For those of you who have not visited the USA it is quite likely you have not sampled or even heard of the Twinkie! A Twinkie in simple terms is a “Golden Sponge Cake with Creamy Filling” Yum Yum! The Twinkie looks innocent, almost enticing beneath its plastic silky sheen. However, strip back that veneer of gentillesse and you are confronted with a treat that is soft and sinister and guaranteed to destroy any diet pattern.
One of America’s best known and most loved snack cakes, Twinkies have been tantalizing taste buds and filling lunch boxes since 1930. Twinkies are the stuff of legends – President Clinton put one in a time capsule – and have achieved the status of cultural icon, with the American Society of Media Photographers recently mounting a photo exhibition featuring Twinkies. But to most people, they’re just fun to eat.
Whether we’re carrying a supply in the glove compartment for a quick on-the-road snack, freezing them, deep frying them, or eating them right out of the package, millions of Twinkie lovers would agree with creator Jimmy Dewar’s statement that “Twinkies was the best darn-tootin’ idea I ever had.”
Many of the 500 million Twinkies sold every year spark wonderful creative impulses, as moms, dads, school teachers and kids take to their kitchens to invent gourmet recipes, including Twinkie Shortcake, Twinkie Misu and Twinkie Sushi. And let’s not forget those amazing Twinkie Wedding Cakes.
Us British have our fair share of Sweets, Candy and Chocolate; but nothing can rival the Twinkie!
You do realize that the Twinkie Clinton placed in the time capsule will still be edible when archeologists dig it up millions of years from now? I only hope they resist eating it and save for the museum.
NO IT WONT! that is an urban myth! This guy had a package of twinkies he had been saving since 1996 and he opened it and they were hard as rocks…he actually threw them on the floor and they smashed into a million peices, they are hardly edible. They only last 1 year. They are delicious, and so light you can eat 100 of them, but they are terrible for you….i wouldnt be suprised if they were a main cause for most diseases….
I’m glad to see your blog back up again, Chris! I read your Twinkie post before I went grocery shopping. Big mistake! I ended up buying two boxes of Twinkies. I ate five Twinkies before going to bed. They are just so delicious and irresitable!!!
As a native Californian, now living in Oregon, and in my (ugh..) mid-50’s, I can say that Twinkies were very popular, when I was younger, but I thought even better were the wonderfully chocolate Ding Dongs. Chocolate cake with a creamy filling and chocolate frosting. My son, who was born in ‘76 loved Ding Dongs in his lunches. We weren’t big Twinkie fans. It is interesting to see what “rings your British chime.” My sister, Kelli, moved to a town near Manchester nearly 5 years ago, married a Brit and new I have a little 1/2-1/2 nephew. I am learning a lot from her perspectives. I love the differences. Your site is now on my blog roll and I plan to visit it many times. It will be very interesting to see what Kelli writes from the American in the UK standpoint and from yours. BTW, Twinkies are full of bad stuff. Not healthy. I wouldn’t eat them, but then I was thinner when I ate that kind of stuff! So maybe I should pick up a package and eat away!