FUNNEL CAKE RECIPE USING PANCAKE MIX RECIPES

Steps:

• Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk the egg with the granulated sugar until pale. Whisk the milk into the egg mixture, then gently fold into the flour mixture. It should be a bit thicker than pancake batter but thin enough to pour. Add up to 3 tablespoons milk to loosen the batter, if needed.
• Heat about 2 inches of canola oil in a large high-sided skillet or pot over medium-high heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 375. Meanwhile, mix the confectioners' sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Hold a funnel in one hand with your finger plugging the hole at the bottom. Pour 1 cup batter into the funnel. Hold the funnel over the hot oil and remove your finger from the hole, letting the batter drop in a spiral pattern all over the surface of the oil. It will look like lots of individual pieces at first, but as you continue to add batter, the pieces will fuse together. Cook until the batter floats and the underside is golden brown, about 30 seconds. Flip with tongs and cook until golden brown on the other side, about 30 more seconds. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate and repeat to make 5 more funnel cakes. Dust with the cinnamon-sugar and serve with whipped cream and/or fruit sauce, if desired.

Steps:

• About 30 minutes before making the cake, place an egg separator over a small bowl. Crack each egg over the egg separator to separate the whites from the yolk. (save the yolks for another recipe.) Transfer egg whites to a 2-cup measuring cup until there are 1 1/2 cups of egg whites.
• Place the egg whites in a clean large bowl, and let stand at room temperature up to 30 minutes.*
• Move the oven rack to the lowest position; remove other oven rack. Heat the oven to 375°F. In a medium bowl, mix the powdered sugar and flour; set aside.
• Add the cream of tartar to the egg whites; beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until mixture looks foamy. On high speed, beat in the granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time; add the vanilla, almond extract and salt with the last addition of sugar. Continue beating until meringue is stiff and glossy. Do not underbeat.
• Sprinkle the powdered sugar-flour mixture, 1/4 cup at a time, over the meringue; to fold in, use a rubber spatula to cut down vertically through the batter, then slide the spatula across the bottom of the bowl and up the side just until sugar-flour mixture disappears. When all sugar-flour mixture has been folded in, spoon the batter into an ungreased 10x4-inch angel food (tube) cake pan. Using a metal spatula or knife, gently cut through the batter, spreading batter gently against side of pan and tube, to break large air pockets.
• Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until cracks in cake feel dry and top springs back when touched lightly. Immediately turn pan upside down onto a heatproof funnel or bottle. Let cake hang about 2 hours or until completely cool.
• Remove pan from funnel. Loosen the cake by running a knife or long metal spatula between the cake and side of pan. Place a serving plate upside down on pan; turn plate and pan over together and remove pan. (If pan has a removable bottom, remove side of pan, then carefully run a knife or long metal spatula between cake and pan bottom. Carefully remove bottom.) To cut cake, use a long serrated knife in a sawing motion, or use an electric knife.