by Annmarie Kostyk

Created on: June 03, 2010

As children we loved them, as adults we are both intrigued and scared by them.  Individually wrapped.  Breaded and deep fried.  Urban myths saying that they would survive indefinitely. What is it?  It's the Twinkie!  That wonderful, squishly yellow sponge cake with cream filling. It happens to be Twinkie's 80th birthday this year.  She looks so young! Must be all that cream filling!  Let us celebrate her birth.

Where did the Twinkie originate? Twinkies were developed in 1930 in Indiana when there was a need for an inexpensive treat during the depression.  The company's vice president, Jimmy Dewar, the creator of the Twinkie, made his first batch in lady finger shaped shortcake pans.  He used these pans not because he was thinking out of the box, he used them because they were the only pans available during that time of year - no strawberries!  They were then made and distributed by the Continental Baking Company under the Hostess brand.  The plain cream filling came later.  The first cream filling to grace the luscious, sticky insides of the Twinkie was a banana cream filling.  At that time, Continental Bakery sold a pack of two Twinkies for a nickle. How did Twinkie get its name?  Jimmy wanted something edgy and found his inspiration while he was driving down the road.  He saw a billboard advertising Twinkle Toe Shoe Company and fell in love with the name.  The Twinkie was officially born and named. During World War II, a lot of things were rationed and bananas were no exception.  They had to make Twinkies though!  What did they do?  They took the banana out of the cream filling and left a simple vanilla cream filling.  The eggs, butter and milk in Twinkies gave them a shelf life of only two days, so they needed to come up with a new recipe.  They were losing too much stock and the delivery men's work never stopped!  They were successful, but say what really keeps the Twinkies fresh is the airtight packaging.

The Twinkie became super popular in the 50s when they sponsored the Howdy Doody Show.  Twinkie the Kid was the mascot for the Twinkie snack cake.  He was all dressed in his western gear of neckerchief, cowboy hat, cowboy gloves and work boots.  Kids loved him!  As Twinkies popularity grew, and so did the fear of a nuclear war. People thought Twinkies would be great to keep in bomb shelters, because they never go bad.  The public thought Twinkies were completely artificial and contained no natural ingredients.  Not true and not true.  The Twinkie is so famous, it even went up in a time capsule because President Clinton considers it part of America's heritage. In 2007, after periodically offering the original Banana Cream Twinkies in limited edition runs, Hostess decided to make them a permanent offering on America's grocery shelves.

How is a Twinkie made?  First, it bakes for 10 minutes.  Then there are three holes put in the top (what we consdier the bottom)and the cream filling is injection into the moist yellow cake. Over a half billion Twinkies are made and enjoyed each year.  And about the urban legend, it is not true.  The Twinkie only have a shelf life of 26 days, so enjoy them if you've got them!  After all, it's not polite not to eat cake at someone's birthday!

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