Melt-in-Your-Mouth Pumpkin Funnel Cake Dessert Recipe

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Melt-in-Your-Mouth Pumpkin Funnel Cake Dessert Recipe

Tana Korpics Photo Tana Korpics |
November 18, 2020

Bring Dorney Park to the Table this Thanksgiving with this melt-in-your-mouth Pumpkin Funnel Cake Dessert Recipe.

If you’ve been following us on our pandemic journey, you’ve already made our Old-Fashioned Funnel Cake recipe.

Now that it’s Fall we’ve revamped our recipe for you to bring to the Thanksgiving table.

INGREDIENTS:

  • Vegetable oil
  • 1 cup pancake mix
  • ½ cup + 2 tbsp milk
  • 1 tbsp pumpkin puree (mild flavor) 2 tbsp to kick it up a notch
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 egg
  • Powdered sugar

Optional: sliced almonds, crushed pecans, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce for toppings - although, not needed for deliciousness.

DIRECTIONS:

  1. In a deep skillet, heat oil over medium heat to 350 degrees.
  2. In a medium-sized bowl, mix the pancake mix, milk, pumpkin, cinnamon, and egg. Whisk together, no lumps. Pour batter into funnel or squeeze bottle (you can also use a squeeze bottle or sandwich bag).
  3. Test oil with a small drop of oil to ensure it is ready. The batter should quickly float with small bubbles surrounding it.
  4. Pour batter into oil in a circular motion using as much batter as you need to make the size funnel cake you want! Once the bottom becomes golden brown, use tongs to carefully flip the funnel cake over. Cook for an additional minute.
  5. Remove funnel cake from oil and rest on a plate lined with paper towels. Sprinkle powdered sugar over top.

Safety note: please keep children away from the stovetop and hot oil, before and after making.

I had to improvise a little, and here’s how I did:

I didn’t have a thermometer for the oil, so I did the drop test, to see if it rose to the surface quickly with tiny bubbles around it – and it did.

I made bite-sized funnel cakes, these were harder to make, you wanna make sure your first circle of funnel cake meets or it’s a little bit of a mess. If you wanna make fuller sized funnel cakes – this recipe will make 2!

I used a sandwich bag for the batter - so simple. Tip: Place the sandwich bag in an 8oz cup and fold the seam over the edge of the cup, then pour the batter into the bag. It makes it easy to fill, and (my favorite) no mess!

I would have preferred pecans, but I didn’t have any at home 😊 So I improvised with almonds.
 

You can add any topping to this – maybe… a la mode!

 

VERDICT: This recipe was incredibly simple to make, and was an absolute TREAT. It was a yummy treat that took us mind, body, and soul back to the midways – especially on a warm sunny day... wishing we could be at the park. I'd call that a success. It's also a non-traditional Thanksgiving treat to change things up a bit during this non-traditional year (aka 2020).

Here's an image of my final products:

 

 

LESSON(S) LEARNED:

Use a bigger skillet than you think you need – I decided I would use a 4 qt. pot – not my best idea. The batter expands when it’s being fried, so it will consume more space which makes the funnel cake difficult to flip and the hot oil can be dangerous.

I hope everyone enjoys this super simple recipe, and we’d LOVE to see your attempts – so please take photos and share on social using #DorneyPark.


Recipe makes 2 large funnel cake, with 4 servings each. Safety note: please keep children away from the stove top and hot oil, before and after making.