Because good enough is never good enough… we’ve improved our recipe!

Ah Twinkies! Those spongy, cream filled nuclear-holocaust surviving snack cakes were for many of us, the stuff of happy childhood memories. This recipe is a great version of the famous pastry without all the added preservatives, food coloring, and allergens. You will find that the crust on this version is a little stiffer than traditional twinkies upon cooling – with a candy like crust. This crust will soften and the filling benefits from sitting, covered for at least 2-3 days to soften. The cake itself will also be slightly coarser – a tradeoff for the allergen free status and caused by the loss of eggs usually used to make a sponge cake ‘spongy’.

For quicker eating and a softer, fluffier crust right away, feel free to follow the box mix instructions as printed ( white bean puree).

You will also need to purchase cream canoe mold pans, make your own (instructions below), or use a cupcake tin for the recipe.
This recipe makes 16 cream canoes, or 24 cupcakes. For another blast from the past, use our Chocolate Cake Mix, and make ‘devil dogs’!

For the cake
1 box Better Batter gluten-free yellow cake mix
1 c water
3/4 cups oil
6 Tbsp (1/4c + 2 Tbsp) dry potato flakes

For the filling
1/2 cup vegetable shortening or organic solid shortening such as Spectrum
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (most pure vanilla extract is gluten-free; some imitation extracts contain gluten)
1 drop lemon extract
1/8 teaspoon molasses
1/4 teaspoon salt dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water
Grease cream canoe pan lightly. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In bowl of mixer, combine cake mix, water, oil and potato flakes.

Mix on low speed for 30 seconds and then on medium speed for 2 minutes or until smooth. The batter will be thicker than usual and sticky.

Divide cake batter evenly among greased cream canoe molds or cupcake tins. Bake 25 minutes or until sides are golden and top is firm. Note that the color of the cake top may remain light. Remove cakes from molds immediately to a rack to cool completely.

To make filling, in bowl of mixer beat together shortening, powdered sugar, vanilla, lemon extract and molasses until very smooth. Add salt water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until all water is incorporated. Beat on high speed for at least 3 minutes and up to 10 minutes. Place filling in a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip.

When cakes are cool, gently use a toothpick or skewer to form three holes, evenly spaced, along the bottoms of the cakes. Use the skewer to gently enlarge the spaces within the cake to allow for filling.

Pipe 1 to 2 teaspoons of filling into each hole. You will see the cake expand slightly and may hear a small “puff” as the cavity fills. Stop when the filling begins to come out of the hole around your decorating tip.

Store Twinkies, covered, for up to 1 week.

Make Your OwnCream Canoe Pans

10 sheets foil, 10×10 inches, folded in half.

1 spice bottle (about 3.5-4 inches long)

Place doubled foil on a flat surface and lay spice bottle on top. Fold ends and sides in until just touching the bottle, then bring the sides up to wrap around sides. You will need to wrap the ends around the sides to seal – think of gift wrapping., press tightly. Repeat.