Some people think that Fall has begun when the leaves start to turn or when the air finally starts to cool down at night. For others it is the start of school or the fact that darkness comes before 8 pm. Here in Philadelphia, it isn't Fall until the Taskykake Pumpkin Pies hit the shelves of our local grocery and convenience stores. What are the food products that mark the the change of the season for you?

I am a big fan of Tastykakes, but they are in limited supply here in California, so I tend to pick up an extra box or two when I travel back to the Philadelphia area and tuck them into my freezer for safekeeping when I get home. One of the newest products available to Tastykakes fans is Tastykake ice cream. Made with Turkey Hill Ice Cream, there are three decadent flavors to choose from. The Peanut Butter Kandy Kake flavor has vanilla ice cream with cake pieces, chocolate chips and swirls of peanut putter and fudge. The Oatmeal Raisin Bar is cinnamon ice cream with pieces of Tastykake Oatmeal Raisin Bars and plump, juicy raisins. The newest flavor offered, a limited edition, is Chocolate Cupcake, which has milk chocolate ice cream with chocolate cupcake pieces and a chocolate icing swirl. Frosting in ice cream? Now that sounds like the recipe for a sugar rush!  

Unfortunately, I don't think that the ice cream is doing to hold up as well as the snack cakes do in my suitcase. I guess I'll have to wait to try these for myself, but if anyone has had them, let us know what they taste like in the comments - they all sound delicious!

Snack cakes are a hot-button issue for a lot of people, especially if the controversy over snackable wedding cakes is any indication. They represent a classic comfort for as most people had them during childhood. Even if your parents kept them out of the house and out of your lunchbox, chances are good that you were able to indulge once in a while at the home of a friend. From Twinkies to jam-filled krimpets, everyone has a favorite. If I had to guess, though, I would say that any kind of cream-filled chocolate cupcake is the favorite for most people.

Ding Dongs and Ring Dings are actually the same thing: a chocolate covered, cream-filled cupcake. Though sold under different brand names, Hostess and Drake's, respectively, they are produced by the same company. Hostess also sells their Ding Dongs as King Dons in some states, where there was a competitor with a similar name and they wanted to avoid confusion. The when the competitor went out of business, they tried to return to selling only Ding Dongs, but there was such an outcry, that they kept the King name. Little Debbie also makes a similar product, called a Devil Square and Tastykake makes a cream-filled chocolate cupcake, though only their Kandy Kakes are fully covered in chocolate, not their cupcakes.

Some people swear that they can taste the difference between these products, but I think that it's unlikely. Packaging doesn't impart any flavor into the cake within. Personally, I think that Tastykake makes the best of the bunch, though I'll take a Butterscotch Krimpet over a cream-filled cupcake any day.