Homemade Ding Dongs and Twinkies
Those Hostess cakes we all grew up with are a guilty pleasure and I have always wanted tp make them from scratch.
There is a special pan you can buy by Norpro:
https://www.amazon.com/Norpro-3964-Cream-Canoe-Decorating/dp/B0009R59QY
It takes some practice but I got the hang of filling and baking the twinkie cakes I used my lemon curd for the filing and then I used a strip buttercream across the top.
My next step was ding dongs; I love those devils food cakes with cream filing and dark chocolate covering. I researched online recipes for the cream filing and didn't care for most of the ones I saw using ingredients like marshmallow cream. So I decided to just go with the stabilized whipped cream recipe I use for frosting cupcakes but I used a little more sugar.
I used a silicon pan with oval shaped cakes:
https://www.amazon.com/Freshware-SL-118RD-8-Cavity-Silicone-Mold/dp/B004GJ5G6O/ref=sr_1_2?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1487305129&sr=1-2&refinements=p_n_material_browse%3A316646011
I used semi sweet chocolate chips for the coating and the filing tool from the norpro set to fill the ding dongs.
I think the silcon pans are a bit of a pain you have to have a pan under them otherwise the flop around when you try to pick them up. But I already owned this one and it was close to the round shape of a ding dong.
My attempts were a great success and folks loved them so I am posting it here for folks to give it a try.
Twinkies:
1 box yellow cake mix
1 batch lemon curd
Buttercream frosting or stabilized whipped cream
Filling:
I use my lemon curd to fill the twinkies but you can use either the toppings instead if you do not want to make curd.
The curd filling is made first, my curd recipe is here:
http://bellescookinghaven.blogspot.com/2014/02/meyer-lemon-and-other-citrus-curds.html
Refrigerate the curd while baking the cakes to let it cool and set.
Cakes:
Follow the instructions from the box and using the Norpro pan, use a nonstick spray in each well (even though the pan is supposedly nonstick I found the cakes would stick and not come out easily without teh nonstick spray.)
Fill with 1/4 cup of batter, box will make about 20-24 cakes. As each batch is done remove and let cool on a rack.
Toppings:
While baking make the stabilized whipped cream or buttercream frosting.The whipped or buttercream topping will be the last step but you want them properly chilled so make them now. The Buttercream can be chilled for just about 10 minutes but the whipped topping should be chilled at least 30 minutes.
NOTE: If you will not be serving these right away I would not put the whipped topping on until right before you do.
You must fill your twinkie cakes after they have cooled. (Whipped cream instructions are in the ding dong section.) Once they have all been filled and topped I also drizzled some more curd over each frosted cake.
Buttercream frosting is just butter powdered sugar and milk:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1.5 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp milk
Cream the sugar and butter then add the vanilla and milk.
Now the curd should be chilled and ready to fill your cakes. You fill the Norpro filler and using the long straw like tip you slowly insert it in one end of the cake, now while slowly drawing the tip back out you press the handle of the filler and fill the cake. Then you switch to the other end and fill that side so you have a cake that has curd all the way through it.
Do this slowly and carefully but the filling may still come out of spots on the cake as the cakes can be a touch porous. I found that if I went slowly this was easier to prevent or at least minimize.
After you have filled all your cakes you can use the same methods that I explain for the whipped cream to top your twinkies.
I used a fancy tip and my cookie press to create the design on top of my Twinkies, this picture is of them with a buttercream topping.
The Twinkies keep for at least a week in fridge.
Ding Dongs:
1 box devil's food cake mix.
Stabilized whiped cream
1 bag 12oz semi sweet chocolate chips
Filling:
For the filling used my go-to stabilized whipped cream recipe; half pint of whipped cream, bakers sugar and plain gelatin so the whipped cream does not liquify. The one difference is that I doubled the sugar for this recipe. Place the cream in fridge to chill.
Here is a great link for several ways to make the stabilized whipped cream topping/frosting:
http://www.wikihow.com/Stabilize-Whipped-Cream
Cakes:
Following the box instructions spray the pan with nonstick spray and bake the cakes and let cool on a rack.
Once the cakes have completely cooled take the whipped cream and the Norpro tool used to fill the twinkies and fill with the chilled whipped cream then insert through one end of the cake and fill the center of each cake. Unlike the Twinkies you only need to do one insertion and fill the center.
After filling the cakes take the semi sweet chips and melt one third of them in the microwave. Taking either a frosting spreader or regular knife spread the sides and the top of each cake melting more chips as you run out of the first batch. I used the entire bag to cover each cake but left the bottom of them unfrosted. Chill the cakes for at least an hour to get the chocolate coating to set.
I also put a little bit of the whipped cream on top of the cakes when I served them. You can put the whipped cream in a ziplock bag cut one corner open and pipe each cake across the top or you can use a a fancy tip frosting bag. As with the Twinkies since I was not serving these right that moment but the next day I waited to put the topping of whipped cream when I was serving them.
The ding dongs can also stay fresh for about a week in the fridge.
There is a special pan you can buy by Norpro:
https://www.amazon.com/Norpro-3964-Cream-Canoe-Decorating/dp/B0009R59QY
It takes some practice but I got the hang of filling and baking the twinkie cakes I used my lemon curd for the filing and then I used a strip buttercream across the top.
My next step was ding dongs; I love those devils food cakes with cream filing and dark chocolate covering. I researched online recipes for the cream filing and didn't care for most of the ones I saw using ingredients like marshmallow cream. So I decided to just go with the stabilized whipped cream recipe I use for frosting cupcakes but I used a little more sugar.
I used a silicon pan with oval shaped cakes:
https://www.amazon.com/Freshware-SL-118RD-8-Cavity-Silicone-Mold/dp/B004GJ5G6O/ref=sr_1_2?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1487305129&sr=1-2&refinements=p_n_material_browse%3A316646011
I used semi sweet chocolate chips for the coating and the filing tool from the norpro set to fill the ding dongs.
I think the silcon pans are a bit of a pain you have to have a pan under them otherwise the flop around when you try to pick them up. But I already owned this one and it was close to the round shape of a ding dong.
My attempts were a great success and folks loved them so I am posting it here for folks to give it a try.
Twinkies:
1 box yellow cake mix
1 batch lemon curd
Buttercream frosting or stabilized whipped cream
Filling:
I use my lemon curd to fill the twinkies but you can use either the toppings instead if you do not want to make curd.
The curd filling is made first, my curd recipe is here:
http://bellescookinghaven.blogspot.com/2014/02/meyer-lemon-and-other-citrus-curds.html
Refrigerate the curd while baking the cakes to let it cool and set.
Cakes:
Follow the instructions from the box and using the Norpro pan, use a nonstick spray in each well (even though the pan is supposedly nonstick I found the cakes would stick and not come out easily without teh nonstick spray.)
Fill with 1/4 cup of batter, box will make about 20-24 cakes. As each batch is done remove and let cool on a rack.
Toppings:
While baking make the stabilized whipped cream or buttercream frosting.The whipped or buttercream topping will be the last step but you want them properly chilled so make them now. The Buttercream can be chilled for just about 10 minutes but the whipped topping should be chilled at least 30 minutes.
NOTE: If you will not be serving these right away I would not put the whipped topping on until right before you do.
You must fill your twinkie cakes after they have cooled. (Whipped cream instructions are in the ding dong section.) Once they have all been filled and topped I also drizzled some more curd over each frosted cake.
Buttercream frosting is just butter powdered sugar and milk:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1.5 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp milk
Cream the sugar and butter then add the vanilla and milk.
Now the curd should be chilled and ready to fill your cakes. You fill the Norpro filler and using the long straw like tip you slowly insert it in one end of the cake, now while slowly drawing the tip back out you press the handle of the filler and fill the cake. Then you switch to the other end and fill that side so you have a cake that has curd all the way through it.
Do this slowly and carefully but the filling may still come out of spots on the cake as the cakes can be a touch porous. I found that if I went slowly this was easier to prevent or at least minimize.
After you have filled all your cakes you can use the same methods that I explain for the whipped cream to top your twinkies.
I used a fancy tip and my cookie press to create the design on top of my Twinkies, this picture is of them with a buttercream topping.
The Twinkies keep for at least a week in fridge.
Ding Dongs:
1 box devil's food cake mix.
Stabilized whiped cream
1 bag 12oz semi sweet chocolate chips
Filling:
For the filling used my go-to stabilized whipped cream recipe; half pint of whipped cream, bakers sugar and plain gelatin so the whipped cream does not liquify. The one difference is that I doubled the sugar for this recipe. Place the cream in fridge to chill.
Here is a great link for several ways to make the stabilized whipped cream topping/frosting:
http://www.wikihow.com/Stabilize-Whipped-Cream
Cakes:
Once the cakes have completely cooled take the whipped cream and the Norpro tool used to fill the twinkies and fill with the chilled whipped cream then insert through one end of the cake and fill the center of each cake. Unlike the Twinkies you only need to do one insertion and fill the center.
After filling the cakes take the semi sweet chips and melt one third of them in the microwave. Taking either a frosting spreader or regular knife spread the sides and the top of each cake melting more chips as you run out of the first batch. I used the entire bag to cover each cake but left the bottom of them unfrosted. Chill the cakes for at least an hour to get the chocolate coating to set.
I also put a little bit of the whipped cream on top of the cakes when I served them. You can put the whipped cream in a ziplock bag cut one corner open and pipe each cake across the top or you can use a a fancy tip frosting bag. As with the Twinkies since I was not serving these right that moment but the next day I waited to put the topping of whipped cream when I was serving them.
The ding dongs can also stay fresh for about a week in the fridge.
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