Twinkie Look-alikes: Is A Substitute Ever Better?

You might think I'm a bit late in writing about Twinkies now.  That delicious cream-filled yellow snack cake, a national favorite since it came on the market in 1930, was last produced in the U.S. in November 2012 after Hostess (its manufacturer) filed for bankruptcy.  Anticipating this loss of an icon, the news media were reveling in this tragic story a few months ago.  But what interests me now is the number of copycat Twinkie products competing for that market niche.  The Chicago Tribune, on February 2, published an article about this key question:  "Are the Twinkie rivals as good as the original?"  I'll pass their taste testers' conclusions on to you and add a few additional comments of interest to all cream-filled sponge cake fans.

The Chicago Tribune taste testers sampled 5 products.  They were told to rate them on a scale of 1-5 (5 being the highest) with the original Twinkie rated a 3.  Here are average scores on the others:

Nice! Sponge Cake (Walgreens): 1.4. 

The Snack Artist Cream Cake (Safeway): 2.6

Cloud Cakes (Little Debbie): 2.8

Vachon Golden Sponge Cakes (Saputo, a Canadian company): 3

Great Value Golden Creme Cakes (Wal-mart): 2.6

In other words, if you exclude the Nice! brand, you can purchase a fairly decent product, and, when your taste buds forget what the original tasted like, you may be completely satisfied.  The Vachon cake got the highest marks, but the tasters said it had an unfair advantage since it's topped with chocolate frosting.  The article implies that the Nice! brand is the only one  (of these 5) that comes in a packet of 2.  

Considering the name of this website, I feel obliged to talk about shelf life.  There was a well-known myth that Twinkies would hold up forever, supposedly because of all the chemicals in it.  Its endless durability has been the source of countless TV and movie jokes.  If you want to read about a science teacher's experiment on the shelf life of a Twinkie--and lose your appetite for the product--check out "The Shelf Life of a Vintage Twinkie." 

Hostess never claimed eternal life for its product.  In fact, the product's use-by date kept it on store shelves for only 7-10 days.  However, says Wikipedia, Twinkies can last 25 days or more because "they are made without unstabilized dairy products and thus spoil more slowly than most bakery items."  Coincidentally, the box of Cloud Cakes I purchased had a sell-by date of about 25 days after my date of purchase--and a helpful message saying freshness was guaranteed for 5 days after that date.  So I have to force myself to eat one every other day or so (with Sundays off).  

In my neighborhood, Cloud Cakes was the only faux-Twinkie I could find.  I liked it, but I didn't find it irresistible.  In fact, I was able to eat just half of one and wrap up the rest for the next day.  I never had such self-control with a Twinkie.

Are the Twinkie rivals just as sugary and fattening as the original product?  Well, I compared the calorie and sugar stats on Twinkies and Cloud Cake and found these quite similar.  (The 17 grams of sugar in one Cloud Cake equals about 4 teaspoons.  However, in defense of Twinkie-type products, a glass of skim milk has 12 grams of sugar, and so does an average bowl of tomato soup.)  The calorie count is the same--150 --for both products.  Many one-portion sweet snacks--for example, a sweet roll, cupcake, or muffin-- have much higher stats on both sugar and calories.

Here's one way to get some variety for your sweet tooth in case you're forced to buy a box of 6, 8, or 10 Twinkie-twin products: freeze and then deep-fry them.  I'm not kidding; fried Twinkies have been a big hit at state fairs. Michele Obama even ate one--and then forbad the President from doing so. Since the First Lady isn't supervising you, you can indulge. Just google "fried Twinkies" to find recipes. Basically, the procedure is to take a frozen Twinkie-like product, dip it in batter, and then deep-fry it. I suspect the dish would turn out almost as tasty with a Twinkie rival as it did with the original.  Enjoy! Just don't tell your spouse, kids, or doctor what you ate.

One final, comforting word:  If you feel that life is a bummer without Twinkies, take a trip to Canada.  They're still being produced there, though not by Hostess.  Even better news from the Chicago Tribune: "Fret not, Twinkie lovers. The snack cake could be back on store shelves by summer."  The article goes on to say that two investment firms have been bidding on "the iconic brand and its sugary brethren, including CupCakes and Ho Hos."  The public may know the results by the end of April.  For more info on this possibility, check out the Huffington Post coverage. 

Source(s):

Chicago Tribune Business section.  "Can any of these desserts supplant the classic?"

February 1, 2013

Wikipedia "Twinkie"

huffingtonpost.com  "Twinkies Deal: Hostess Pick Lead Bidder for Snack-Cake Business, Bakeries"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/30/twinkies-deal-hostess-bidder_n_2586715.html

americanthinker.com  "Bye-Bye, Fried Twinkies"

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/11/bye-byefried_twinkies.html