, and every amusement park in the country.
A thin batter (flour, eggs, milk, sugar, baking powder, salt, vanilla) poured in a thin stream from a funnel or squeeze bottle in a spiral/crisscross pattern into 2-3cm of hot oil (175°C), fried for 1-2 minutes per side until golden, drained, and dusted heavily with powdered sugar. The cake should be lacy, crispy at the thin edges, softer where the batter overlapped, and sweet from both the batter and the sugar coating.
1) The batter must be thin enough to flow freely through the funnel — too thick and it doesn't form the lacy pattern. 2) The spiral pattern: start from the centre and spiral outward, then crisscross back. The overlapping batter creates the characteristic structure. 3) Hot oil — 175°C. The batter must set immediately on contact. 4) Powdered sugar immediately while hot — it melts slightly against the warm surface.
Fair food hierarchy: funnel cake is at the top. It is the thing you eat after the rides but before the cotton candy — the fried dough that everyone shares, pulling pieces from the plate. Funnel cake with fruit topping (strawberry sauce, apple butter) or ice cream on top exists at fairs but the purist position is powdered sugar only.
William Woys Weaver — Pennsylvania Dutch Country Cooking