Cream Soda Battered Corn Dogs

Iron Chef Soda was a great success! A little heavy on the sugary treats for a dinner party but I’m not complaining! We had a few standout dishes to be sure! Congratulations to David on his win with Pomegranate Sorbet! Next Month’s ingredient is Saffron! photos as seen on photograzing and food beast.
cream soda battered corn dogs
I found this Iron Chef to be challenging. And I picked it! What’s up with that??? Next time I win I’m picking……….um………..bacon. Now that would be a tasty night.

I’ll admit, I didn’t figure out at all what I was going to make until the day before. It’s been a busy month and I kinda forgot! Oops! It happens! Between bake sales, long distance relationships, trivia, writing, blogging,  planning trips to Kansas and NYC, my daring baker challenge….I forgot.

My thought process went a little something like this:

“OH MAN! Okay I need some I can just like, pour a can of something into, like, a beer battered onion ring. Only, not beer. Not beer. Not beer. Not beer…..crud. There is no soda replacement for beer. Square one. Replace the water in a recipe with sparkling water…..that’s kinda lame. Okay, replace the milk in something with soda……CREAM SODA! PERFECT!”

Yes, I really did consider doing the lamest recipe of all and just replacing water with carbonated water. It’s one of the lower points in this cooking competition.
clockwise: dr. pepper pancakes and syrup, curry, cheetos (seriously), apple dumplings, stawberry soda cake, raspberry blackberry cobbler, dr. pepper cake, soda bbq chicken, david pomegranate sorbet
We had some great entrees. My friend Katelyn made the dutch oven classic raspberry blackberry cobbler with soda added to the cake mix, and Gina pulled off the apple dumplings from the Pioneer Woman. Both of which were excellent. The real killer of the night was David’s Pomegranate Sorbet. The recipe is below!!!!

A successful evening! (Another success was our attempt at a bacon wrapped corn dog. A little more greasy but I like it). David will be hosting us for Iron Chef Saffron next month! I’m very sad I’ll be missing it but I’m not skipping my weekend with the long distance boyfriend for it. Shocking right?

Enjoy!

Cream Soda Battered Hot Dogs

oil for deep frying
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons bacon drippings
1 egg, beaten
1 1/4 cups cream soda
2 tablespoons powdered buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 pounds hot dogs
wooden sticks

Heat oil in a deep fryer to 365 degrees F (185 degrees C).

Put hot dogs on a cookie sheet lined with paper towels in the oven on warm while working.

In a stand mixer, stir together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Stir in melted bacon drippings. Pour in the egg, buttermilk, and baking soda. Mix until everything is smooth and well blended.

Insert wooden sticks into the ends into the end of each hot dog as you. Dip the hot dogs in the batter one at a time, shaking off the excess. Deep fry a few at a time in the hot oil until they are as brown as you like them. Place finished corn dogs back onto the cookie sheet in the oven to drain, and to keep warm.

David's Pomegranate Sorbet

1 pint blueberries (the better they are, the better the result!)
1 bottle Izze Pomegranate Soda
1 c. sugar  (If you don't want it quite as sweet, you can remove a couple of Tbsp.)
1 pinch salt
1/2 Tbsp. vanilla

Blend and strain the blueberries.  It'll probably be a bit goopy due to the pectin in them.  Combine everything but the vanilla into a sauce pan and heat to dissolve the sugar and pectin from the blueberries.  Take off the heat and add the vanilla.  Chill over night, and freeze.