Homemade Hostess Twinkies

Twinkies are the food we all love to hate… and hate to love. You’re not supposed to eat Twinkies (because they have a shelf-life of 398,408 years! Not quite, but I’ll get to that in a minute) but what human being hasn’t tried at least one? Twinkies are marketed as being a “Golden Sponge Cake with Creamy Filling” – sounds pretty delicious, right?

I can vouch for the fact that the homemade version of this treat really is amazing. They disappeared from my house in less than 2 days!

Before I give you the recipe, here is some Twinkie Trivia for you, courtesy of Wikipedia!

• Twinkies were invented in 1930 by a man named James Alexander Dewar and were originally filled with banana cream.
• Hostess released a Fruit and Cream version of Twinkies in 1988 but this product did not stick around long.
• Banana cream Twinkies returned to the market in 2007.
• Deep-fried Twinkies are frequently sold at state fairs and ballparks.
• Urban legend states that Twinkies have an infinite shelf-life, which isn’t true. They are able to stay fresh for about a month and are only on grocery shelves for 7-10 days.
• College professor Mark Haub went on a Twinkie diet in 2010. He ate only foods that he could find in convenience stores (Twinkies, Oreos, Doritos, etc) and lost 27 pounds over the course of 2 months. He did this to demonstrate to his students that weight loss is about pure calorie counting, not the nutritional value of the food.

Homemade Hostess Twinkies
Recipe source: Family Circle Magazine 2009
Print Recipe

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 Tablespoons unsalted butter
3 large eggs
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons sugar

Filling:
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 to 2 Tablespoons milk

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour Canoe pan; set aside. [I purchased my Norpro Cream Canoe pan on Amazon.com]
2. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Whisk to blend. Heat 1/2 cup water and the butter in a small sauce pan until the water just boils and the butter melts. Remove from heat.
3. Beat the eggs with an electric mixer on high for 2 minutes. Gradually add the sugar and beat until thick and golden, 4 to 5 minutes longer. Fold in the flour mixture until just blended. Add the water and melted butter and stir until just blended.
4. Divide half of the batter evenly among the prepared pan indents, a scant 1/4 cup per cake.
5. Bake 15-17 minutes, or until cakes are golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Invert cakes onto a wire rack to cool. Wash pan and repeat with the remaining batter. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
6. Filling: Beat butter in a medium-size bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar. Add 1 Tablespoon of the milk and beat 5 minutes until fluffy. Add extra milk if the filling is too stiff. Spoon frosting into a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip. Remove cakes from pan. Insert tip of the pastry bag into the center of the flat side of the cakes and squeeze. Repeat on either side for a total of 3 spots of frosting piped into the base of each cake.

*Makes approximately 16 servings.