The OG Snack Cake #CakeSliceBakers

June 20, 2022

Several years ago the factory that made Hostess Twinkies was shutting down, and the world was preparing for life without the hand-held cakes with the frosting inside. One of the morning shows has someone on who showed us how to make our own including using aluminum foil to make the iconic shape. Thanks to some fancy high finance (and possibly the public outcry), Twinkies are still with us, both the original yellow cake version as well as specialty versions that come out at different times of the year. But just in case, Zoe Francois provides instructions for how to make our own. Her version lacks whatever it is that makes them last through the apocalypse (remember the Chevy ad with raining frogs and the box of Twinkies), but that means that I had all the ingredients necessary in my kitchen.

The recipe instructs the baker to acquire a nonstick hot dog bun pan to get the canoe shape. There are several different types on the market; I opted for the Chefmade version. The batter was easy to make. While the recipe says to pipe the batter into the wells of your pan, I just spooned mine in. As the recipe makes 18 cakes and I only bought one pan, I spooned the rest of the batter into a greased cupcake tin.

The cake batter has some orange zest and orange juice in it that gives the cake this wonderful taste. It also has "space" for the cream to be squeezed into from the bottom of the cake. The recipe gives three different options for fillings. I went with the Italian Meringue Buttercream. I used four insertion points. per Twinkie and 3 for the cupcakes. I could feel the cakes expanding in my hand as I filled them. In a couple of the cupcakes, the filling popped out the side a bit, but no one in my family seemed to care. I finished them off with a light sprinkling of powdered sugar.

Unlike the Hostess brand, this version has to stay refrigerated because of the filling. The recipe suggests bringing to room temperature before serving, and we found that definitely improved taste as otherwise the filling was not creamy.

These were a huge hit with everyone. They are reminiscent of the lunchbox snack, but the cake and filling definitely have a better taste and texture. I have another cookbook with a different Twinkie recipe plus the one from the morning show almost a decade ago. Clearly I'll have to make those versions in the near future.

Each month The Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the current book we are baking through. This year it is Zoë Bakes Cakes by Zoē François. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th - never before - we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes!

Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the links below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details.

The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends. This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want to join in the fun and bake through this book.