16th Oct 2008
And I paid $4 for it
This week is the South Carolina State Fair, and since for once we’re actually living in a state capitol, Buzz and I took the kids. And it was great. We saw some really cool pheasants, lots of dairy cows, horse slalom (I don’t know the correct term for this, but it’s riding a horse as fast as possible weaving through some poles), very neat crafts and artwork, and of course the obligatory midway rides, games, and carnival food.
One of the first booths by the entrance had the infamous Deep Fried Candy. Snickers, Oreos, Reeses Cups, Cookie Dough, even Pepsi (I’m surprised it wasn’t Coke, since this is The South) — all battered and deep fried. So Buzz bought us some deep fried chocolate chip cookie dough.
Now, I’m a fan of cookie dough. The yield of a “makes 60 cookies” recipe will, for me, probably be 20% less. (I blame the economy.) However, I only like cold cookie dough. At room temperature, it starts to taste a little less appealing, and you might as well just bake it. And now I know that if it’s hot… if it’s been, let’s say, deep fried… it’s disgusting. I’ll eat pretty much anything, but I didn’t want another one of those.
What struck me as particularly odd about it was that it had dusting of powdered sugar. When you’ve just invented deep fried cookie dough, it takes a particularly dedicated sweet tooth to say, “This would be totally awesome if it just had more sugar on top!” Maybe there’s a demented dentist out there creating this crap.
And the scariest part of the experience? Six hours later we were leaving the fair. I thought to myself, Gosh, I’d like some more deep fried cookie dough. And then I thought, Um, WHAT? That was horrible, I don’t want more! My stupid side replied, Ahhh, c’mon! It’ll taste good this time. Mmmm, cookie dough!
I didn’t get more.
Photo borrowed from the Food Network, which has a recipe if you’re crazy enough to want this when the fair isn’t in town.
I am not a huge fan of cookie dough, but I thought the deep-fried version was quite good. The dough was warm and soft, but not runny. On the other hand, deep-fried chocolate bars sound like more a mess than they’re worth. (And one fried Milky Way cost as much as four balls of dough.)
How do you deep-fry Pepsi? That sounds particularly dangerous–oy, the splattering!
@Rose — I think they dip an ice cube (well, Pepsi cube) in batter, then fry, and the Pepsi melts while it’s cooking. Basically you end up with a Pepsi-soaked donut
I’m going to stick with Polish sausage and fried mushrooms and caramel apples next year.
The sign said something about “Pepsi balls,” which, after cooking, were drizzled with Pepsi syrup. I didn’t want anything to do with them.
I’d like to try a fried Milky Way. Bet it gives me a pimple.