The Fried Twinkie Cook-off

Another competition. For some reason people feel the need to challenge me with my culinary skills. I may be due to the fact that I usually lose the cooking competitions I enter. My friend, Nicole, and I went to a local street festival here in Chicago and tried fried twinkies for the first time. I always thought of fried twinkies as a thing of legend. Something you see at a state fair in the South on Food Network. I jumped at the opportunity to have this heart-attack-waiting-to-happen-treat.

Spoiler alert: Fried twinkies taste like an extra sweet, greasy pancakes. I knew that I could make a better version. One less greasy, less batter, sprinkled with powdered sugar, and a nice raspberry sauce to boot. Nicole decided that she could make one better than me. Thus the Great Fried Twinkie Cookoff was borne. The result? We decided it was a draw. We borrowed each other's ingredients, we were not very skilled at frying goop, and the sugar made everything taste good. See my (approximate) recipe below.

Beer Battered Fried Twinkie with Chocolate Rum Nut Sauce (Q)

Serves 4

2 Twinkies, frozen

2 C. of All-purpose flour

1 bottle of beer

1/2 C. of sugar

1 Tbl. of Cinnamon

Vegetable Oil

- In a mixing bowl, combine flour, beer, sugar, and cinnamon

- In a 3-inch deep pan or pot, pour in vegetable oil

- Heat oil to med-high

- Dip frozen twinkies into batter and place in hot oil

- Flip twinkie over after 2 minutes and finish frying other side for another 2 minutes

- Place on a paper towel-covered plate and let drain

- Serve with Chocolate Rum Nut Sauce

Chocolate Rum Nut Sauce

2 bars of Ghirardelli chocolate

1 finger of Rum

2 Tbl. of Brown Sugar

2 Tbl. of Pecans, chopped

1 Tbl. of Butter

- Melt all ingredients in a small saucepan

- Serve atop fried twinkies