What’d You Do Last Weekend?
Heading to a party where there will be lots of wine, and not sure what to take? How about some simple savory cookies - biscotti and sables made for wine pairing?
Banana Twinkies with Apricot Buttercream
Sometimes the universe sends you hidden messages - other times it just hits you over the head. Serendipity brought me to Twinkies.
The other night Todd and I listened to a How Stuff Works podcast about Twinkies. It was hilarious and informative, and a little scary too. A lot of the science in the podcast came from a book I read last year called Twinkie, Deconstructed by Steve Ettlinger. Ettlinger methodically dissects the ingredient label on a pack of Twinkies and like a crime scene investigator, he traces each item back to its origin. Most are the products of strip mining in places where most people don't have clean water every day.
Lest I get to high on my soapbox, back to Twinkies. I never ate them as a kid - I've always been more of a salty snacker. But I do have nostalgia for the product - or the branding at least (brainwashing works! See Twinkie the Kid) - so when I saw Twinkie pans for salt at my local bed and bath store, I snatched them up. They're not generic Wilton Twinkie-looking pans. These are branded by Hostess and come with a recipe book (that I dare not follow). In fact, my friend Wynne had bought the Twinkie set too, and she had a hugely successful batch of perfect sponge cakes.
I decided to go off-road with my Twinkies. The originals were banana cake with a creamy center. Rather than do a banana sponge cake, I did a banana butter cake, which resulted in denser (but awfully tasty) cakes. Instead of plain whipped buttercream, I filled mine with an intensely-flavored apricot buttercream. It was tangy and had a slightly light orange tint, and was a great balance to the sweetness of the bananas.
Banana Twinkies with Apricot Buttercream
Prep both the cakes and the buttercream and pipe the buttercream into the Twinkies.
Banana Cake
2 large ripe bananas
2 large eggs
2 tsp grated lemon zest
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 c pastry flour
3/4 c + 2 T sugar
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
10 T soft butter
- Preheat oven to 350.
- In a food processor, process the banana and sour cream until smooth.
Note: You can do this in a stick blender too if the banana is soft enough. - Add the eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla and process just until blended.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients.
- Add the butter and 1/2 of the banana mixture to the dry ingredients.
- Using a mixer, increase the speed to medium, and beat for 1 1/2 minutes.
- Scrape down the bowl and gradually add the remaining banana mixture in 2 batches, beating 20 seconds after each addition.
- Spoon the mixture into a greased pan and bake for 30 - 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Note: You'll only want to fill up the Twinkie pans about 1/2 way up. This rises quite a bit. - Let the cakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then remove and cool on a baking rack.
Apricot Buttercream
6 large egg yolks
3/4 c sugar
1/2 c corn syrup
2 c butter, softened
Apricot preserves (heated and diluted with water, strained a little), to taste
- Beat the egg yolks until light and fluffy.
- Grease a heatproof glass measuring cup.
- Combine the sugar and corn syrup in a pan and stir constantly until at full boil.
- Immediately remove from the heat and pour into the measuring cup.
- Turn off the mixer and add a small amount of the sugar syrup to the eggs and beat for 5 seconds.
- Repeat this until the eggs are tempered and the syrup is completely added.
- Whip the egg/sugar mixture on high until cool.
- Add the softened butter a tablespoon at a time and continue to whip the buttercream.
- Fold in the prepared apricot preserves (which is more like apricot syrup) to taste. If you choose to add chunks of apricot to the buttercream, be aware that you may not be able to pipe the buttercream into the Twinkies.
More Info
Twinkie, Deconstructed by Steve Ettlinger
The Twinkie podcast transcript (and more great stuff) on How Stuff Works
Comments
TWINKIES
It's sort of a deconstruction/reconstruction of Twinkies, right? Yours sound so much better than the originals which I used to eat as a child, I am ashamed to admit. Thanks for a fun read and a new recipe to try.
New flavors still make me love the original Twinkies...
Even though they may be 'gourmet-ized' in a way, these don't replace the soft, pillowy sponge cake of the original Twinkies, or those great variations, Tiger Tails!