Twinkies

I read Real Snacks quicker than anything else in my cookbook challenge. The book is written well, each recipe has gluten free & vegan options, & it's chock full of healthier versions of the snacks that most of us grew up eating. The recipe that caught my eye the most was for twinkies. While I am sure that I ate some growing up, I have no real recollection of ever eating them. To be honest, the first things that come to mind when I think of twinkies is the movie Zombieland. I just remember reading an interview that talked about the set designers having to make vegan twinkies so that Woody Harrelson (who's totes vegan!) could eat them for one of the scenes.
Anyways, back to the cake! While I put a little plastic tag on the page with the twinkies, I wasn't sure I would actually ever get around to making them. I mean, I certainly didn't need to spend fourteen or fifteen dollars on another piece of bakeware that was going to set around my kitchen and get used once every year or two. Welp. I happened to get a coupon in the mail for $10 off my next purchase at Sur la Table. And then the pan was on sale and combined with my "professional" discount, I ended up with a snack cake pan for all of 35 cents. So, these twinkies were destined to happen. The sponge cake recipe in the book is top notch, but I really didn't enjoy the cream so I made my own! Also don't you dare even consider skimping on the millet flour in the sponge cake. It's totally what gives the cake it's eerily reminiscent flavor & consistency!


Cream Filling
more than enough for filling 10 twinkies & eating a few spoonfuls

1/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2.5 oz Ricemellow cream

Beat shortening and powdered sugar until combined. Add Ricemellow cream and beat on high speed for several minutes until fluffy. I used all shortening because I wanted the cream to be bright white like in the traditional snack cake. If you want the cream to taste even better, you can easily replace 2 of the 4 tablespoons of shortening with Earth Balance, but it won't have quite the same bright hue.


Cute anecdote: I never realized that twinkies were filled by inserting cream in three spots in the bottom of the cake. I somehow missed this memo in the recipe from Real Snacks. So I started filling all of the cakes like you would a donut, through the edges of the cake. Greg came home and told me I was doing it wrong, so I added additional cream in the places it should be! So ignore the little dots of cream you see on the ends of the twinkies in these pictures. It definitely should not be thereeee.
It seems like this is the year of re-making other trademarked, not vegan foods. The girl scout cookies went over well. The oatmeal cream pies & compost cookies were both a huge hit. What's next? Butterscotch krimpets? Zebra cakes? I think the cake from the twinkies and the recipe for the cream filling above would be perfect for those! It's basically just a different shaped twinkie with some poured fondant right?!