Devil's Food Twinkies with Peanut Butter Filling
April 2, 2009
Was it mean to post a teaser pic of these twinkies last week? You’ve probably been ready to make them, twinkie pan in hand, so here goes!
I received a Twinkie pan as a gift from a friend two Christmases ago and never used it. I’m not sure why it took me so long to break it out since I had initially been SO excited at the prospect of homemade Twinkies. You know how it goes though; certain items in your kitchen just become inexplicably ignored. Finally one weekend I found myself with a free afternoon and the desire to make something different. The time had come.
My pan looks like this one but didn’t come with a handy injection needle for filling the twinkies. Mine just came with a plastic piping bag that had an extra long snout. This became problematic when the piping back burst by about the third twinkie. Even with taping it together and squeezing with all my might, I barely finished filling the whole batch and on top of it, when I cut into my twinkies there was barely any filling to be seen. My arms were tired and I was not pleased. While I haven’t tried the injection needle and therefore can’t vouch for it, I’d like to think it would have better chances than the piping bag did. If, however the injection needle fails as well, you can employ:
The Sane Twinkie-Filling Method Slice each twinkie along the bottom, without cutting all the way through. Using your fingers, hold the twinkie open just enough to fill the crevice with a generous amount of icing, using a handy dandy butter knife. Smooth the icing along the bottom edge of the twinkie so that the incision looks discreet. Lay them sideways just for a little while so the icing has a chance to set. Use a piping bag to pipe a cute little dot of filling on both ends of the twinkie. After the icing has set, you can place them on your platter, cut side down.
See? Plenty of filling gets in there using this method, and the twinkies are still perfectly cute!
This devil’s food cake is moist and fluffy and goes very well with the peanut butter filling. Peanut butter is dry, so a moist cake like this one is totally key. I changed the filling recipe from the booklet slightly as their recipe was way too thick to pipe (which I found out the hard way). Adding milk gives the peanut butter filling a smoother and fluffier texture.
Everyone that came upon these was very excited about the twinkie shape and loved the flavor twist on this classic snack. Of course, you’d have to be crazy not to love this flavor combination. ;)
So if you really love your twinkies, go ahead and buy yourself a Twinkie Pan. You could also grab a copy of the Twinkie Cookbook, which includes a tasty sounding recipe for a Peanut Butter and Jelly Twinkie Cake.
modified from the Hostess Cakes booklet that came with the pan
(makes about 18)
Devil's Food Cake
Ingredients
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Askinosie)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
8 Tbsp butter (1 stick)
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
Directions
1. Set a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 350° F. Generously spray the pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
2. Measure out all the ingredients, except the eggs, directly into your mixer bowl. Mix on low speed just until incorporated. Turn mixer speed to high and beat for 2 minutes. Add eggs, (one at a time) and continue to beat on high speed for 2 additional minutes.
3. Fill the wells of the prepared pan 2/3 full and bake for 15 minutes, or until the centers spring back when lightly pressed and a toothpick comes out clean. Let mini cakes cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Loosen the cakes around the edge with a toothpick and invert the pan onto a wire rack. Gently tap the bottom of each well and lift the pan off. Mini cakes should cool completely before filling or frosting.
Peanut Butter Filling
Ingredients
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 - 1/2 cup whole milk (use as needed)
Directions
In a medium bowl, beat the peanut butter and butter until creamy. Sift the confectioner's sugar into the bowl and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Slowly add the milk until the consistency of the icing is thin enough to pipe with.
Directions for icing: See The Sane Twinkie Filling Method above.