Ding Dongs and Twinkies no more? Have no fear. Food bloggers to the rescue.
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Goodbye Twinkies. Hostess Brands Inc. announced on Friday, Nov. 16 that it was "winding down operations" and filing for bankruptcy, it said in a statement. If you can move past the demise of a pop food cultural icon (what kid growing up in the 1970s and '80s did not have Twinkies or Ho Hos in their lunchbox?), and also the somewhat shocking revelation that "Hostess Brands will move promptly to lay off most of its 18,500-member workforce," you will find that SuzyQs and her friends live on in homemade forms.
Food bloggers have long taken up the challenge of recreating at home dishes that they love in restaurants, and this extends to tortilla chips, Cheeze Its, Oreo cookies, Pop Tarts, and Twinkies.
Here's a sampling from 'round the Web:
Leite's Culnaria reminds readers that President Clinton "dropped a Twinkie in the millennium time capsule back in 1999." Her Twinkies, look like the real deal, though, even if they take 1 hour and 15 minutes to make.
On Love & Flour an enterprising foodie figured how to assemble her own Suzy Q's for her mom's birthday. Her mom, of course, is named Susan. Cute.
One blogger's confession on The Family Kitchen might explain why Hostess Brands has gone under: "I don’t buy my children twinkies or hostess cupcakes (poor kids)," writes Jamie. "And last week, we were in the grocery store when they saw the display in the store. When they begged me to buy the ho-ho’s, I said no (I don’t like the artificial ingredients and preservatives), but thought it might be fun to try making them at home...." It turned out the going was a little tough, though, as Jamie writes, "it’s challenging to roll up the cake without breaking it. I suddenly understood why I hadn’t been seeing blog posts on homemade ho-ho’s popping up all over the internet."
Yep. But check out her recipe, if the photos are true, she conquered the task.
Over at Krissy's Creations, this happy wife of a pro ball player has cracked the cuteness code with her homemade Hostess Cupcakes. Hostess Cupcakes are the one thing that I see a lot in bakeries around town. The trademark looping swirls on top are the give away – because if it looks like a Hostess Cupcake, it will taste like a hostess cupcake, right?
In A Cozy Kitchen Adrianna really wants you to succeed in making your own homemade Ding Dongs. She walks you through all the steps! Don't give up, even though she calls it a "weekend project." It's OK. We're nostalgic already for our shrink wrapped desserts. We'll do anything.
Saying goodbye to brands that we know and love is a hard thing. Do you remember the collective shock and grief following the disappearance of Postum, that noncaffinated hot drink? No?
Well, maybe when a few more generations roll through elementary school they'll just shrug their shoulders when asked about Hostess Cupcakes as they munch on their kale chips.
But remember, Twinkie, there's always the time capsule.