December 19, 2010

TastyKake!

Butterscotch Krimpets.

For me, this is — by far — the #1 most-nostalgia-provoking cake in the world. What kind of packaged cake did you grow up with? Hostess? Little Debbie? Drake's? Entenmann's? Sara Lee? My hometown cake is TastyKake!

What's your childhood packaged cake?
TastyKake
Hostess
Little Debbie
Drake's
Entenmann's
Sara Lee
  
pollcode.com free polls

What are the chances you'd prefer that cake to the next piece of cake someone serves you?
100%
more than 50%
less than 50%
0% or close to 0
  
pollcode.com free polls

82 comments:

Nena's 99 Luftballons Song said...

Hostess Fruit Pie -- Cherry . . . with 29 ingredients.

Toad Trend said...

Little Debbie 'Nutty Bars' were ubiquitous when I was in elementary and high school...and are a staple snack in our household today. Great with a glass of milk.

Ricardo said...

Key Lime Pie. Ironically, it got even better when Sara Lee and others began freezing it. So I actually like the modernized frozen version better than the warmer original. Although both are still a 10/10.

Paddy O said...

Turns out that cake was the next cake someone just served me.

It's a Little Debbie Christmas tree.

Fritz said...

Ding Dongs!!!!!

BJM said...

My fav was the Snow Ball cupcakes our small town's lone bakery made long before Hostess arrived. I still remember them lined up in the corner grocer's bakery case; vanilla and strawberry marshmallow; two for 25 cents, half of my weekly allowance.

Tender dark chocolate cupcakes, filled with vanilla cream, enrobed in gooey marshmallow and rolled in shredded coconut. Nothing like the Hostess dreck.

Oh and their Swedish cream horns; to. die. for.

Irene said...

My Grandmother packed a Hostess Twinkie in my lunchbox every day. My best friend's mother gave her Hostess Suzy Q's.

Although both were Hostess products, I always was jealous of the friend because Suzy Q's seemed richer and more decadent.

My Grandmother maintained that Twinkies were healthier.

Wince said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Clyde said...

What about Mickey's? Banana Flips and Devil's Delights.

HT said...

Before I had to stop eating wheat, barley and rye, the best Key Lime pie I bought from the freezer was Edwards or Mr Edwards. Other than that, it's an easy recipe - best is homemade, or in the Keys.

Harsh Pencil said...

Nobody bakes a cake as tasty as a TastyKake.

Wince said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Clyde said...

Alas, a little Googling shows that Mickey's went out of business and the Banana Flips and Devil's Delights are only a fond memory.

wv: annized. What happened to Meade.

Beth said...

A friend who grew up in Pennsylvania raves about Tasty Kakes. We're looking forward to going to the Bloomsburg Fair with her, maybe next year, and we'll make sure to give 'em a taste.

I lived in a Kansas town with two industries: Iowa Beef Packing and Little Debbie pastries. I love meat, but the process of making it creates some really bad odors. The Little Debbie side of town was much more appealing.

Hubig's Pies are the New Orleans hometown pastry, those and beignets, of course.

Chef Mojo said...

Love it. Nothing says "Southern boy" like a Little Debbie Oatmeal Pie!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHRDxWHYU8M

Little Debbie! Little Debbie! I'm-a comin' on home, baby!

Titus said...

42% of households in West Virginia do not have internet access.

That blows my mind.

What would it be like for you to know have internet access?

I'm Full of Soup said...

Just had a tastykake cherry pie yesterday!

My favorite kind is their chocolate tandy takes.

George Grady said...

I'd have to go with a Moon Pie. The real big ones, not the little wimpy ones. Sure, throw in an RC cola, too.

KLDAVIS said...

Grew up with Little Debbie and can't stand them today. I'd never had a TastyKake until I was out of college, but they were my mother-in-law's favorite from childhood, so I gave them a try. I love the Butterscotch Krimpets and the Peanut Butter Kandy Kakes. We stock up anytime we're in New York.

Titus said...

I don't eat sweets.

Not because of diet stuff just not that into them.

I guess I am not getting an invitation to ski. Bitch.

George Grady said...

And I always wanted to try some of those Dolly Madison Zingers, or whatever they were called, because they always used to advertise for them during the Charlie Brown Christmas special, but I never saw them anywhere. They were probably terrible.

Wince said...

Nena's 99 Luftballons Song said...
Hostess Fruit Pie -- Cherry . . . with 29 ingredients.

Losing Your Cherry, A Young Man's Guide to Sexual Awakening, with Hostess Fruit Pie the Magician.

"And you better believe your friends at Hostess want to help. Because nothing tastes sweeter than post-coital Twinkies, Fruit Pies and Ho-Hos."

Unknown said...

Bless your little red/blonde heart.

TastyKakes (and the pies, especially) were a Philadelphia-only thing in the 50s and 60s, bought out a few years ago by Pepperidge Farm. Anytime The Blonde wanted to give me a taste of home, she'd order one of their gift packs. They got a lot of Boomers through school.

Chocolate or coconut juniors, butterscotch krimpets (you have excellent taste, Madame), and the lemon pies all were faves.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
BJM said...

@George Grady

"It's-It", isn't a moon pie, but they're pretty danged tasty.

Anonymous said...

I've in the Northeast, mid-Atlantic, and Upper Midwest, and TastyKake's really can't be beat.

Peanut Butter KandyKakes, and blueberry pies for me.

--G. said...

What is it with your TastyKake people?

You realize, of course, that you have a source of TastyKake products in Madison? Wander over to Big Red's Cheesesteaks on University Avenue -- a short walk from the law school. The Philly boys who run the place stock certain Items.

--G.

Deborah M. said...

Nutty Bars make me all verklempt, because they make me think of my beloved Aunt Gladys. It was her favorite snack.

Unknown said...

I've never seen the TastyPies (as they were called) out here in NE OH.

In addition to the lemon, the coconut cream and their faux eclair (the custard is the real deal, but it's the same crust) were to die for.

Misty said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Misty said...

Am I the only one who used to unroll the Ho-Ho and eat it in layers? Mmmmm. Yummy!

I would also eat the chocolate first off the Ding Dong (pleeeeeeeeeeze no comments here).

ricpic said...

I defy anyone to eat one slice of Sara Lee's original cheesecake and then quit.

chuck b. said...

My dad really liked those hot apple turnovers from McDonald's. Since he was paying, we ate those fairly often. Unless my dad was sitting there eating one with me, I'm sure I'd spit it out now.

What I really liked as a kid, and still do, was chocolate pudding.

Palladian said...

I grew up in Pa and there were certainly Tastykakes everywhere, although I wouldn't eat the butterscotch things because the word "krimpet" disgusted me.

I was never into sweets, but I do remember liking Little Debbie Swiss Cake Rolls. I would first peel the chocolate coating off and eat that, then I would carefully unroll the roll, then eat the flavorless white filling substance, and finally roll up the cake again and dip it in milk and eat it.

Toad Trend said...

Hostess cherry and lemon pies were always a treat, too.

The Hostess Ho-Ho's were always better than the Little Debbie Swiss Cake Rolls.

Penny said...

TastyKake chocolate cupcakes for me. Three in a pack. One for Friday, one for Saturday, one for Sunday.

They were always kept in the refrigerator. Wonder what that was all about?

tim maguire said...

We never had pre-made sweets and rarely homemade either. Brownies, though. Homemade, with walnuts. Best fresh out of the oven, but wonderful even several days later.

The Scythian said...

It's true, nobody bakes a cake as TastyKake.

And if you remember that commercial, then you'll remember this fun little ditty.

And this one.

And also this one!

And seriously, was this a terrifying commercial or what?

And, c'mon... Who can forget this friggin' guy?

Hey! Where'd everybody go?

former law student said...

NOTA

Tip-Top or Burny Bros.

The Scythian said...

Ha! That should have been "Nobody bakes a cake as tasty as a TastyKake!" I think I got caught up in linking and messed up!

To make up for it, here's the intro to 'Saturday Night Dead', with bonus 30th Street Station bathroom gay joke!

C R Krieger said...

Butterscotch Krimpets for sure. And when I was down in the Philly area two weeks ago they were dressed up in green wrapping for the Eagles.

Regards  —  Cliff

C R Krieger said...

UPDATE

The Acela will not let me vote.  It represents a "download". I am enroute back down to the Philly area, from Lowell, Mass (I get the train at the Route 128 Station).  Truth be told, the WiFi has been spotty this trip, but it is usually superb.

And no real security theater, although they said there would be someone walking through the train and maybe asking for IDs, but I have not yet seen the person.  I am rolling across North Jersey at this time.

Regards  —  Cliff

Rube said...

Drakes Devil Dogs.

John Burgess said...

Drakes' Devil Dogs, indeed! What those cupcakey thingies aspired to grow up to be!

@ricpic: No problem at all. I'd each kimchee coated with tallow, covered with chocolate sauce before I'd touch cheese cake.

But Drakes' "Boston Cream Pie Ring Ding" was the sublimity of mass-processed bakery confections.

I was blessed/cursed, with an incredible Polish bakery far too close to the house when I was a kid. They made the best doughnuts I've ever eaten in my life. They did all the ethnicities' specialties and you'd find huge lines out the doors on Saturdays.

MadisonMan said...

TastyKlairs were better than TastyKake Butterscotch Krimpets.

DaLawGiver said...

MoonPie and anRC Cola. The city of Mobile, Alabama raises a 12 ft tall lighted mechanical MoonPie 200 ft every year on New Year's Eve much like the dropping of the glass ball in Time Square. I'm not kidding.

Chip Ahoy said...

Are you kidding me?


Tastykake Butterscotch Krimpets

Calories 210
Calories from fat 60

Total Fat 6 g … 10%
Saturated Fat 2 g … 10%
(Trans Fat 1 g)
Cholesterol 50 mg … 17%
Sodium 170 mg … 7%
Total Carbohydrate 37 g … 12%
(Dietary Fiber 0 g … 0%
Sugars 26 g)
Protein 2 g … 0%

Vitamin A 2%
Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 2%
Iron 2%

Ingredients
Sugar, Bleached Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate-B1, Riboflavin-B2, Folic Acid)Water, Eggs, Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Shortening (Canola, Soybean and/or Cottonseed Oils)Corn Syrup, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Cornstarch, Butter Skim Milk, Leavening (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Baking Soda, Monocalcium Phosphate, Calcium Sulfate)Whey (Milk)Tapioca Flour, Salt, Isolated Soy Protein, Mono and Diglycerides, Food Starch-Modified Soy Lecithin, Xanthan Gum, Pectin, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Sorbic Acid (to Preserve Freshness)Propylene Glycol Monostearate, Citric Acid, Nutmeg.

Chip Ahoy said...

Wouldn't you rather have for a snack simple-to-make-at-home black bean crackers ?

John Burgess said...

@Chip Ahoy: if black bean chips tasted anywhere nearly as good as junk, then the answer might be yes.

Actually, my WV says it pretty well:

irwzu If I were, I might agree; I'm not, so I don't.

Ken Pidcock said...

I was conflicted with the poll. Entenmann's is on there. But she says, childhood packaged cake, so that suggests something other than crumb cake, which is a big thing. Aah, butterscotch krimpets. Check.

Youngblood: I worked through your list of links, all the time thinking, this friggin' guy has got to be Krass Brothers. Sure enough. Thanks.

Freeman Hunt said...

There's no choice for not having a packaged cake. We never had them.

The neighbors had a whole cabinet full of Little Debbies though. Used to each tons of them over there.

Peter Hoh said...

I grew up outside Philly, so TastyKakes were a staple -- once I got a paper route and started earning my own money.

Loved the Butterscotch Krimpets.

For a while, TastyKakes were available in Minnesota. Haven't seen them for several years, however.

The baked good I miss most was not mass produced, however. Pisker's Bakery, in Westville, NJ, makes a butter cake that is quite tasty.

Peter Hoh said...

Youngblood, thanks for the trip down memory lane.

Everybody who knows, goes to Montrose.

Don't get frantic. Call Atlantic.

How do you think I got so rich?

Peter Hoh said...

Oops. Everybody who knows, goes to Melrose.

I had Montrose on the brain.

Ralph L said...

We used to get chocolate Twinkies and Krimpets, neither of which I've seen for decades. I've hated those limp Little Debbie oatmeal thingies from a very early age.

Tastykakes appeared in NC just a few years ago.

I'm hoping my 82 y.o. aunt in Wilmington DE has made some fudge when we stop by Christmas Eve.

joated said...

I just mailed a package containing 24 2-packs of TasteyKake Butterscotch Krimpets to a young friend of mine in Minnesota. He's never been to PA or NJ--but he's reading Maniac McGee and developed a jones for TasteyKake Butterscotch Krimpets. Got me thinking and I had to buy 12 2-packs for myself.

Besides the Krimpets, the Hostess Chocolate Cupcakes and/or their Apple Pies...or Cherry...are fond memories I frequently (perhaps too frequently) relive.

Earth Girl said...

I did not eat a packaged cake, and probably didn't even know they existed, until I was a freshman in college. It was some type of chocolate cake roll with white stuff in it. I am only a year older than Althouse, so the reason was probably that my mom loved to bake and not that I'm older than the hills. And that packaged cake couldn't hold a candle to a homemade chocolate cake roll with real whipped cream filling that was made with love.

The Scythian said...

No problem, Peter. Glad that somebody enjoyed it! (And yeah, I've eaten at the Melrose a bunch of times!)

I think it's weird how powerful my memories of some of those commercials still are.

Peter Hoh said...

Youngblood, remember Sandy Starobin, KYW News?

You can listen to him and more at Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia.

Peter Hoh said...

Youngblood, remember Sandy Starobin, KYW News?

You can listen to him and more at Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia.

Chas S. Clifton said...

Surplus C-ration canned pound cake. I loved it.

Yeah, we were pretty rural.

The Scythian said...

Not to the best of my knowledge, Peter. I was born in the mid-1970's. Was he before my time?

Peter Hoh said...

Probably, YB. I was born in '62. Starobin was the Harrisburg reporter for KYW News, and he had a distinctive way of articulating each syllable in his name as he signed off his report. Took me a while, but I finally found that he died in 1993.

I left the Philly area in 1984. Spent a few years in the Lehigh Valley in the early 90s. I loved listening to Richie Ashburn and Harry Kalas broadcast the Phillies. Best radio team ever.

Just ran across a clip of Jim Gardner (Action News) on a Youtube video. If I had stayed in the Delaware Valley, I would have seen him age slowly. Instead, it was a sudden shock to see him with gray hair. Is he sick or something? He looks a lot older than 62.

Peter Hoh said...

Hey, speaking of Philly stuff, where's that guy who likes to crow about the Giants?

Fred4Pres said...

And friend and I went to an Eagle's games (when they were on the road) and dragged around a green eagle on a string. And we offered to let any Eagle fans we saw have a free TastyKake if they stomped the eagle.

To their credit most Eagle fans were tempted but refused to do it. A few were weak. My favorite was a young lady who blurted out:

"Gawd, I know this is wrong, but I have got to have a TastyKake."

policraticus said...

Frozen Peanut Butter Kandy Kakes, the taste of my childhood.

The Scythian said...

To the best of my knowledge, I don't remember Sandy Starobin, no.

Of course, I do remember the Whitey Ashburn and Harry Kalas team, though -- the sound of summer.

I don't know what's up with Jim Gardner. Maybe he didn't age gracefully? Maybe he doesn't want to dye his hair or get plastic surgery? Maybe some survey indicated that he comes across as more authoritative the way he is?

Beats me!

Banshee said...

Dolly Madison Zingers were awesome, you poor deprived people. The vanilla flavor was okay, the chocolate was delectable, but the raspberry, with the coconut sprinkled on top, was super-delectable!

So superior to Twinkies and other products, it wasn't even funny. Since we had a small Dolly Madison bakery about a mile from our house, you could not get any fresher.

Alas, the recipe changed, and now Zingers have a slight aftertaste and don't smell the same. Still worth eating, but not worth obsessing about.

Ann Althouse said...

"I am only a year older than Althouse, so the reason was probably that my mom loved to bake and not that I'm older than the hills. And that packaged cake couldn't hold a candle to a homemade chocolate cake roll with real whipped cream filling that was made with love."

We baked cakes too. Much more cake was eaten in those days. Packaged cake, cake from cake mixes, cake made from scratch. 7-minute icing.

Dust Bunny Queen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dust Bunny Queen said...

HTML challenged tonight.

Suszy Q


Here is the recipe...Nom Nom Nom

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,196,149172-252193,00.html

BTW was much better before the food Nazis screwed with Crisco and hydrogination.

Messed up my pie crust too....Don't make me use lard...well I do anyway.

Christy said...

Mark me down for RC Cola and Moon Pies.

Although I've gone through an entire carton of Butterscotch Krimpets along with fictional character Stephanie Plum in the Janet Evanovich novels.

jamboree said...

Hostess Ho-Hos and Ding Dongs.

Wouldn't want them now, but I still have store mix yellow cake with chocolate frosting for my b-day because it's MY BIRTHDAY and I don't want to spend it eating some nasty, soggy, gourmet piece of red velvet cake, darn it. :-)

Seriously, what I REALLY crave from my kidhood is a long defunct cereal called Post Fortified Oat Flakes.

Oh. My. God. I. Crave. Them.

Apparently my mom ate nothing but this when she was pregnant with me, and until it went offmarket I couldn't get enough of it. There are web pages devoted to it, but those twits will not bring it back.

Penny said...

"Ann, this talking fruit pie says we should have sex. What do you think?"

Haha I just got around to following the links in this post. While I loved walking memory lane through local Philly commercials, EDH's link takes the tasty kake at 1:42pm!

Kev said...

And I always wanted to try some of those Dolly Madison Zingers, or whatever they were called, because they always used to advertise for them during the Charlie Brown Christmas special, but I never saw them anywhere. They were probably terrible.

I remember the little announcement at the beginning of the Charlie Brown special, saying that the program was "brought to you by Dolly Madison, maker of Zingers, Koo Koos, Razzies and Googles" (more here). I don't know that I ever had any of those besides a Zinger, and I always preferred Hostess Ding Dongs to all the other stuff anyway, though I did go on a Little Debbie kick in college (likely because they were cheaper).

Ralph L said...

7-minute icing
That was the one you mixed in a double boiler, and it got crunchy on the outside and stayed wet and schmooshy on the inside? Very good with devil's food cake.

Pete the Streak said...

Schaeffer - is the - one beer to have, when you're - haaaving more than one!

Ken Pidcock said...

Shaefffer's flavor doesn't fade - even - when your thirst is done.
The most rewarding (flavor?pleasure?) in this man's world, for people who are having fun.

Frozen Peanut Butter Kandy Kakes, the taste of my childhood.

Wait a second. Isn't that Tandy Cakes?

former law student said...

I tried to find a reference to the Tip-Top sandwich cake, which came out long before dbq's Suzy-Q, to no avail. There's a picture of a label for a Tip Top Devils Food Sandwich Cake at http://www.timepassagesnostalgia.com/

but I can't tell if it had a white "creme" filling.

Ward Baking has vanished without much trace on the internet, except for baseball links -- baker Ward founded the Federal League, home of the Chicago Whales and the Brooklyn Tip-Tops.

howzerdo said...

Since Entenmann's is listed, I have to nominate one that is missing: Freihoffer's. My grandmother heated them up in the toaster oven.

LordSomber said...

TastyKake Butterscotch Krimpets when I was a kid in South Jersey. And the jelly flavored ones too.

Once I moved down South it was Little Debbies in my lunch sack.

Pete the Streak said...

Yeah, Ken - thanks for the rest of the jingle. "The most rewarding flavor........".

Philly had a metric assload of breweries back in the day.