The Beach House - Sudbury, ON

No need to travel to Scotland...a deep fried Mars bar is available only an hour's flight away from Toronto. Sudbury is my furthest northern destination in Ontario to date. The flight up over Georgian Bay (I think) was beautiful.

My business trip to Sudbury was nondescript, but the highlight was the final leg after work was finished and opposing counsel gave me a ride to see The Big Nickel. Following upon the heels of The Big Nickel sighting, I was dropped off at Bell Park where I dragged my suitcase along the boardwalk going for a walk. I surfaced near some parking lot where I figured I could call a cab when lo and behold, not only do I see an ice cream stand (in and of itself, not necessarily inspiring excitement) but a sign for "Deep Fried Mars Bar". I never had the opportunity to try this in Scotland (mostly because we were castle hopping and deep fried Mars bars weren't readily available at those venues). I have a distinct memory of sitting in the backseat while we drove out of Edinburgh thinking that I missed my last opportunity for aforesaid Mars bar.

Eight years later, my curiosity is satisfied and I heartily approve of this dessert. It's not a conventional pastry by any stretch, but the elements of a pastry are all there. As you can see from the photograph, the Mars bar is dipped in batter and dusted with cinnamon and sugar. Deep fried batter with cinnamon and sugar...churros deja vu! Due to the warmth of the deep frying, the chocolate covering on the Mars bar started to melt into the free flowing caramel and nougat. I am a sucker for chocolate and caramel; this combination perhaps bested only by chocolate and cranberry. Crisp exterior and gooey interior - it was all I could do to stop myself from inhaling the chocolate and caramel swirling about.