Fried Foods

Cotton candy taco wins at 2018 State Fair of Texas Big Tex Choice Awards

Cotton candy taco for the win.

Photo courtesy of State Fair of Texas

A sweet taco made from a waffle and filled with puffy cotton candy took the prize for Most Creative confection at the 2018 State Fair of Texas Big Tex Choice Awards, the annual contest celebrating fried foods.

The Big Tex Awards, aka the "fried food awards," is the splashy annual event in which concessionaires submit creations they'll serve at the fair that year. The contest has become one of the biggest publicity generators for the State Fair.

There were three winners in all:

"Most Creative" went to the Cotton Candy Taco.
"Best Tasting Savory" went to Fernie’s Hoppin’ John Cake with Jackpot Sauce.
"Best Tasting Sweet" went to Arroz Con Leche.

Cotton Candy Taco was a sweet s'more creation with a graham cracker waffle cone batter pressed into a crunchy taco shell shape. The inside of the shell was coated with marshmallow glaze, then stuffed with chocolate, toasted marshmallow, and cane sugar cotton candy. It was topped with chocolate cookie crumbles and two chocolate cream-covered biscuit sticks with marshmallows.

Fernie’s Hoppin’ John Cake with Jackpot Sauce had black-eyed peas, white rice, spicy smoked sausage, green onions, bread crumbs, and eggbeaters, formed into a cake. The cake was deep fried and topped with black-eyed pea relish and pickled okra.

Arroz con leche was a cinnamon-spiced rice ball battered, coated in puffed rice cereal, and fried. They served it with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.

The winners were chosen at an event on August 26 at the historic Tower Building at Fair Park. They were chosen by a panel of judges that included restaurateur Uno Immanivong; Alvaro Luque, president & CEO at Avocados From Mexico; K104 FM morning show host DeDe McGuire; Doug Pickering, pitmaster at Ferris Wheeler’s BBQ; and D’Andra Simmons of The Real Housewives of Dallas.

Returning as emcee was local radio host Michelle Rodriguez, of New Country 96.3 KSCS.

Seven other contenders included:

Deep Fried Shepherd's Pie, with cheesy mashed potato balls stuffed with a shepherd's pie filling made of ground beef, mixed vegetables, and beef gravy, and fried.

Deep Fried Skillet Potato Melt in a Boat, a so-called tater tot on steroids with skillet potatoes and diced breakfast sausage patties packed around a mini Babybel cheese loaf, rolled in flour and fried, then served in potato skins and topped with cheddar and bacon bites.

Texas Fried Hill Country, a sandwich of sorts with fried mozzarella and basil between two green tomato slices, fried and served on field greens.

Texas Twang-kie, like a savory Twinkie with cornbread cake hollowed out and filled with Tex-Mex grilled chicken white bean chili, served with cornbread fries.

Fernie’s Orange You Glad We Fried It?!, a fried turnover filled with chiffon orange cake, whipped cream, and orange preserves, blended to form a custard-like filling.

State Fair Fun-L Cake Ice Cream, aka funnel cake ice cream with funnel cake pieces.

Sweet Bakin’ Bacon, another Twinkie creation with a cream-filled sponge cake wrapped in bacon, dipped in a funnel cake batter, and fried.

Frozen treats

Texas' Blue Bell ice cream jumps on the protein bandwagon with new line

Blue Bell/Instagram

Blue Bell Pro has 33 grams of protein or more per serving.

The famous Brenham, Texas-made ice cream brand Blue Bell is flexing a new product line: a "high-protein frozen dairy dessert." Called Blue Bell Pro, it supplies 33-35 grams per serving depending on the flavor.

That's more than an Ensure meal replacement shake or a cup of cottage cheese, which influencers can't stop putting in every recipe.

The forthcoming line includes five flavors: vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, coffee, and salted caramel.

Fueled by the popularity of GLP-1 weight loss medications and social media trends, "high-protein" is one of the hottest food and nutrition categories of the moment. Blue Bell now goes head to head with cult-favorite Halo Top and other high-protein desserts in the frozen food aisles.

But, what is a "frozen dairy dessert?" Other Blue Bell flavors are labeled as ice cream, but this product line seems not to meet the Food and Drug Administration's qualifications for ice cream. It would need to be at least 10 percent milkfat by weight to make the cut.

The Blue Bell Pro recipe is also gluten-free, has 25-27 grams of carbs per serving, and has zero grams of added sugar. Although Blue Bell hasn't released the full nutrition information for Blue Bell Pro, it already sells one "no sugar added country vanilla" ice cream, which contains polydextrose, Splenda Brand sucralose, and other sweeteners.

There are more straightforward ways than icy desserts to get more protein in your diet, and it is possible to have too much.

According to the Mayo Clinic, the average sedentary adult should eat 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, which would be 60 grams a day for someone who weighs 165 pounds. People who exercise regularly should instead eat 1.1-1.5 grams per kilogram of body weight (75-90 grams for the same 165-pound person), and heavy trainers should eat more. A cap of 150 grams would be "excessive" for this hypothetical person, even if they exercise a lot.

Blue Bell says Blue Bell Pro is coming to grocery st in spring 2026.

blue bell ice cream desserts