Homemade Twinkies

With a little patience and creativity, you can make a reasonable facsimile of those beloved Twinkies® at home. They won't be quite the same, but close. You might even like these little filled cakes better than the popular commercial brand. This would make a great supervised project for the kids.

Recipe makes 12 faux twinkies

Whatcha Need:

Supplies:

• 1 round spice bottle, the size of a Twinkie
• 12 (12 x 14-inches each) pieces non-stick aluminum foil
• Pastry bag
• Toothpick
• Vegetable oil spray

Cake:

• 16-ounce box golden pound cake mix
• 4 egg whites, beaten until stiff
• 2/3 cup water

Filling:

• 1/3 cup vegetable shortening
• 2 teaspoons butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
• 1/3 cup evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 drops lemon extract

Whatcha Do:

1. CAKES: Fold each piece of foil in half with the nonstick side out. Then fold in half again. Roll foil pieces around the spice bottle to form a tube. Fold down edges to seal, leaving one end of the tube open to be filled with the batter. Remove the spice bottle. Spray the insides with vegetable oil and set each tube open-end-up in a muffin tray.

2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

3. Beat cake mix, whipped egg whites, and water on medium speed until completely blended, about 2 minutes. Carefully fill the foil tubes, leaving 3/4-inch headspace. Bake about 30 minutes until golden and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

4. Let cakes cool, then remove foil. Use a toothpick to make 3 holes along the length of each cake. Wiggle the toothpick around the center to make room for the filling, taking care not to poke through to the other side.

5. FILLING: Cream shortening and butter together in a medium bowl. With mixer running on medium speed, add powdered sugar and granulated sugar, a little at a time, until smooth. Add evaporated milk, vanilla, and lemon extract. Continue mixing until fluffy.

6. Spoon filling into a pastry bag with a No. 5 tip. Inject filling into each of the 3 holes in each twinkie cake and place hole-side-down on a serving platter or store in a covered container.

NOTES:

• Recipe by Peggy Trowbridge Filippone
• Photo by DarleneEats / My Burning Kitchen