There’s something about a beer-battered, deep-fried block of chocolate for dessert that can’t be topped. But go for it and top it with ice cream as well. This is one of the few recipes that I occasionally look at and think, well, that’s a bit much. Eat while sitting down with your next of kin notified as the calorie coma can set in almost immediately.
Beer-battered Chocolate Bars
Ingredients
- 4 vegan chocolate bars (about 50 g each)
- canola oil, for deep-frying
- 75 g (½ cup) self-raising flour (see Note)
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 125 ml (4 fl oz/½ cup) chilled beer (see Note)
Suggested toppings
- sea salt flakes
- vegan chocolate sauce
- vegan chocolate cookies, broken into chunks
- soy or rice whip
- pretzels
Directions
- Place the chocolate bars in the freezer for 2–3 hours to firm up.
- Heat the canola oil in a large heavy-based saucepan over medium-high heat. Test if the oil is ready by inserting a wooden skewer or the handle of a wooden spoon into the oil; if it begins to bubble quickly then you’re ready to go.
- Place the flour in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper. Toss the frozen chocolate bars in the flour to lightly coat, then remove and set aside on a plate.
- Pour the beer into the flour, stirring constantly, to create a batter. You may not need it all, so go slowly until the batter is runny but not so runny that it won’t cling to the chocolate.
- Dip each chocolate bar into the batter until completely coated. One at a time, scoop the bars out with as much batter as you can keep clinging to them, then bravely drop the battered bars into the oil.
- Cook for 2–3 minutes, until golden brown and crisp.
- Remove the chocolate bars using a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel.
- Serve warm with a sprinkling of fat sea salt flakes, chocolate sauce, chocolate cookies, soy or rice whip and a few pretzels, or whatever sweet garnishes you have lying around.
Notes
- For a gluten-free version of this dessert, use soda water (club soda) instead of beer and replace the flour with gluten-free flour.
Recipe Creator
Recipes extracted from Vegan Junk Food by Zacchary Bird, published by Smith Street Books, RRP $39.99.
Photography © Pete Dillon, Food Stylist © Bridget Wald
https://www.smithstreetbooks.com/books/vegan-junk-food/
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