Beaver Tails - Traditional Winter Treat
In a glass measuring cup, dissolve 1 tbsp white sugar in 1/2 cup of warm water (110Degrees F). Add 3 tbsp fast acting yeast and stir. Let sit for about 5 mins, til bubbly.
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 1/3 cups water
4 tbsp white sugar
Mix all in a large bowl (preferably one that can operate with a bread dough hook ).
Add yeast mixture and combine all. With your mixer (with dough hook) running, begin adding flour, 1 cup at a time. I usually end up using roughly 6-7 cups of flour but it depends on the moisture level in your home. You are trying to produce and very stiff bread-dough-like mixture that when finished has incorporated all the flour and pulls away from the side of the bowl. Too stiff, your machine will overload, too loose and you’ll have muffin batter. Turn your dough out of the bowl and knead it 10-20 times until soft and rounded. Place dough in a large buttered bowl, turning over once to coat all exposed sides of the dough. Cover with a damp tea towel, draped over the bowl and let rise in a warm spot for approx. 1 hour. HINT I usually heat my oven to 225F before I start, turn off direct heating and let sit till dough is in bowl. Then I place the bowl in my oven for roughly 20-30 mins and it will have risen sufficiently to use. Whatever you do, DO NOT LEAVE THE OVEN ON while your dough rises, for obvious reasons.
Once risen, turn dough out and knead til in a ball. Working with about half the dough, break off pieces about the size of a baseball, and roll out into a shape close to a circle. If you are a fanatic, shape your dough like the tail of a beaver. This of course is at your own discretion and personally far more work than I want to do. Mine usually end up looking like circles. Roll out to about 1/4 inch thickness. HINT if your dough co-operates, try to roll it out without adding extra flour. The dough will stick to the board but this helps to stretch and shape it.
Meanwhile in a very large skillet, heat enough vegetable oil to have a depth of roughly 1/2 to 3/4 in in the pan. Oil should be 350F. I don’t use a deep-fryer as they tend to mess up the shape of the beavertail. It is also easier to do this next part with another person, one to cook, one to roll out the dough. Roll and cook the tails one at a time. These are best served immediately and individually so that the sugar sticks to the dough.
Fry the tails for roughly 2 mins or until each side is lightly browned. Take out of oil, place on absorbent paper, turn over once, brush lightly with lemon juice (a pastry brush works best), place lemon-side down onto a plate covered with a sugar-cinnamon mixture. Only coat one side of the tail. Serve immediately, warning consumers about the heat of the pastry. Really good with hot chocolate
This recipe makes a whole whack of tails and I always find one or two enough for the average person. Course that depends on the size of the tail, both the pastry and the consumer, lol. Any left over dough can be wrapped well in plastic wrap, placed in a plastic bag (try and get as much air as possible out of the bag) and kept in the freezer. Be warned, the dough will rise a bit more in the freezer. When you want more, take your dough out and let thaw at room temp for around 3 hours. Repeat the cooking process and enjoy.