Originally launched on March 18th, 1967, Hostess Ding Dongs are celebrating 40 years this week as one of America's favorite treats. According to their website, Ding Dongs, (also known as King Dons and Big Wheels depending where you are from) were named for the chiming bells used in vintage Hostess commercials. They have been a staple in children's lunch boxes for decades, and more recently have been the focus of wedding and other celebratory cakes.

I'll be honest, since I've never really been much of a chocolate fan I'm probably one of the very few people on this continent that has never actually ever tasted one. I know, you're going to tell me they are rich, creamy, and delicious - I'll have to take your word on it. Though adding additional sugary-sweet products to already-prepared desserts sounds a little excessive to me, in the spirit of their anniversary I'll leave you with a recipe that features this chocolaty snack cake.

Now I know that we might get some snarky comments about cupcakes being "sooo" 2005, especially since we are now in 2007, but I couldn't help myself because these cupcakes from food blog alpineberry are just too awesome. They are sinfully sophisticated Chocolate-Espresso Cupcakes, but they look like adorably retro Ding Dongs! The cupcake is a chocoalte cupcake, the filling is made from espresso and mascarpone, and the whole tiny thing is topped off with a chocolate glaze. Now that's a snack cake for your grown-up lunch box!

We've seen PimpMySnack make enormous re-creations of some popular store-bought snacks and candies, but now CHOW online magazine, which officially launched to the public this week, has provided recipes for their version of Twinkies, Ding Dongs, and Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies. Of course, they call them Twinks, Ding-alings, and Little Ditsy Cream Pies. The dessert/snack cakes even have real vanilla cream fillings. For the Twinks, you'll need a Twinkie-shaped pan, and Diedre pointed us to a source last fall. And of course, once you make your Twinks, you can use them for any of the recipes in the Hostess Twinkies Cookbook.

We must be obsessed with these "make the store-bought products at home" since we've also seen recipes for homemade Oreos and Pepperidge Farm Milano Cookies.

Just because it's homemade doesn't necessarily mean it's any heathier or better for you, but still, the novelty of re-creating things that we normally buy at the store is fun. Then again, I've always thought that storebought items were originally made in the home kitchen, and were made "convenient" by mass producing them for stores. After that, we just forgot how to make macaroni and cheese and soup at home, right?

Nonetheless, if your kitchen isn't too hot to fire up the oven, try your hand at these recipes for: Hostess Cupcakes, Almost Oreos (faux-reos?!), Pepperidge Farm's Orange Milano Cookies, and Little Debbie's Oatmeal Creme Pies. We've seen a giant homemade sno-ball before, and I'm sure I've seen a recipe for Twinkies somewhere, too.

Have you ever ingeniusly re-created a storebought food at home? Let us know!

 

Sno Balls are snack cakes made by Hostess. They were introduced in 1947 and consist of a chocolate cupcake filled with creme filling, coated with a marshmallowy fluff and rolled in coconut. When you look closely, you can see that the interior is really  a regular Hostess Ding Dong or cupcake that has been turned upside down. Nevertheless, they have a lot of retro appeal and, like must snack foods, become even more appealing when super-sized. I found this photoset on Flickr when I was looking around for more pimped out snack ideas. The chocolate cake dome was baked in a round bowl, hollowed out and covered with homemade marshmallow. Check out the whole photoset to see all the steps.

I'm definitely keeping this idea near the top of my list for birthday party cakes. Not only is it adorable, but since it's homemade, I'm willing to bet that it's delicious.

When you think about wedding cakes, chances are that you envision a tall, elegant dessert. It has sleek sides and might be adorned with splashes of sugar roses and pounds of buttercream frosting. Even if the cake is simple, ungarnished with excesses of sugar sculpture and fondant shapes, a wedding cake will always be elegant.

At least, almost always.

More and more couples are moving away from the traditional wedding cake model, having cupcake towers so that each guest can have an individual, elaborately decorated cake. The cupcakes maintain the elegance of tradition, but allow for an infusion of fun. Even further from the standard, however, is the snack-food cake. A snack food cake can be made of anything from Twinkies to Snowballs and chocolate donuts. What I didn't realize was how much the trend towards down-market "cakes" was catching on until I saw a "cake" of homemade Ding Dongs in the New York Times wedding announcements over the weekend.

Would you have wanted this at your wedding? Are you considering it for the future? I can't say that I would want it, but I would definitely serve ice cold milk, and not champagne, if I did.

[Image NYT]