The must have item when visiting the Canadian capital of Ottawa is a beaver tail. This fried dough pastry has become synonymous with Byward Market where a chain called BeaverTail® serves thousands of these long oval shaped pastries. BeaverTails® are made of a half wholewheat flour mix risen, spread and deep fried. A donut in another form if you will. And on a recent trip to Ottawa I was passed the recipe by lovely Canadian food writer Paula Roy!
Most people have a Winter memory of eating BeaverTails (although they're popular year round) when the Rideau Canal is frozen solid. There are four BeaverTail® branded huts situated along the canal and people skate along the ice covered canal and buy the pastries with hot chocolates.
They come in a variety of toppings from the heavily laden down numbers like the "Triple Trip" aka chocolate, peanut butter and Reese's pieces to savoury ones like garlic butter and cheese (where they resemble a Hungarian Langos). The most popular though is the Killaloe Sunrise with cinnamon sugar and lemon which is a balance of tart and sweet. They're soft and light and now you can make your own BeaverTail® style pastries using a copycat recipe inspired by the original.
When Paula offered to send me the copycat BeaverTail® recipe for these after dinner I was delighted to try making them from scratch (because realistically it is going to be a while until I get back to Ottawa). It took me a while because I don't really like deep frying but I will make an exception for donuts.
One of my friends Miss America is a donut nut. He loves pastries and donuts more than anyone else I know. After dinner we were giving him a lift home and driving through a rather dark and deserted area of the inner city of Sydney. Miss America piped up and said that he wouldn't have felt safe walking home or going home by public transport. But he had a solution.
"A woman that I worked with was a little eccentric but she used to bring a frozen chicken to work with her," he said. "It had to be frozen so she could use it as a weapon in case anyone attacked her," he explained. Apparently every day she left for work while it was dark and worked long hours so it would often be dark when she walked home, especially in Winter. So the chicken would go in the work freezer (I guess there's no chance of anyone pinching a frozen raw chicken for lunch) and it would accompany her to work day in and day out.
"Really? Did you see the chicken?" I asked.
"Yes I did sight the chicken," he said nodding his head. "It was real," he said sighing, before adding perhaps a little superfluously, that she really was a little eccentric.
So tell me Dear Reader, do you have safety protection when you go out? And have you ever considered carrying a frozen chicken? ;) Have you ever eaten a Beaver Tail style pastry?
Step 1 - In a large mixing bowl (a stand mixer is ideal), combine the yeast and warm water. Let stand 3minutes to activate. Add sugar, milk, eggs, salt and melted butter to the bowl, stir to combine.
Step 2 - Mix both flours together and add to make a soft dough. Knead for about 5 minutes using a dough hook or 8 minutes by hand. The dough should be smooth and elastic. Place the finished dough in a greased bowl; cover with plastic wrap and let rest about 45 minutes to an hour.
Step 3 - Punch down dough to deflate then divide into 10 equal sized portions. Let rest, covered with tea towels, for 10 minutes. While dough balls rest, combine sugar with cinnamon in a broad, shallow dish.
Step 4 - Working with one ball at a time, roll out into an oval about 1/4 inch thick; cover again with towel and make sure that they lie on a floured surface. Heat about 4 inches of oil in a deep fryer or large, tall saucepan. The oil is ready for frying when it reaches about 196C/385F.
Step 5 - Give the ovals one last gentle stretch and then add them to the hot oil (as many as will fit at one time without being too crowded). Cook about 2-3 minutes per side or until golden brown on both sides.
Step 6 - Remove from hot oil with tongs and drain on paper towels for a moment. Dredge the beaver tails in the dish with cinnamon and sugar; flip to coat both sides and shake off any excess. Squeeze fresh lemon juice over the pastry and eat while warm. Paula says the key is to serve them straight away while they are hot rather than waiting for them all to finish frying.
Created with whole wheat flour and fried to soft, crispy perfection, BeaverTails trace their origins from bannock, a non-rising dough stretched over two sticks that early settlers cooked over a fire, taking after how Indigenous people flame-cooked beaver tails to access the meat inside.
Start a fire in the main fire ring and create a base of coals. Pull coals from the fire into the grilling channel and place the beaver tail onto the grill. Roast the tail for approximately 20 minutes, rotating it every couple of minutes to get an even roast. Some charring on the skin is okay.
According to its makers, BEAVERTAILS® pastries are whole wheat pastries that are stretched by hand to resemble the tail of one of our best known symbols: the beaver. The pastries are then fried in oil (or, as described by BEAVERTAILS®: “float cooked on high quality canola oil”) and then served pipping hot.
Grade 1 beaver tail is most commonly used for watch bands, footwear, electronics accessories and wallets. Grade 2 beaver tail is most commonly used for holsters, sheats, card cases and other small leather goods.
We have BeaverTails® locations in the USA, Dubai, Japan, France, and Mexico! And the list is constantly growing! BeaverTails® is for the lovers; our delicious pastries have played a part in at least 35 marriage proposals (that we know of).
BeaverTails, despite their name, are not actually Beaver's tails. They are whole-wheat pastries stretched to the shape of a beaver's tails, hence the name. They have flavours ranging from Maple, Chocolate and Oreo to the traditional Cinnamon Sugar.
The meat is dense and rich, with a bit of fat and connective tissue to it. It's a little like a shank, but better. Every meal we've made with the tail muscle is one of the best we've ever had. Flapper: The flapper is mostly fat and connective tissue.
Beaver meat is very low in fat (10%) when compared to beef, pork and chicken (33 – 55% fat) but the feet and tail contain a lot of fat. Traditional fats are healthier for us. Grams of fat in beaver parts per serving: Meat = 1 gram of fat.
The tail of a beaver is mostly meaty. It is difficult to describe the taste, though. It has similarities with other large rodents, like porcupines, but that wouldn't be particularly helpful if you've never tasted porcupine meat. It tends to be rich and oily, in the way that pork is, but the flavor is nothing like pork.
After glazing over the myriad bakery options, I opted for a Beaver Tail, which is the Buc-ee's version of a cinnamon roll. Very sweet, the long and flattened baked good was delicious. It had a great mixture of cinnamon, icing and flakiness.
Don't worry: It's not a real beaver tail—it's flattened fried dough, brushed with butter and rolled in cinnamon sugar. Beaver tails, also known as elephant ears, get their name from their large size and flat shape.
BeaverTails are new to much of the United States. There are currently just eight places to find them outside Canada, where the fried treats were invented in the 1970s by Ontarians Grant and Pam Hooker. As a snack for the family, the Hookers would fry up the dough leftover from whatever meal they cooked that day.
The tail is important both in the water and on land. It serves as an area for storing fat, and because it is nearly hairless, it releases body heat, helping the beaver to regulate its body temperature. In the water, the animal uses its flexible tail as a four-way rudder.
BeaverTails are now present around the world, with locations in the United States, UAE, Japan, and other places. Funnel Cakes: Whereas Fried Dough uses pieces of Dough that are deep-fried, Funnel Cakes uses a liquid batter. The name refers to the funnel that is used to pour the batter inside the fryer.
Light and airy dough with a crispy exterior coated in sugar and cinnamon. If you have never had a classic Canadian Beaver Tail you are missing out! The dough is light and airy yet crispy and not overly sweet. The cinnamon sugar coating on the outside provides just the right amount of sweetness.
BeaverTails are now present around the world, with locations in the United States, UAE, Japan, and other places. Funnel Cakes: Whereas Fried Dough uses pieces of Dough that are deep-fried, Funnel Cakes uses a liquid batter. The name refers to the funnel that is used to pour the batter inside the fryer.
Beaver tails are a great source of glucosamine. These are a bone in item. These are roughly cut 2-3” wide and will range in thickness. Some will be super thin while others are much thicker.
Introduction: My name is Stevie Stamm, I am a colorful, sparkling, splendid, vast, open, hilarious, tender person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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