Move over, Krispy Kreme doughnuts. A new artery-clogging, belt-busting obsession is sweeping the Unites States: Deep-fried Twinkies.

In what may be the biggest setback for the war on fat since supersize fries, Americans are scarfing down thousands of the gooey, calorie-laden snack cakes at county fairs and restaurants across the country.

"We sold 26,000 Twinkies in 18 days. People drove for hours just to taste our Twinkie," said Rocky Mullen, who sells the deep-fried, cream-filled treats for $3 (U.S.) each at the Payallup Fair, 50 kilometres south of Seattle.

As if Twinkies are not sweet enough already, vendors such as Mr. Mullen add chocolate or berry sauce and sprinkle powdered sugar on top.

The fact that a deep-fried Twinkie -- before toppings -- has roughly three times the calories and six times the fat of a regular one does not seem to bother customers such as Sue Holz.

"It's been years since I've had a Twinkie because they gross me out, but this is good. Real good," she said.

Plenty of Americans agree. At the Los Angeles County Fair, Charlie Boghosian began serving them after hearing they were popular at events in the east. He expects to sell 40,000 by the time the fair ends on Sept. 29.

How do they taste? The Press-Enterprise, a newspaper in Riverside, Calif., compared eating a deep-fried Twinkie to "floating in a golden sponge-cake dreamland . . . [it is] a mesmerizing marvel that oozes warm cream filling."

All of this has come as a surprise to the dessert's inventor, Christopher Sell, a 36-year-old Brit who owns the Park Slope ChipShop in Brooklyn, N.Y.

His fish-and-chips restaurant was already serving up deep-fried Mars, Snickers and other chocolate bars -- treats that originated in Scotland and have since become a staple at U.S. fairgrounds -- when his general manager suggested he toss a Twinkie into the vat of oil. Just to see.

"So we did, and it was good, and we put it on the menu . . . as a joke almost," he said. It might have ended there, except that a New York Times food writer tried one and wrote a positive review last May. Soon, the Food Network and CNBC were calling.

The secret to making a deep-fried Twinkie, he says, is to place it in the fridge first to give it more stability. He then rolls it in flour, covers it with batter -- the same that he uses on fish -- and plunks it into the oil.

Hearing about Mr. Sell's invention, Hostess, the company that makes the 71-year-old snack, started promoting deep-fried Twinkies to state and county fairs, where a captive population of junk-food addicts began gobbling them up between pig races and tractor-pull competitions.

How bad are they for your health? After deep-frying, a Twinkie packs an estimated 400 calories and 28 grams of fat.