This crispy fried homemade funnel cake is a classic carnival fair favorite food. Enjoy this delicious, simple, and easy funnel cake recipe at home today and throughout the year - or anytime you crave for funnel cakes - with basic ingredients in less than 30 minutes.
All my experiments with food began only after I got married and reached the United States. Till then my favorite comfort food was my Indian food, mainly Dosa & Idli , Naan, Butter Masala, Tikka Masala. I never knew about funnel cakes.
The only thing that I tried was the Indian funnel cake called Jalebis - one of the most popular Indian sweets or desserts that are eggless and prepared using flour, sugar, yogurt, and baking soda.
As festival season is around the corner, to make it more interesting, do try this international version of jalebi 🙂
For all those who are new to funnel cake, I hope you get an idea of what it is by the end of this post 🙂
What is Funnel Cake?
Funnel Cake is not a cake. It is nothing but simple flour-egg batter stirred together, poured in hot oil in a zig-zag pattern, fried until golden brown, and topped with powdered sugar. It is a popular food from North America, mainly prepared at carnivals and fairs.
You can serve funnel cake with powdered or confectioners sugar, or get creative and drizzle chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, dulce de leche, heavy whipped cream, jam/jelly, cinnamon sugar, or any of your favorite toppings like strawberries, ice cream - the options are endless!!
Funnel cake vs fried dough
Fried dough is generally a name given to a variety of bread made using yeast dough - may be bread dough or pizza dough, stretched into a circle and dropped in hot oil.
Funnel cake, on the other hand, is not made from dough instead made using a batter of milk, egg, flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar, poured in hot oil in zig-zag patterns or swirling motion.
Some of my other favorite carnival and state fair foods
Anytime you have cravings for carnival and fair foods try these out. They are sure to satisfy all your cravings.
Also, check the simple 2 ingredient recipe for elephant ears using Puff pastry (palmiers or little hearts).
What are your favorite carnival and state fair food and activities? Are you missing it the way we do with the current pandemic?
Ingredients
2 ¼ cups Whole Milk, more or less (Check tips)
2 Eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2 ½ cups All-purpose Flour, more or less (Check tips)
4 tablespoon to 5 tablespoon Sugar
½ teaspoon Salt
3 teaspoon Baking powder
¼ teaspoon Cinnamon powder (optional)
Oil, for frying
Confectioners Sugar, as needed
You may reduce ingredient amounts to half or double as needed.
How to make the best Funnel Cakes at home from Scratch
Prepare Funnel Cake Batter
- Heat oil in a pan or skillet on medium heat so that it becomes nice and hot.
- In a bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, and vanilla together. To this, add dry ingredients - flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Whisk together until it is smooth and creamy.
- If you feel the batter is too thick, add more milk; if it is too thin, then add extra flour. Basically, the batter should be slightly thicker than your regular pancake batter but of pourable consistency. (Check tips)
How to pour funnel cake batter and fry?
- To pour batter into the oil you can use a funnel cake dispenser or Ziploc bags or refillable round nozzle squeeze bottle (nozzle with ¼ inch opening is the ideal size).
- Pour some of the batter into any one of the above pouring equipment and drizzle in swirling and overlapping (or zig-zag) motion in hot oil to get a funnel cake. Make sure some of the swirls are connected. This need not have to be a perfect circle.
- Let this cook for about 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown and crispy.
- Transfer it to a paper towel to absorb any excess oil.
- Sprinkle with confectioners sugar as needed.
- Funnel Cakes are ready. Serve them warm and enjoy.
Tips regarding flour, milk, and oil for Funnel Cake
- The consistency of the batter plays a very important role in the success of funnel cakes. If the batter is too thin or watery, funnel cakes won't hold together, start falling apart, and it is going to be a mess. If it's too thick, you will not be able to pour it in a timely fashion, and it's again going to be a mess. You will have to play around with the batter to get the right consistency.
- Â The amount of flour may vary depending on the brand and weather conditions.
- I have used whole milk and thus needed 2 ½ cups of flour. If using skim milk, the amount of flour needed may vary slightly.
- I generally don't use any thermometer to check the oil temperature. I just drop few drops of batter and see if it sizzles and comes up immediately. But if you want the exact oil temperature, it's 375 degrees F for crispy and golden funnel cakes.
FAQs
Use any neutral oil. I prefer canola oil or vegetable oil for frying funnel cakes.
You can store it in an airtight container at room temperature. You can also place parchment paper or paper towels between cakes if needed to absorb any grease and sticking from each other.
Yes, you can reheat in the oven at 350 F degrees for 10 minutes, or reheat in the microwave for a minute till it is heated through or you may even use an air fryer.
You can refrigerate any leftover batter for up to 2 days in an airtight container.
Simply whisk pancake mix with water approx. 1:1 ratio to form a smooth batter and then pour the batter using a Ziploc bag or a funnel cake dispenser and fry them till golden brown on both sides. For better taste use buttermilk pancake mix.
Making funnel cake fries is super easy. Just change the shape while you pour the batter in oil. Just pour it in a single line or fry-shape. Keep in mind that this cooks and turns golden brown faster.
I love to sprinkle powdered sugar on my funnel cakes. You can drizzle chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, dulce de leche, heavy whipped cream, jam/jelly, cinnamon sugar, or any of your favorite toppings like strawberries, ice cream - the options are endless!!
Recipe card
Best and Easy Homemade Funnel Cake | How to make Funnel Cake
Equipment
- 1 Funnel Cake Dispenser or Ziploc Bag
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Pan for frying
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups Whole Milk, more or less (Check tips)
- 2 Eggs
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups  All purpose Flour, more or less (Check tips)
- 4 to 5 tablespoon Sugar
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 3 teaspoon Baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon Cinnamon powder (optional)
- Oil, for frying
- Confectioners Sugar, as needed
Instructions
Prepare Funnel Cake Batter
- Heat oil in a pan or skillet on medium heat so that it becomes nice and hot.Oil, for frying
- In a bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, and vanilla together. To this add dry ingredients – flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Whisk together until it is smooth and creamy.2 ¼ cups Whole Milk, more or less (Check tips), 2 Eggs, 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract, 2 ½ cups  All purpose Flour, more or less (Check tips), 4 to 5 tablespoon Sugar, ½ teaspoon Salt, 3 teaspoon Baking powder, ¼ teaspoon Cinnamon powder (optional)
- If you feel the batter is too thick, add more milk, if it is too thin then add extra flour. Basically, the batter should be slightly thicker than your regular pancake batter but of pourable consistency. (Check tips)
How to pour batter and fry
- To pour batter into the oil you can use a funnel cake dispenser or Ziploc bags or refillable round nozzle squeeze bottle with ¼ inch nozzle.
- Pour some of the batter into any one of the above pouring devices and drizzle in a swirling and overlapping motion (or zig-zag pattern) in hot oil to get a funnel cake. Make sure some of the swirls are connected. This need not have to be a perfect circle
- Let this cook for about 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown and crispy.
- Transfer it to a paper towel to absorb any excess oil.
- Sprinkle with confectioners sugar as needed.Confectioners Sugar, as needed
- Funnel Cakes are ready. Serve them warm and enjoy.
Notes
- Consistency of the batter plays a very important role in the success of funnel cakes. If the batter is too thin or watery, funnel cakes won’t hold together, starts falling apart and it is going to be a mess. If it’s too thick, you will not be able to pour it in a timely fashion and it is again going to be a mess. You will have to play around with the batter to get the right consistency.
- The amount of flour may vary depending on the brand and weather condition.
- I have used whole milk and thus needed 2 ½ cups flour. If using skim milk, the amount of flour needed may vary slightly.
- I generally don’t use any thermometer to check the oil temperature. I just drop few drops of batter into the hot oil and see if it sizzles and comes up immediately. But if you want the exact oil temperature, it is 375 F degree for crispy and golden funnel cakes.
Nutrition
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Carrie Robinson
Such a classic sweet treat to get from summer fairs and amusement parks! Can't wait to try this recipe at home soon. 🙂
Tayler
I've made these funnel cakes several times and they always turn out perfectly, even better than the fair!
Nathan
This funnel cake reminds me so much of going to carnivals during the summer, and now I can make it easily right in my own kitchen! Thanks so much for the recipe 🙂
Ieva
This looks like so much fun! Kind of reminds me of Turkish Tulumba in a way, but different shape. Anyway, I will have to try this. Will let you know how it goes!
Mirlene
A better way to have funnel cake at home than spending alot from the state fair! I can make a bigger batch for my kids too!