Twinkies Recipe 445

HOMEMADE TWINKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position.
• To make your shiny, single-use Twinkie molds, start with a piece of aluminum foil, preferably heavy-duty, that's approximately 14 inches long. It should be just a little longer than it is wide. Fold the foil in half lengthwise, then fold it in half again to create a rectangle that's about 6 inches long and 7 inches wide. Repeat to make a dozen rectangles.
• Place 1 sheet of folded foil on your work surface, with the long side facing you. Place a standard-size plastic or glass spice jar on its side in the center of the foil, the jar's long side also facing you. Bring the long sides of the foil up around the jar. The foil won't reach all the way around, and that's okay. Fold the foil in around both top and bottom ends of the spice jar, nice and tight. You'll end up with a sort of trough situation. (Cookbook author Todd Wilbur has a video of the process here; if you're impatient, fast forward to 1:10, where the action starts.) Repeat until you have 12 foil Twinkie molds. Spritz the molds with an obscenely generous amount of nonstick spray or use your fingertips to coat the molds with vegetable oil. Place the Twinkie molds on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan.
• Whisk the flours, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.
• In a small saucepan over low heat, heat the milk and butter until the butter melts. Remove from the heat add the vanilla. Cover to keep warm.
• Separate the eggs, placing the whites in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or, if using a hand mixer or whisk, a large mixing bowl) and reserving the yolks in another bowl. Beat the whites on high speed until foamy. Gradually add 6 tablespoons of the sugar and the cream of tartar and continue to beat until the whites reach soft, moist peaks.
• Dump the beaten egg whites into a large bowl and add the egg yolks to the standing mixer bowl-there's no need to clean the bowl (or, if using a hand mixer or whisk, simply place the egg yolks in a separate large bowl). Beat the egg yolks with the remaining 6 tablespoons sugar on medium-high speed until the mixture is very thick and a pale lemon color, about 5 minutes. Add the beaten egg whites to the yolks, but do not mix.
• Sprinkle the flour mixture over the egg whites and then mix everything on low speed for just 10 seconds (or, if using a hand mixer or whisk, until blended but not thoroughly combined). Remove the bowl from the mixer, make a well in one side of the batter, and pour the melted butter mixture into the bowl. Fold gently with a large rubber spatula until the batter shows no trace of flour and the whites and yolks are evenly mixed, about 8 strokes.
• Immediately scrape the batter into the prepared molds, filling each with about 3/4 inch batter. Bake until the cake tops are light brown and feel firm and spring back when touched, 13 to 15 minutes. Transfer the pan containing the molds to a wire rack and allow the cakes to cool in the molds.
• Just before filling, remove each cake from the foil. Using the end of a chopstick, poke three holes in the bottom of each cake, just like in the bottom of real Twinkies. Wiggle the tip of the chopstick around quite a lot to make room for the filling. (Again, you can see this in action, beginning at minute 3.)
• Scoop frosting into a pastry bag fit with a small tip about 1/4 inch across. Pipe the frosting into the holes you created in the bottom of the cakes. As you fill each cake, hold it in your palm and gently exert pressure on it so you can feel the cake expand, taking care not to overfill the cake, which would make it crack.
• Unlike real Twinkies, these won't last indefinitely. They're best served still slightly warm.

HOMEMADE TWINKIES®

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 10x15 inch jelly roll pans.
• Beat the eggs until combined; stir in the melted butter. Add the water, pudding mix, and yellow cake mix, stirring well to combine. The batter will be very thick. Divide the batter between the prepared pans, spreading it evenly.
• Bake until the cakes spring back when pressed lightly with a finger or a tester comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool completely on wire racks.
• To make the filling, combine the room-temperature butter, cream cheese, and confectioners' sugar. Beat until smooth. Stir in the whipped topping and vanilla extract.
• When the cakes are cool, spread the filling mixture on top of one cake layer. Place the second cake layer on top of the first, and cut into bars. Wrap each bar in plastic wrap and store in the freezer.

HOMEMADE TWINKIES

Steps:

• Mix flour with milk and boil until thick.
• (It will be very thick) Cool.
• Beat until fluffy and add other ingredients one at a time beating well after each addition.
• Put between layers of cooled cake.
• Let stand one day to develop flavor.
• I wrap individually in plastic wrap.