How to make homemade Twinkies

With rumours of a potential Twinkies extinction, I thought I'd preserve this tasty treat by developing my own version. My homemade attempt was fun, and remarkably successful. To be clear, this was not an attempt to make a 'healthy' version or to 'update' Twinkies, but merely an attempt to replicate this cake. So, grin and bear it when it comes to some of the ingredients below - and have fun!

Directions: Homemade Twinkies

TEAR foil into a 4 x 12 inch strip. Fold in half lengthwise, leaving you with a 4 x 6 inch rectangle. Lay a spice bottle (ideally 4 inch in length) across the width of the foil and wrap the foil tightly around the sides and ends of the bottle. The top third of the bottle needs to remain exposed so trim any excess edges. Slip the bottle out of the foil. Manipulate the foil, slightly rounding the ends. The resulting shape should be a rounded cylinder with the top open, leaving room to add the batter. Repeat, making as many forms as you want.

PLACE the forms in a baking pan. The forms should fit snugly, without altering their shape. If it isn't a tight fit, scrunch up some foil and tuck it between forms to keep them steady.

PREHEAT oven to 350F. Mix the batter of a “golden” store-bought cake mix. Load the batter into a piping bag fitted with a number 5 tip. Pipe batter into the forms, filling them half-way to the top. Bake in the centre of the oven until a cake tester comes out clean, and cakes are a deep golden colour, 20 to 25 min. Remove and let cool fully. Gently remove cakes from forms.

BEAT ½ cup vegetable shortening in a large bowl using an electric mixer on high until fluffy, about 2 min. Add 11/2 cups icing sugar, beating, in ½ cup increments. Beat in 1 tbsp milk. Continue beating until icing is very fluffy and appears whipped. If too thick, beat in a second tbsp milk.

LOAD icing into a piping bag fitted with zero (very small) tip. Shape a flat base by slicing the bottoms (the part that was exposed to the air while baking) off the cakes. Peirce the bottom centre of the cake with the tip, inserting it into the cake. Squeeze the piping bag, pushing icing into the holes and crevices of the cake. Repeat with icing above and below the centre hole, leaving three holes.

Originally published November 23, 2012.