Choice of Twinkies
We survived the disturbance in the Force that was caused by the recent brief disappearance of Twinkies, but the new Hostess folks seem determined to keep Twinkies in the public eye, so to speak. (Mr. Tidbit knows how uncomfortable that sounds, but he likes the image.)
To that end they have produced a number of Twinkie variations. Mr. Tidbit recently found both chocolate creme Twinkies (regular Twinkies with a rather bland chocolaty filling), which were new to him, and Chocodiles (regular Twinkies enrobed in a chocolaty coating), which Mr. Tidbit first witnessed 24 years ago and seem to have come and gone at least once since then.
The Internet offers the note that banana-filling Twinkies have reappeared in some areas (that was, in fact, the original Twinkie filling). And, at least in some markets, this summer apparently saw Hostess cranking out "limited edition" Twinkies with unheard-of strawberry creme and blue raspberry creme fillings.
Yow.
Snickerdoodle Cakes
While Twinkies (and Hostess cupcakes, et al.) were away, Earthgrains Baking Co. introduced a similar line of such snack cakes under the Sara Lee brand, which it already licensed to produce Sara Lee breads.
Mr. Tidbit just saw what may be the first of these Sara Lee snack cakes to depart significantly from the array of Hostess products. It's Snickerdoodle Cakes, which are roughly Twinkie-sized but look more like miniature quick-bread loaves. Like snickerdoodle cookies, they are pleasantly cinnamon-flavored, but, well, they're not cookies.
If that calls out to you, check out the Gansito, a Marinela-brand snack cake originally from Mexico. (Marinela is another of many, many Earthgrains brands; although you may never have heard of Earthgrains, it is said to be the second-largest bakery in this country). The Gansito is chocolatey-coated and contains layers of creme and jelly.
Al Sicherman
