Cook This: Yawd’s Plantain Fritters

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Our cookbook of the week is Yawd by Adrian Forte. Tomorrow we will offer an interview with the author.

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To try another recipe from the book, check out: Caribbean Spice Steamed Fish and Crispy Okra Salad.

“That’s bullshit,” laughs chef and culinary consultant Adrian Forte.

Forte started making plantain donuts in 2018 while hosting a friend’s birthday party. He had planned to make a plantain version of Bananas Foster for dessert, but the fruit was way too soft.

So Forte changed tack and worked with the ingredients he had. “On the fly, I freestyled this recipe and people loved it. And then I made it my signature dessert,” he says.

Forte grew up eating plantain fritters in Kingston, Jamaica, which are flat rather than round. He had already made a tasty iteration and, using the concept as a starting point, created these sweet, deep-fried pastries and filled them with plantain cream.

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After doing further research, Forte learned that he wasn’t the first to make plantain fritters. In Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Ghana they are known as a street food called puff puff.

“Even though I stumbled upon this recipe, it’s been around for a long time,” says Forte.

“It’s a game-changer, it’s different,” he adds of his Afro-Caribbean version. “And when you do it for gastronomy, you present it so well. We make a little sugar tile on top that you break. We have the hibiscus at the base of the plate. It’s so luxurious and so elegant, and it’s seeing plantain in a different way.

Plantain Fritters

Preparation: 10 mins + chill | Cooking: 30 mins

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Plantain puree:
2 ripe bananas

Plantain paste:
1/2 cup heavy or whipping cream, warmed
1 tablespoon instant yeast
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 cups egg whites (about 8-10 eggs)
2 cups all-purpose flour

Plantain cream:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 egg yolks
3 cups hot melted unsalted butter
4 cups vegetable oil, for frying
Icing sugar, for dusting

Step 1

Make the plantain purée: In a pot of boiling water, blanch the plantains for 3 to 5 minutes, until tender. Remove from water and mash to create a puree. Reserve 1 cup of plantain puree for the pastry cream.

2nd step

Make the plantain paste: In a large bowl, combine the remaining plantain puree with the hot cream and yeast, and stir to dissolve the yeast. Add sugar and egg whites and mix well. Add the flour and beat until smooth. Cover the bowl and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours and up to 24 hours.

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Step 3

When ready, take the dough out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature before frying. It takes about 20 minutes.

Step 4

Prepare the pastry cream: In a blender, combine the 1 cup reserved plaintain purée, sugar, vanilla and egg yolks. Pulse until ingredients are combined, then slowly stir in melted butter until mixture is emulsified. Keep warm.

Step 5

Line a baking sheet with paper towel. In a saucepan over medium-low heat, heat the oil until it reaches 360°F. Use a scoop or ice cream scoop to scoop out portions of batter (you’re aiming for 18 in total) and, working in batches of 4, add to the oil. Fry donuts until golden brown, about 8-10 minutes. If the donuts don’t come out (indicating they’re done), the oil isn’t hot enough. Place donuts on paper towel to absorb excess oil. Repeat until all the batter is used.

Step 6

Transfer the warm plantain cream to a piping bag fitted with a nozzle. Carefully fill the donuts with custard.

Step 7

Shake icing sugar over warm donuts and serve warm

Makes: 15 to 18 donuts

Recipe and image taken from Yawd by Adrian Forte. Copyright © 2022 Adrien Forte. Photograph by John Molina. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by agreement with the publisher. All rights reserved.