Twinkie, Twinkie, deep-fried star is what you are

• Other treats take deep-fried plunge

By Drew Sterwald
Fort Myers (Fla.) News-Press

This is the way a deep-fried Twinkie is served with ice cream and chocolate sauce in Florida. It may sound improbable, but those who've tried it say it's actually quite yummy. Gannett News Service

Mention deep-fried Twinkies.

"I'm appalled!" shudders dietitian Jamie Gates Galeana. "I can't imagine why anyone would want to do that."

Well, plenty of people are doing that — despite the fact that battering and frying the all-American golden cream-filled snack triples its calories to between 450 and 480 and multiplies the fat content about six times to a nasty 28 grams, Galeana's research found.

"It's worse than a Krispy Kreme donut," she says.

Regardless of their shady nutritional profile, deep-fried Twinkies have arrived in some adventurous restaurants.

The Cape Seafood Shack in Cape Coral, Fla., sells about 100 a week, according to owner Faith Eralie. Dusted with powdered sugar and sprinkled with berries, they sell for $3.50 and have been prominently promoted in the restaurant's advertising and window displays.

"People think, 'Oh my God — Twinkies are bad enough, but then you fry them?' " said Eralie.

At Big Al's Sports Grill in Bonita Springs, Fla., they're marketed as the more sophisticated-sounding Tempura Twinkies.

Battered in a mixture of flour and soda water, the Twinkies are dunked in 350-degree oil for a few minutes and emerge as crisply coated logs of cream-soaked cake. Dressed up with ice cream and whipped cream, they're priced at $3.49 and leave the kitchen at a pace of about 250 a week, according to owner Stephen Karakosta.

"I've kind of been shocked," he says of the dessert's popularity.

The trend toward Twinkie tweaking is a mere two years old, but the spongy cakes have been around for more than 70 years. Developed as an inexpensive treat during the Depression, the original cake squirted banana filling when bitten into. But a banana shortage during World War II spurred the change to vanilla cream.

Americans now consume more than 500 million Twinkies a year, according to maker Hostess, and the cellophane-wrapped treat has its own cultural benchmarks.

Remember the "Twinkie defense"? That term joined the lexicon in 1978 after a California killer blamed junk-food addiction for his depression.

Some eight years ago, a pair of students conducted experiments on Hostess' pride and joy at Rice University in Texas. They ran electricity through it; they set it on fire; they dropped it from the sixth floor of a campus building; they microwaved it on high power for 10 minutes; they immersed it in tap water for three days — all in the name of science. The results — complete with an analysis in haiku — are posted at twinkiesproject.com.

This recipe was developed at the ChipShop in Park Slope, Brooklyn, widely credited as the first restaurant to serve deep-fried Twinkies in the United States. These are best accomplished in an electronic deep-fat fryer for precise temperature control; use plain vegetable oil. Bring temperature to 350 degrees. If not using a deep-fat fryer, be sure to use a candy thermometer to check oil temperature.

Chipshop's Deep-fried Hostess Twinkie

• 10 Hostess Twinkies
• Flour
• Powdered sugar
• For the batter:
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tablespoon malt vinegar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 12 ounces water

For a four-berry topping:

• 1 cup frozen raspberries
• 1 cup frozen blackberries
• 1 cup frozen strawberries
• 1 cup frozen blueberries
• 4 tablespoons sugar

To prepare Twinkies: Chill Twinkies in refrigerator. Mix batter ingredients to the consistency of custard. Roll each Twinkie in extra flour and then roll in batter. Drop the battered Twinkie into a deep fryer set to 350 degrees for about 90 seconds, just until the outside is golden brown. Top with powdered sugar; cut in half and serve with four-berry coulis.

To make topping: Place berries in a pan on low heat and add sugar. When mixture begins to boil, place in blender and blend until it turns to liquid. Strain mixture through a sieve to remove pulp.

Other treats take deep-fried plunge

Joji Sumi, kitchen manager at Big Al's Sports Grill in Bonita Springs, Fla., gamely agreed to man the fryer as we handed over an assortment of goodies. Most survived the 350-degree oil better with a flour and egg-wash coating than with tempura batter:

Hostess Twinkie: The cream filling seemed to explode into the sponge cake, while the batter crisped up to a golden crust. The result tasted much like a well-toasted marshmallow.

Snickers bar: The hot oil blasted away the batter and the chocolate coating. Results discouraging.

Little Debbie Chocolate-Flavored Marshmallow Pie: The chocolate coating slid into the fry vat, but the cookie within remained crisp and the marshmallow filling melted into a pleasantly creamy consistency.

Marshmallow Peeps: Deep-frying actually improved these treats. Their poor little dotted eyes melted away as if exposed to serious radiation, but the chicks' sugar coating caramelized to an enjoyable crisp, and the marshmallow center broke down into delectable goo.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup: Freezing them before battering and frying helped firm up the chocolate coating, and the peanut butter within was nicely liquefied.

Oreo cookie: Cookie and icing held up well. A promising contender.

Strawberries: Cooking really punched up the berries' juices, while the flesh was rendered tender. Dusted with powdered sugar or paired with chocolate-syrup dip, these could be the next dessert sensation.