Skip to main content

Vanilla Snack Cakes

4.4

(2)

Image may contain Food and Bread
Vanilla Snack CakesLara Ferroni

Despite some tall tales, Hostess Twinkies do not last forever. The box of Twinkies that my friends gave me as a gag gift were, in fact, hard as a rock in less than a year. These cream-filled chiffon cake snacks, made with real, unprocessed dairy and eggs and whole-grain flours, won't last nearly as long as preservative-laden Twinkies, but you will almost certainly gobble them up in no time at all.

Cooks' Note

For gluten-free Vanilla Snack Cakes, replace the white spelt flour with an equal amount of gluten-free all-purpose baking mix.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    8 large snack cakes

Ingredients

3/4 cup (90 grams) white spelt or all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (30 grams) ground millet or cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 egg whites
1/3 cup (66 grams) cane sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup (2 ounces) water
2 tablespoons safflower oil
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 batch (about 1 cup) Snack Cake Crème

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease a canoe-style snack cake pan. If you don't have a snack cake pan, you can use 4-ounce loaf pans. Alternatively, create your own molds out of foil by shaping double thicknesses of aluminum foil around a spice bottle and setting the individual foil pieces next to each other in a cake pan.

    Step 2

    Sift the spelt flour, ground millet flour, baking powder, and salt together and set aside.

    Step 3

    In a dry mixer bowl with dry beaters, beat the egg whites until stiff, about 2 minutes. Transfer the beaten egg whites to a clean bowl and set aside.

    Step 4

    In the same mixer bowl, add the sugar, honey, water, oil, egg yolks, and vanilla and beat for 1 minute. Add the flour mixture and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. Fold in half of the beaten egg whites; once the first half is fully incorporated, fold in the second half.

    Step 5

    Pour the batter into the prepared molds, filling them 2/3 of the way full. Bake until golden, 15 to 20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking. Cool the cakes in the pan for at least 20 minutes, then remove to a wire rack and cool completely before filling with the Snack Cake Crème.

    Step 6

    To fill the cakes, use a skewer or chopstick to poke 2 holes partially through the snack cake from the bottom, and wiggle around to hollow out some space. Use a piping bag fitted with a Bismarck (#230) tip or a very small star-shaped tip to fill the cake with the Snack Cake Crème.

    Step 7

    To make raspberry snack cakes, make the snack cakes as directed. Coat each filled snack cake with raspberry jam and dust with shredded coconut. They will be sticky and delicious.

    Step 8

    Or for Chocolate-Coated Snack Cakes, try dipping your snack cakes in melted chocolate.

2012 by Lara Ferroni. All rights reserved. Excerpted from Real Snacks: Make Your Favorite Childhood Treats Without All the Junk by permission of Sasquatch Books.

See Related Recipes and Cooking Tips

Read More
Khao niaow ma muang, or steamed coconut sticky rice with ripe mango, is a classic in Thai cuisine—and you can make it at home.
With just a handful of ingredients, this old-fashioned egg custard is the little black dress of dinner party desserts—simple and effortlessly chic.
With rich chocolate flavor and easy customization, this hot cocoa recipe is just the one you want to get you through winter.
This pasta starring summer corn achieves its savory, creamy sauce thanks to one special ingredient: buttermilk powder.
This fast stir-fry dish pairs minced pork and fragrant basil with hot Thai chiles and a crispy fried egg.
Make this versatile caramel at home with our slow-simmered method using milk and sugar—or take one of two sweetened condensed milk shortcuts.
Juicy steak, crisp lettuce, and a blender dressing come together for a breezy summer dinner.
This frozen cocktail uses instant espresso for a strong flavor and unbeatable convenience.