Homemade Twinkies!!!

Welcome back for another wonderful blog post from yours truly. What I have for you today really brought out the kid in me. It also solved a mystery that has plagued me and many other pastry chefs alike: How in the hell do you make a twinkie at home like the real thing???

In most cases, when I see a cooking tool like this which is, for lack of a better phrase, a one-trick pony, I tend to walk away. I might scoff at it, make a lewd comment or two, but never buy anything like this. All that changed when I laid my eyes upon this. It was like a switch had been turned on. All of a sudden I felt like a child seeing a new toy for the first time. The excitement almost felt foreign, yet somehow familiar.

Even with all those feelings, I still didn't want to spend the money on it. I started to think about bills and gas money. Luckily, my girlfriend was with me and could see how much I wanted it. So, being the awesome lady that she is, she bought it for me. Thanks baby!

When I took it out the box, I was in shock for a second at the simplicity of it. To put it bluntly, it's a fucking waffle iron! While that may not be a shocker to some of you, it is to anyone that has tried to bake their own twinkies. I have tried, and I never could get the shape or color the right way. Now that I see it's done in a waffle press, it makes total sense.

While there are a couple lights to indicate if the machine is ready to use or not, all you really need to do is put your hand over it while it is open and see if it's hot.

It does come with a recipe for the twinkie sponge, but I'm not going to list that. While the recipe is important, it isn't the focus of the post. The whole process in general is more important.

The cake recipe they give you is pretty standard. I personally feel it is a bit dense, but that is just my opinion.

Like any other waffle iron, you want to make sure you lube it really well. Keep your bottle of Pam close by.

Once the mix is ready and the iron is hot, it's time to pour the mix in there. You don't want to fill it past 3/4 of the way full. If you do, it's going to spill over. On the other hand, if you don't fill it enough, you won't get the flat bottom or pretty color brown that a twinkie always has. My advice is to just try 2 twinkies at first, being sure to make note of how much mix you filled it with.

Those little lights on the top of machine aren't going to tell you when they are done. I first checked them when I started to smell them. At this point, I used the obvious ways to check if they are done: I touched the top and pushed down a bit to check for firmness and I used a toothpick when I wasn't sure with the touch method.

When it was time to flip them out, I realized these little fuckers were hotter than I expected. As tough as my hands are, I still almost burned myself trying to get them out of the molds. My advice for a safe and clean unmolding is to use a heat proof spatula and lightly pull the cake away from sides. Once you have done all of them, close it up and flip the machine over. Then, open it up, and if you used enough lube at the beginning, they should all fall out. Remember, lube always comes in handy!

This was how many twinkies I got from one batch of mix. Not too bad at all. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures beyond this point. What I do have for you are some pointers to keep in mind when making these.

First off, the texture of the sponge will be different. Don't think for a second they are giving you the official twinkie recipe. Plus, at home, you are not adding all the chemicals and preservatives that they do at the plant. I consider that part a plus.

The second point I want to make is that the filling HAS to be modified. As I mentioned above, the sponge does have a different texture than the store bought version. Simply, it's not as soft as the original version. Now, this isn't a bad thing. What it does mean is that simply putting whipped cream or any light, airy frosting doesn't work very well. With a denser sponge, you need a more sturdy filling to stand up to the sponge. I would suggest using a ganache or cake frosting that you can purchase.

The last point I want to make is that these twinkies tasted delicious! While I had issues with softness and filling, the overall taste was great. Everyone that I had try it said they loved it. A few people said it tasted better than the original. You can't knock results like that.

Overall, I walked away feeling really good about what I made and what I could make. After the first batch, I started to ask myself what could I do to improve this? What other recipes could I test with this? Do I need to change the procedure in making the cake mix? What else could I fill these things with? And so on, and so on.

And there you have it. A simple little twinkie-waffle iron that has tons of possibilities. Then again, that's the beauty of cooking. There are tons of possibilities in everything that we make. We just have to let our imagination be free and let that fear of making mistakes go.

I'm out.

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