Homemade Twinkies (chocolate!)

In case you don't know, there is always a  sweepstakes running on who can be the best Grammie ever!  I have never been that person, but with this recipe I feel as if I am actually a contender! 

A month ago I received a dear letter from our sweet A in which she did mention that she feels very kindly towards me.  Not only that but she brought up the Twinkies I had made when I was visiting there for her baptism two years ago.  She had really enjoyed them and requested that we have them again when they come for a reunion next month.  In fact, SEVERAL BATCHES were suggested.

SO....as any contending grandma would do, I decided to haul out the pan and give it a try again to see if I could successfully make Twinkies again.

There are many YouTube videos on making homemade Twinkies, nearly all of which have you make your Twinkies pan out of folded up aluminum foil. I suggest you do not do that.

 Lay out the money and get a real Twinkies pan. It is called a canoe pan. It comes with an injector for filling your Twinkies.   I got mine at The Prepared Pantry.    I love those people!  They are so generous with recipes and "free" things.  Their newsletter comes every week and almost always there are recipes it is worth reading.  (The most recent one was making Baked Alaska in a Cup!!!  You may be SURE I am going to make that someday soon.)  Sign up for the newsletter.

Anyway,  this is how I made the first two test batches of Twinkies.

Using a Betty Crocker Pound Cake mix, make up the batter according to the directions.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. 

Grease and flour your canoe pan.  Seriously...DO this.  You want the Twinkies to drop out of the pan.  Grease AND flour the pan, but then shake out every bit of the flour that will drop off the grease.  I say this because the second batch, the chocolate Twinkies, had too much flour left in the canoe cavities and, surprisingly, the flour adhered to the Twinkies which did not look pretty, nor did it taste that fabulous.

Use a portion scoop to fill the canoe cavities about one-half full.  I tried three different sizes and I think it was about 3 Tablespoons that worked.  If you put in too much they look less like Twinkies when they are cooked. More like Twinkies with a skirt, which I guess could be a food fashion statement, but...

Bake for 15-17 minutes, checking after 15 minutes.  When they are cooked, remove from oven and let sit on rack for 5 minutes before trying to remove Twinkies.  After 5 minutes,  use a silicon spatula or some other soft plastic knife-y type thing, to go around the edges of the cavities then invert the pan over the rack and let them fall onto the rack.  If necessary, gently shake the pan  before inverting.  Let cool completely.

Before putting the remaining batter in the pan, wash it, dry it, then grease and flour it again.  Really.  Do this.  You will have a big disappointment if you don't...

Chocolate Twinkies which had too much flour left in the cavity before baking.

The Betty Crocker Pound Cake mix made 16 Twinkies.

When the Twinkies are completely cool,  inject them in the bottom in three spots.  Don't put too much filling in or you will blow out the side.  That is really no problem but it just does not look as nice.  On the upside, you get more filling!

The second test batch I made with a chocolate cake mix.  I thought the cakes might not be sturdy enough to handle the treatment with the injection process, but this mix worked as well.  The next text batch will be with some homemade batter at which time I will add an UPDATE to this post!

Filling

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

Put everything except the whipping cream into a large bowl and mix until very smooth.  In a mixer bowl place the cold whipping cream and whip until sturdy peaks form then fold into the cream cheese mixture.  Fill injector (can use an icing bag with an open tip if you did not spring for the canoe pan with accompanying injector) then inject filling into three spots on the bottom of the Twinkie cake.  You will need to use a gentle hand!

Notice the little white spot about middle right side...that is the beginning of filling blowout.  That whole darker spot was about ready to blow but the filler stopped filling in the nick of time!

They are now ready to eat.  If they are not all consumed at once, place remainders in a closed container in the refrigerator.

Hopefully I will find a recipe for a filling, actually a Whoopie Pie-like filling that uses marshmallow fluff.  I know there is the perfect filling out there, but I have not yet found it.  There was a company in Maine who made the best Whoopie Pies and fillings but I did not contact them when I had their address. I have been distressed about it ever since...