This endeavour was in no way glamorous. If nothing else, these Homemade Twinkies highlighted my ability to make something from nothing. I knew I wanted to make Twinkies, which if you aren’t familiar with, are white cake like treats with a light marshmallow-ish cream center. Amazon sells do-it-yourself-Twinkie-pans, but sometimes I prefer the uphill battle.
So when the need for a Homemade Twinkie strikes, I get out my roll of foil and spice bottle, and I make my own pan. Well, I’m being generous in calling it a pan. I essentially made foil boats for cake batter. I know. Kinda madness. I didn’t dream this notion on my own- thank you YouTube.
I’m almost embarrassed to share this with you…. they were so tasty, but the road getting there wasn’t so glamorous. Sometimes these things happen in my kitchen.
So there’s kind of a lot of things going on with these Twinkies. I’m making foil cake pans, cake batter, and filling. If you’re feeling the spirit and want to make these little gems, I have a step by step picture making extravaganza below. But also, jump on over here and watch Todd Wilbur’s masterful work with the homemade Twinkie. He’ll show you how to make the foil cake pans and how to properly fill them. Just thought you might appreciate the video example.
After much thought and foil folding. I’ve decided that next time I want Homemade Twinkies. I’m just going to buy the pan. Really.
Twinkie Cake
adapted from Gourmet Cookbook
makes about 12 Twinkies
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
1 cup milk
Put a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute in between each addition. Beat in vanilla and almond extract. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture alternately with the milk in 3 batches, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and beating until just incorporated.
Spray prepared Twinkie tins with nonstick spray and divide the batter between the cups. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes, or until the cakes are just slightly golden and a pick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before filling with marshmallow cream.
Twinkie Cream
recipe from Todd Wilbur
2 teaspoons very hot water
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups marshmallow cream (one 7-ounce jar)
1/2 cup shortening
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Combine the salt and the how water in a small bowl and mix until the salt is dissolved. Let the mixture cool.
Combine the marshmallow cream, shortening, powdered sugar and vanilla extract in a medium sized bowl and beat with an electric mixer until fluffy.
Add the salt solution to the filling and beat to combine.
Scoop into a pastry bag with a small tip and pipe into cooled Twinkie cakes. Flip them over so the browned bottoms of the cakes are on top, and the filling side is on the bottom. Wrap cakes in plastic wrap and give them to all your friends!
Take a 12 to 14-inch piece of foil and fold it in half.
Cut that in half.
Center a round spice jar on the foil.
First fold the foil up around the top and bottom of the spice jar, and then fold the side up. Now we’re cookin’.
Remove the spice jar. And continue the process until you’ve made 12 Tinkie boats.
Give the foil a spray with nonstick cooking spray and fill with cake batter- about 3/4-inch deep with batter.
Once baked, remove from the foil and cool completely. Poke 3 holes in each cake to make room for the marshmallow filling.
Put marshmallow filling in a pastry bag with tip and pipe into the Twinkie cakes. Filling may puff out of the cakes, or split the cakes slightly. Don’t worry, the cakes will be wrapped in plastic wrap and all the goodness with be contained.
Yum.
Erma
Joy! I made it! It was a success! My family loved it and my self-molded foil cake tin thingies didn’t churn out freaky-looking cakes! Yay! So excited! Thanks!
rob whitford
Marsh mellow is Nasty Stuff! Formaldehyde, you know Em-bombing fluid, ” that’s why their SO Fresh! LMAO
Frogg
So fill with pudding ad refridgerate
Shari
Hi Joy! These look yummy! When I was young we used to make a frosting we called Twinkie Frosting. We made a base of thickened flour & milk & beat it w/ (I think) butter & sugar til it was light & fluffy in the saucepan. Not sure of the exact recipie & my Mom has passed away, so I can’t ask her. Have you ever heard of this frosting? It was like Heaven & I would like to get it back if I could. I’d appreciate it if you know & foreward it to me!!! Thanks!!!
Susan
TWINKIE FILLING
Stirring constantly in medium saucepan 5 Tbls flour and 1 cup milk until it becomes a paste., let cool completely.
With mixer, beat 1/2 cup butter and
1/2 cup shortening until creamy.
Beat in flour paste.
Beat in 1 cup sugar.
Stir in 2 tsp. vanilla until smooth.
Use as filling on a cooled cake or in homemade twinkies.
Mia
Thnbak you for sharing I love chocodiles all I have to do to this recipe is add melted chocolate over the top. Thanks!
Melissa
Finally, found a recipe for twinkies. My daughter is allergic to soy and all the brand name products have soy in them. Now she can have her twinkies again. Thanks
Novice Baker
I tried these and ended up with a bit of a mess! I’m not sure what I did wrong, but would welcome any suggestions, as I’m a novice baker. I believe I followed all the instructions carefully, but my twinkie cakes were super crumbly and dry. The filling was okay, but tasted quite a bit like shortening. And, when I tried to pipe in the filling, it made the cakes break into pieces. :-( I would love to find a recipe for a twinkie cake that actually is soft and spongy, not crumbly and a filling that is sweet and creamy, but doesn’t taste like shortening. Any help is appreciated :-)
Ashley in NC
Joy! I just found this recipe and it is incredible! I love the idea of making my own little pans. My mom and I are going to bake these during our Christmas 2009 Baking Marathon next week. Thanks again! Have a wonderful holiday.
Jamie
My girlfriend mentioned a recipe of yours to me this morning and I’ve just spent the last hour surfing. I think I’m in love :) What an awesome blog!
And also, my friend and I are going to battle each other – “Iron Chef Battle Superbowl Foods” – so I’m on the hunt for some recipes and really need dessert ideas. I think this is totally going to be one of them. Thanks!
Sam
They turned out wonderful…Loved it! It was a BIG HIT at the party!
Thank you
Nikki
They look fantastic! I’m fourteen and now live in NZ. I crave twinkies every once in awhile! I have the hostess oven so i’ll use that to make the twinkies and cupcakes!
Christa
These were so good. And after making the little baking boats they weren’t that hard to make.Well worth the effort!
Haley
Hi Joy! I’m about to start culinary school and your posts make me get so excited about starting the pastry program! Everything looks so amazing!
Melody
These look perfect for my nieces! They would have a ball baking them!
Cakespy
Absolutely wonderful!!! I love twinkies in theory–a light as air cake with a creamy filling–but it’s all those extra ingredients that frighten me. These look delicious.
katy
those are hilarious! i’m incredibly frightened of twinkies, but i could definitely eat yours without hesitation!
steph (whisk/spoon)
thanks for this recipe! i have the pan actually (although it’s in storage in the states for the time being), as i found it on sale super cheap at a williams-sonoma outlet. made the recipe that came with it, and it wasn’t great. i’ll try yours when i get my hands on my pan again!!
Kristen
This is fantastic! I have homemade twinkies on my too try list, but I think I’ll go the twinkie pan route when I do. I do admire your gumption, though!
I am sooooo glad I found your blog again. One of my favorites, for sure!
Kim
First off I applaud your hard work, I would be inclined to buy the twinkie pan. Second, I love twinkies and they don’t make them like they use to, now that I can try them at home I am one happy camper. Fun, fun post, thanks.
Lydia (The Perfect Pantry)
I was always partial to Twinkies, but also to the butterscotch crumpets (krumpets?), which were Twinkies with a butterscotch icing. I’m sure they had a million calories apiece, but oh were they delicious!
noble pig
My family would love me forever if I made this! Lovely!
dawn
Amazing. Those don’t look easy at all to make. But I’m sure they tasted awesome. And probably healthier than the chemical-laden ones in the stores. Really nice job.
Mari
That is the funniest video EVER!
Evan
Great news…you don’t even need to buy the pan! Wilton.com has mini loaf baking cups. The link below is to the ones that are lined in foil so that you don’t need a pan. Hope it works out!
http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?sku=415-452&CMP=AFC-CCF
joythebaker
Sharon and Zoe- The “real deal” Twinkies are filled with so many creepy chemicals. I can’t imagine that I would encourage my kids to eat the,, So I don’t blame you Soe.
And Holly- These would be so fun to make with your son!
Deborah- Yea, lots of work. If you do this, just buy the pan… ha! Much easier.
Deborah
What a great recipe! They look like a lot of work, but I bet they are a lot better for you than the real deal!
Katie B.
Seriously, you could not be more genius if you tried!!
Miri
Wow, that’s a lot of work! Your twinkies look fab!
Holly
I’m glad to hear you say they are worth just getting the pan. My 5 year old asked for twinkies at the store the other day, but I just couldn’t do it. He would probably go nuts if we made them ourselves though. Great job!
Leslie
oh my…those so remind me of when I was a kid..trying to suck out all of the frosting!! YUM
Zoë François
That is fantastic, my kids are going to love these. Now that I think about it they have never had the joy of a real twinkie. What kind of a mother am I?
Cynthia
Wow! I am not a twinkies fan but looking at yours makes me suddenly crave one :)
Food Rockz Man
That’s some serious dedication to junk food. I’m impressed!
sharon
I’m not a huge fan of the “real” thing with all the creepy chemicals, but I’d be sure to wolf down one or three of these. Looks delicious!
Stephanie
Homemade twinkies…wow! I marvel at your genius yet again!
Mike
These look great, and its funny, but I’ve had very much the same idea on my mind (trying to remake some old favorites from when I was a kid–twinkies being high on the list), so its interesting to see how you did it. Great work!
joythebaker
Lyrical soul- Thanks! Sorry I lost you at the fluff.
Peabody- I know! It was totally a silly amount of work. Next time I want these- I’ll buy the pan!
peabody
Oh my, that is a lot of work. I would be inclined to buy the pan.
BTW- have you tried Twinkie-Misu?
http://watkinslynn.typepad.com/pages_pucks_and_pantry/2007/07/twinkie-misu.html
lyrical soul
Those look delicious! Though as a Twinkie purist, you lost me with the marshmallow fluff stuff.
Great job, and great blog!