Today seems like just the day for a good pumpkin fritters recipe! The pumpkin certainly has its place in South African culture. As an expat possibly missing home, you might have spared a thought for traditional “pampoen koekies” every time you caught a whiff of anything pumpkin flavoured in your new home country. Or perhaps you think back fondly on the memories of a traditional South African Sunday lunch, complete with leg of lamb, green beans, rice, potatoes, and of course; pumpkin fritters. Either way, when you start thinking about pumpkin fritters, it’s hard to stop. The only way to stop is to satisfy the craving!

It’s not just the smell of South African pumpkin fritters that wafts through a room with a sugary cinnamon-y goodness that’s so enticing. It’s also the fact that making them is so easy and fun – often they become a family Sunday lunch time activity.  That’s something to fondly remember as kids, all gathered round the table, getting involved in making the pampoen koekies together. These are the things that those “those are the good old days” memories are all about.

Just because you are living abroad, it doesn’t mean that you never get to sink your teeth into the delicious pumpkin fritters you remember so well. Oh no, not at all. Why don’t you take a bit of South African culture to your new home country by trying your hand at a great pumpkin fritters recipe? We have just the recipe for you.

Pumpkin Fritters Recipe: The South African way

Roll up your sleeves, gather the family (or friends) around and get ready to whip up delectable pampoenkoekies just like you remember them. Prepare to star salivating before you’re even done!

What you need:

• 2 cups of pumpkin (cooked and mashed)
• 1 beaten egg (you can use 3 tablespoons of Aquafaba for a vegan pumpkin fritter)
• 1 cup of Self Raising flour
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
• ¼ teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
• Cooking oil for frying
• 50g of castor sugar
• 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon

What to do:

• Drain the cooked pumpkin.
• Add the beaten egg or aquafaba along with the vanilla extract and mix in well.
• Add the flour, baking powder, brown sugar, and sat to the mixture and mix well. It should form a smooth soft batter.
• Heat the cooking oil in the pan until it is hot.
• Scoop out a spoonful of the mixture into the size fritter you would like to make.
• Place the scoop into the pan and let it sizzle. Breathe in that familiar smell.
• When the fritter is cooked on the one side, turn it over to cook equally on the other side.
• Remove the fritters from the pan using a spatula. Place them onto kitchen paper so that any excess oil can be absorbed.

To make the cinnamon sugar coating:

• In a separate bowl, combine the cinnamon and sugar and then sprinkle it over the fritters.

What you have now, is a pile of delectable pumpkin fritters just waiting to be enjoyed.

Of course, the above is a delicious recipe, but what if you have even more of a sweet tooth and the castor sugar just isn’t going to cut it? Well, then it’s time to get serious with a recipe for “poffertjies” with a caramel sauce!

Poffertjies with Caramel Sauce Recipe

A “poffertjie” is undoubtedly a delectable poof of pumpkin heaven. It’s a mini pumpkin fritter drenched in caramel sauce. And it’s so good that you better make a big batch from the very start – especially if you will be sharing them with family and friends. If you want a truly melt-in-your-mouth poffertjie, you need to make it a little differently to the original pumpkin fritter. Let’s check out the recipe below:

What you need:

• 1 cup of pumpkin, cooked and mashed
• 1 cup of cake flour
• 10ml of baking powder
• 2 tablespoons of caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 60ml of milk
• 1ml of salt to taste
• ¾ cup of sugar
• 1 cup of cream
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 60ml of margarine
• ½ cup of syrup (golden)
• 1 teaspoon of sea salt flakes
• Cooking oil

To make the fritters:

• Mix the pumpkin, cake flour, baking powder, caster sugar, egg, and milk in a large bowl to form a smooth, firm batter.
• Heat the oil in a pan and when it is hot, spoon blobs of the batter. You may need to fry batches. Fry until the fritters are golden brown and cooked right through.
• Remove them from the pan with a spatula and let them drain on kitchen paper.

To make the sauce:

• Mix the sugar, cream, margarine, sea salt, and vanilla extract in a pot and heat for around 10 – 15 minutes while stirring continuously.
• When the sauce is thick and looks glossy, you can remove it from the heat and pour it over the fritters. Let the fritters sit in the sauce and serve them hot.

If that hasn’t got your mouth watering already, you obviously haven’t tried a traditional South African pumpkin fritter before!

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Nurturing a retirement annuity over the years is much the same as a good recipe: what you put in affects what you get out. But what if you contribute to a retirement annuity that you no longer have access to when you leave South Africa to live abroad? It’s a stressful situation, but you don’t have to accept losing out. At FinGlobal we have experience in helping South African expats abroad access the funds in their South African retirement annuities. Are you interested in getting a little more help and advice? All you have to do is contact us. Give us a call or send us an email at FinGlobal today.