September is fair season up here in Washington. While I have no real interest in attending most state fairs, I do have a love of bizarre fried foods. Inspired by the fair’s relentless media campaign, I picked up a brace of Dillos from Sidecar and headed home to heat up the fryer. The folks at Cakewalk Baking Co in Utah have graced us with Dillos, or vegan Twinkies, which we are fortunate enough to be able to buy retail at Sidecar here in Seattle. I believe you can also mail order them if you can’t get your hands on them locally. I decided to “class up” the affair with a quick strawberry sauce. I only had two Dillos on hand, but this makes enough batter for several more.

Vegan Deep Fried Twinkies

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup soy milk
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt

2 Dillos

Oil for frying

Sauce:

4 Tbsp strawberry jam
1 Tbsp agave nectar

To make the Twinkies

Freeze the Dillos for at least 4 hours. Heat oil in a deep fryer or dutch oven to 375°f. While the oil is heating mix the ingredients for the batter. Dip each Dillo in batter to thoroughly coat. Fry until golden brown, about 3 min. The Twinkies will float, so either use a metal spoon to hold it under the oil, or flip it half way through cooking. Remove and drain on paper towels.

To make the sauce

Combine jam and agave in a small bowl and heat in microwave about 30 seconds on high until pourable.