Be a child again: Homemade Hostess Cakes

An admission: I once quite seriously told people that I was serving Little Debbie Fancy Cakes at my wedding (should I ever get married).

I really do like them that much. I like those Little Debbie Brownies, Ding Dongs, and the chocolate cupcakes with the curliques on top. I don’t care that these tasty treats are probably full of processed foods and who knows what. They’re yummy.

A few weeks ago I really, really, really wanted some snack cakes. And I don’t keep these things in my house. (Did I mention that I LOVE them?) That led me to wonder about making my own, which reminded me of a blog post I’d once read on the Smitten Kitchen about making homemade Ding Dongs, which led to this:

Let’s take an even closer look:

Yes, that’s exactly what you think it is: homemade snack cakes.

Here’s how to do it:

Make the cake recipe on the back of your box of Hershey’s Cocoa. That means combining in a bowl:

1. 2 cups sugar

2. 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3. 3/4 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa

4. 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

5. 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

6. 1 teaspoon salt

Stir well to mix everything up. It should look like storebought cake mix at this point.

Add in:

1. 2 eggs

2. 1 cup milk

3. 1/2 cup vegetable oil

4. 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Then, beat all of that together for about 2 minutes or so, just until it’s all combined and chocolate-y looking. After that, add in a cup of boiling water. This will make your batter very thin, so just be aware. You’ll want to use a spatula or spoon to stir in the boiling water because BAD splashy things will happen if you don’t. I speak from experience.

At this point, I put 1/2 cup of batter into each square on my new Wilton baking pan that makes 12 small squares, perfect for brownies or small, personal cakes. But after I baked this pan of cakes at 350 degrees for about 30-35 minutes, I realized 1/2 cup of batter was too much. This resulted in some crazy big snack cakes.

But really, what’s wrong with that?

Cool the cakes in the pan for about 10-15 minutes, then cool completely on a wire rack.

While the cakes are cooling, prepare the filling. I used 7 Minute Frosting. Here’s that recipe:

Seven Minute Frosting 2 large egg whites 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 cup light corn syrup 2 tablespoons water 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Combine frosting ingredients with a pinch of salt in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and beat with a handheld electric mixer at high speed until frosting is thick and fluffy, 6 to 7 minutes. Remove bowl from heat and continue to beat until slightly cooled. Use frosting the day it is made. (Oops, I just read this. Guess I better throw away that left over frosting I stuck in the fridge. I hope it hasn’t hardened into concrete!)

I then filled one of my Pampered Chef decorating squeeze bottles with icing and inserted the tip into the bottom of the cupcake. You have to kind of guess how much filling is enough. . . and if you get a little crazy and overfill, the cupcakes can explode and/or icing can pop out of the top of the cake. Not that I would know from experience or anything. . .

When the cupcakes are filled, make your frosting/ganache. I used Wilton milk chocolate candy melts and shortening and melted them together in the microwave by 30-second increments. It worked, but I will tell you it wasn’t my favorite topping and should I make these again, I’ll probably go the more traditional ganache route. You can dip the cupcakes in the topping and cover them completely, like Ding Dongs, or just on top. I tried both. I like it best just on top.

Finally, using your decorating bottle or bag and tip, add a cute little curlique right on top. Then invite your friends over, serve them milk, and invite them to dig in.

(Shh, I want to tell you a secret: these are WAY BETTER than the snack cakes you’ll buy at the store. WAY BETTER! But you might want to keep that quiet because they do involve a bit of work and people will ask for them after they find out you can make them. I’m just warning you.)

I’ll leave you with one more look:

Who’s making these tonight?