When I was a kid, it was a particular treat to get a sweet for some positive behavior. My mother was someone who did not allow much snacking between meals and God forbid you be allowed sugar and junk food on a regular basis. By denying it to us only made us want to try it. And as they say on the street, the first taste is free.I will say that this behavior modification was successful in one respect. These days, I don't really have a desire for sweets or sugar. I don't care much for chocolate and I'll always order the cheese plate for dessert as opposed to indulging in a sweet dessert. I am not your average dessert girl.
However, I am intrigued by the concept of the snack cake. We didn't really have snack cakes in my home when I was growing up and I envied my school mates with the Ding Dongs and Ho Hos and Twinkees populating their lunch boxes. And what's up with that curious and unnatural looking filling? It was intriguing.
When I was in college, I had a temporary fling with Hostess Cupcakes. I would go to the quad to study and buy a Hostess cupcake two pack with coffee for breakfast. Well, I was independent now and could eat whatever I wanted for breakfast and this was my means of flaunting my snacking independence. I tried to feel reckless but I never felt the allure. The delivery was never as good as the promise. I soon abandoned my wanton journey.
When I go grocery shopping, I will walk through the snack cake aisle and admire the packaging and the cumulative flavors featured. Still the appeal of the snack cake is still something of a mystery. What is the snack cake exactly? Is it a refined cake or a fast food version of a between meal snack? Why isn't there a Linzer Torte version? What the hell is a Devil Dog? Is pie an option? So many questions.
Did you (or do you) have a favorite snack cake?
8 comments:
Devil Dogs are great! Mmmm, chocolate and cream filling, no frosting. Well, sure, the name is more interesting than the taste, but still.... how can you not love Devil Dogs?
Hostess Fruit Pies surely are in the same aisle and category. And ounce for ounce, they are among the worst things you can stuff into your craw. Naturally they're delicious.
CW, I flirt with the vending machine guy to keep those Hostess cupcakes in stock. When I get the heavy eyelids around 2 o'clock, eating those two of those cakes gets me sugar-hopped enough to handle the rest of the day.
Funny Bones - chocolate icing, chocolate cake, peanut butter filling! Mmmmm.
My mom never really bought them either when I was growing up. Occassionally, she'd buy Little Debbie, but they are kind of fake chocolate tasting. I have never bought Hostess products. Currently, I buy LIttle Debbie for my older son's school lunch, but I NEVER eat them. They just aren't appealing to me.
I did, however, in high school occassionally buy a Hostess "pudding pie" and eat that instead of a real lunch. I'd always have a horrendous stomach ache afterwards. Do they even make pudding pies anymore?
All my old faves have been ruined by the ubiquitous substitution of high-fructose corn syrup for the old-fashioned sugar goodness. :-(
Joe, I think you're right. Either that or my youthful palette was just too innocent to know that those things weren't all that good back then either.
Even so, give me a good Twinkie any day. Yum. And those Little Debbie oatmeal cakes with cream in the middle? I had one at a friend's house (her daughter offered me one, I accepted) and in contrast to what one would think, they were even better than I'd remembered.
You know what's really tasty? Little Debbie macaroons. Yum!
Post a Comment