DON'T WORRY ABOUT YOUR TWINKIE...

Trans-fats, high fructose corn syrup, the fat on the edge of a steak or chop – all the things that make food taste good are not good for us.  The constant drone about health issues and the cost of quality ingredients has taken the flavor out of our food.  All those childhood memories of Twinkies, Orange Cupcakes and Little Debbie’s were lost long before the bakery closed its doors.  Two all beef patties with special sauce, lettuce, cheese…just doesn’t taste like it used to taste. Who took the bop out of my bop sho bop is what I want to know?

All our favorite treats have undergone modifications.  When they made the first cupcakes and Twinkies, I bet there were very few ingredients on the label that the average American didn’t eat regularly and worse, couldn’t pronounce.  Flour, sugar, eggs, cream, butter even lard were all real ingredients.  Flash forward, the company needs to extend the shelf life, add more preservatives. There is an emulsified oil that is way cheaper than the butter or even lard. Corn syrup mixes easier sugar and is more cost efficient. Change the recipe.  In the meantime, you and I are losing that little spark in the flavor.  Not really noticeable, but yet something has changed. Involve the government and costs go up on everything.  Let’s cut back on the quality of the ingredients.  But you can’t go too far.  So next let’s take a half ounce out of the batter that goes into the cupcake, or two servings out of the carton of ice cream.

I could go on all day.  What I believe is that the quality of what you consume directly affects the quantity you need to be satisfied.  In 1960 something, when Coke was still made with sugar and sold in returnable glass bottles, eight ounces was enough to satisfy that need for something sweet to drink.  It was thought of as a treat not an everyday thirst quencher.  When I ate my first Twinkie, I don’t remember any greasy filmy feeling in my mouth.  It was sponge cake and a fluffy icing. Not only were the Chunky bars big, the chocolate tasted like chocolate not wax. And don’t get me started on the two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese…it makes me weep.  I miss that flavor most of all. It doesn’t even matter that I can’t find the beef on the bun anymore.  The question is who cares where the beef is?

I have a sponge cake recipe pulled out to share with you. My mom always called it hot milk cake, but you can prepare it with milk or water. Think of it as just one easy step on the way to Nirvana.  Should you want to “Twinkify” your sponge cake, the icing is the type that you might find in a whoopie pie and I would recommend slicing the cake in half and using this icing as a filing. Then just sprinkle the top with some powdered sugar.  Yummy.  I bet even Navin Johnson down in that run down Mississippi tenement would love this cake with a birthday candle. (1974 Steve Martin made the comedy, “The Jerk.”  Rent it today.)

 

Hot Milk Sponge Cake

3 eggs

¾ cups sugar

½ cup hot water or milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ teaspoon lemon extract

1 ¼ cups cake flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 8 or 9 inch square pan.  Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Beat eggs in a bowl on high for 5 minutes until creamy.  Beat in sugar gradually. Beat in water or milk, vanilla and lemon extract on low speed.  Beat in flour on low speed. Pour into pan.

Bake 25 – 30 minutes until top springs bake when touched. Cool.

 

Flour Frosting

1 cup milk

4 tablespoons flour

1 cup sugar

½ cup each butter and shortening or 1 cup shortening

1 teaspoon vanilla

In saucepan, whisk together milk and flour over med high heat til boiling and thickened. Stir constantly. Cool.  In mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugar. Beat til fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Stir flour mixture to make sure it’s cool. Beat into sugar mixture on med high speed until light and fluffy.

 

*To assemble the Twinkified Cake, there are two options. Number one is to slice through the center of cake horizontally, effectively making 2 layers.  Then frost the bottom half and cover with top half. Sprinkle with confectionary sugar.  Number two is to cut cake into 9 equal pieces then work with each piece individually. Slice each piece in half, dollop the icing into the center and then sprinkle with sugar.

*Should you not have lemon extract in your cupboard, you may simply add a bit more vanilla to your cake and suffer very little in the taste.