In eight grade, we went on a field trip to a nearby National Forest park. We were going to have a cookout and spend the day frolicking and running about. Rockford’s mother sent a box of Twinkies with him to share with his classmates. Instead of sharing them, though, he accepted a dare to eat them all. On the bus, on the way to the National Forest. It was a tense 15 minutes or so, everyone in a four-seat radius on the activity bus watching with a mixture of awe and horror as he transformed himself into a Twinkie-consumption factory. He was successful — depending on your definition of the word, I guess — but he’s since admitted that he didn’t feel very good for the rest of the day.
With such a history, it should come as no surprise that the news of Hostess’ closing was a little difficult for Rockford to swallow. What might come as a surprise, though, is that he waited until this morning to try to track down a box of Twinkies. He’s out right now, scouring area stores for a box. To no avail thus far.
While I’m pretty sure the run on Twinkies will be short-lived, I’ve spent a few minutes this morning preparing for our nation’s Hostessless future. Here are a few recipes for homemade confections we’ll be trying over the coming months:
Four recipe for homemade Hostess-brand products
- The folks at Leite’s Culinaria made some amazing-looking homemade Twinkies, and you don’t even need a special pan for them!
- My attempt to make homemade Hostess Cupcakes — the Very Best Hostess Cake — back in 2005 didn’t go so well, but a later decision to make one giant cupcake (a.k.a. A Cake) was a roaring success.
- The Dolly Madison Zingers recipe at Top Secret Recipes uses cake mix, so it isn’t technically made from scratch. But I’ll bet it would taste just fine in a pinch.
- My second-favorite packaged cake is the Ding Dong. The DIY Ding Dong at A Cozy Kitchen looks delectable, as does this Salted-Caramel Ding Dong Cake from Bon Appetit.
Now all I need is a snack-packaging machine and we’ll be ready to face our brave new Twinkie-free world.
When Poppy was very young — around 2 or so — Rockford and I discovered a phrase that made the in-store gimmes almost nonexistent: Put It On Your Wishlist. As soon as she spotted something that caught her fancy, we’d say something like, “That does look like a fun toy. Let’s put it on your wishlist!” And she was OK with that.