Deep Fried Tequila Bites

Recently, we had a team building getaway, where we had a cook off between two teams – Boys vs Girls. Obviously, us girls won! (It was to be expected, and very unsurprising, really) It was such a fun night, filled with seductively flirty bubbles from the champagne to the absolute worst grimacing from the Jagermeister. We played with our colleague’s gorgeous little girl, we played with dolls on our own (don’t ask), ate amazing food and tried to play 30 Seconds, but couldn’t get far… Our boss is a cheat!

 

We decided that since we would win anyway, we would take care of dessert. We found a new recipe that’s been making the rounds on the internet recently, and decided we would give it a try. Deep Fried Tequila Bites. What’s not to love, right? It’s really simple if you don’t make the cake. We bought some Madeira cake – which is just a traditional English sponge cake. We cut the cake into big cubes, soaked them in tequila and deep-fried them in canola oil. Just dust them with some icing sugar when they come out, and you’re done! We also got some Cloudy Lemonade Lollies to serve with these boozy little morsels.

The reception to them was not so good. But the concept is. They were just VERY Tequila. So here’s what we learnt: Don’t soak the cubes. The longer you soak them, the stronger they get. We used an entire bottle of gold Tequila, which should have been an indication for us that we might have been too heavy-handed. Next time, I’ll just brush the cubes with Tequila with a pastry brush. I also think that I’ll try to use lemon sponge cake, to tie the concept together. Also, make sure your oil is hot enough, so the cubes will brown and crisp up quickly and evenly. Our oil started out too cold, but very quickly turned to too hot. If we could have just evened out the temperature at that sweet spot, it would have gone great. We would have liked to serve it with Lemon Sorbet, but couldn’t find any. The lollies were great though, but the sorbet would have been the perfect smack in the face for this dessert.

Give it a try if you’re brave enough! I think it would work really well with a Mexican themed dinner party, but really, who needs an excuse for anything Tequila??