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Note: You can make Apple Fritters using scraps left over from other recipes. This dough weighs about 1 pound/455 g. To make fritters, weigh your extra dough and adjust the recipe that follows accordingly. (If you don’t want to do the math, just make the filling, spread it in a thin layer over half your extra dough, sprinkle heavily with cinnamon and flour, and proceed as directed. Serve any excess filling over ice cream!)

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FRITTER DOUGH

11/2 tbsp (two 1/4 oz/7 g packages) active dry yeast

1/2 cup/120 ml very warm water (about 105°F/40°C)

1/4 cup/50 g sugar, plus 2 tsp

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp ground mace

1 tsp iodized salt

2 cups/275 g plus 4 to 6 tbsp bread/strong flour, plus more for rolling and cutting

2 tbsp shortening/vegetable lard, trans-fat-free preferred

1 large egg

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

APPLE FILLING

2 medium tart apples, chopped into 1/2 in/2 cm pieces (about 21/2 cups/250 g)

1/4 cup/50 g sugar

2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tbsp plus 1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tbsp bread/strong flour

Canola oil, for frying

Big batch Simplest Vanilla Glaze or Top Pot’s Vanilla Doughnut Glaze

TIME

1 hour 5 minutes active time, plus glazing

EQUIPMENT

Metal bench scraper or large knife

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- To make the fritter dough: Whisk the yeast, water, and 2 tsp of the sugar together in the work bowl of a stand mixer and set aside for 5 minutes.

- In a large bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/4 cup/50 g sugar, baking powder, mace, salt, and 2 cups/275 g of the bread/strong flour. Set aside.

- Add the shortening/vegetable lard, egg, and vanilla to the foaming yeast mixture. Mix with the paddle attachment on low speed for 1 minute, to break up the shortening. Add about a third of the dry ingredients and mix until blended on low speed, then repeat with the second third of the dry ingredients.

- Switch to the dough hook and add the remaining dry ingredients, mixing on low speed until no white spots remain each time, adding additional flour as necessary, until the dough is dry enough to clean the bottom of the bowl. Increase the speed to medium and knead for 2 more minutes. (It should be smooth like bread dough, but still a bit tacky.)

- Transfer the dough to a baking sheet/tray sprinkled with 1 tbsp flour, shape into a flat 4 in/ 10 cm square, dust lightly with flour, cover with a dish/tea towel, and set aside.

- Create a proofing box in your oven: Bring a large kettle of water to a boil. Pour 8 cups/2 L of the boiling water into a 9-by-13-in/25-by-35-cm (or similar) baking dish, and set it on the floor of your oven. Place the sheet with the covered dough on the middle rack of the oven, close the door, and let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. (For tips on making your dough ahead of time.)

- While the dough rises, make the apple filling: Heat the apples, sugar, and lemon juice together in a frying pan over medium-high heat until the sugar melts, stirring often. Continue cooking at a strong simmer, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is gone and the apples are soft, 5 to 7 minutes. Set aside to cool.

- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured large cutting board and roll into a roughly 10 in/25 cm square, about 1/2 in/12 mm thick. Spread the cooled apples over half the dough, then sprinkle all of the cinnamon, then the flour, over the apples. Fold the empty half of the dough over the filling. Using a metal bench scraper or a large knife, cut the dough into shards 1/2 in/1 cm thick, first vertically and then horizontally, so you make a checkerboard pattern. Scoop and rearrange the dough, and cut again in both directions. Repeat. (This is not an exact process.) The mixture should be sticky and evenly spiced, and the dough should be chopped into tons of small pieces.

- Using floured hands, form the dough into a log roughly 12 in/30 cm long by 3 in/8 cm in diameter, using a couple handfuls of extra flour to coat the log completely with flour. Slice it (at 1 in/2.5 cm intervals) into 12 equal pieces. Using floured hands, pat each piece of dough into a palm-size