The Untold Truth Of Twinkies

Who doesn't love Twinkies? You've no doubt gorged on one or two as a kid, and perhaps a whole box as an adult, because hey, you're a grown up, you do what you want. It's simply hard to resist their outer spongy cake layer and inner creamy filling — especially when they're deep fried. From gas stations to grocery stores, you can buy this golden snack cake practically anywhere you can buy food. 

Whether it's their sweet taste or their accessibility, these recognizable treats have become an icon of American junk food that certainly has built its own fan base over the years. But other than their scrumptious taste, how much do you really know about Twinkies? Do you know how this snack cake got its name? Or that Minnesota implemented a law involving it? Get ready, because you're in for a real treat. Here are the fun facts you didn't know about Twinkies.

Before the original banana cream Twinkies were invented, there was a strawberry filling. A strawberry filling for Little Shortcake Fingers to be exact. When Continental Baking Company first began, they had six weeks dedicated to making the strawberry-filled shortcakes. Like many crops though, strawberries were in season for a relatively short period of time. This meant that the company had a lot of expensive equipment dedicated to this particular treat that wasn't being utilized to its full potential — not exactly good for business. 

That's when Continental Baking's plant manager at the time, James Dewar, decided to strategize and came up with the the idea of filling the shortcakes with a banana cream filling. With the new filling, the company could utilize the equipment they had all year long and stand a chance at dealing with the hard economic times of the Depression. While the Little Shortcake Fingers were probably delectable, this move into the banana cream filled cakes was obviously a hit that put Hostess on the map. Now, what to call it?

You've undoubtedly been told at some point in your life that Twinkies last forever. Urban legends would have it that come the apocalypse, Twinkies will still be as fresh as the day they were made. Like all rumors, it's simply not true. Twinkies do in fact have a shelf life, and it used to be 26 days. Not exactly the post-apocalyptic situation some may have conjured up. So what happened to  change that short shelf life? Hostess briefly went out of business, and when they (and their Twinkies) returned to shelves in 2013, it was with an extended shelf life of 45 days. While the secret to how they extended the shelf liferemains a mystery, Twinkies fans can get almost double the shelf life out of their favorite yellow snack cakes — not that they won't gobble them all up before then.

Even before the new extended shelf life Twinkies were released, 26 days was a relatively long for the Hostess snack cake. When Twinkies were first invented, they had a shelf life of two days. Two days?! Like the original banana cream filling, Twinkies were traditionally made with real ingredients including eggs, milk, and butter. Since it wasn't an artificially processed food, this sponge cake needed to be eaten like the real cake you make at home, otherwise it would expire.

Hear the word Zombieland and you probably instantly start thinking about Twinkies. If you're not familiar with the comedic zombie film, Twinkies were the coveted snack of Woody Harrelson's character. His character would stop at nothing in his quest for the spongy, cream filled cakes. The real Woody Harrelson on the other hand doesn't eat Twinkies. In fact, he doesn't even eat sugar or dairy because he's vegan. That presented a problem for playing out the role of his character. Even though his character spends the majority of the movie searching for the Hostess snack, there is a scene when he does have to finally eat a Twinkie. To solve this problem, they made mock Twinkies out of cornmeal. I'm not exactly sure what a mock Twinkie tastes like, but I'm pretty sure it's completely different than the packaged cake you buy at the store. It's probably much healthier too.

Speaking of laws, the "Twinkies defense" is quite possibly the most ludicrous sounding defense used in criminal cases, but regardless it exists. The term was coined during the Dan White trial. White, who was being charged for the murders of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, was supposedly suffering from mental illness. The defense claimed that a poor diet, which included Twinkies, only intensified his unsteady mental condition and sent him on a murderous rampage.

The truth is, White's defense never made such claims. The media was the culprit for giving birth to the term. What White's defense did claim was that his "diminished capacity" was the cause for the murders. The term junk food was supposedly a brief mention and was considered to be an insignificant part of the defense. Twinkies only got into the mix because a psychiatrist discussed how consuming Twinkies and Coke only worsened White's depression, but by no means used it as an excuse for committing murder. That, however, didn't stop the press. The term stuck and is still recognized today.

People love Twinkies so much that they even tried to replicate them at home. It may sound like a daunting task, but if you love these yellow snack cakes, you too can have a go at making homemade Twinkies. While they may not taste exactly like the store-bought Twinkies — unless you have a factory and the recipe from Hostess themselves — you can get pretty darn close.

So how does one go about making a batch of Twinkies? For starters, you'll need eggs, butter, yellow cake mix, and vanilla pudding mix for the cake portion. For the filling, you'll need some more butter, confectioners sugar, cream cheese, a whipped topping, and vanilla. Mix all the cake ingredients then bake in Twinkies-shaped pans. While that's baking, mix up the filling. Once the Twinkies are ready, inject them with the vanilla filling. That doesn't sound to hard, now does it?

Twinkies recipes don't stop there. People have gone nuts with different ways to eat Twinkies. There's Twinkies sushi, deep fried Twinkies, bacon fried Twinkies, and there are even Twinkies corndogs. How do you like your Twinkies?