Hostess CupCake

Last updated
A chocolate Hostess CupCake, showing the chocolate cake and icing, and the signature line of white squiggles Hostess-Cupcake-Whole.jpg
A chocolate Hostess CupCake, showing the chocolate cake and icing, and the signature line of white squiggles

Hostess CupCake is an American brand of snack cake produced and distributed by Hostess Brands and currently owned by private equity firms Apollo Global Management and C. Dean Metropoulos & Company. Its most common form is a chocolate cupcake with chocolate icing and vanilla creme filling, with seven distinctive white squiggles across the top. However, other flavors have been available at times. It has been claimed to be the first commercially produced cupcake and has become an iconic American brand.

Contents

History

The Hostess CupCake was first sold on May 10, 1919. [1] [2] [3] [4] According to author Andrew F. Smith, it was the first commercially produced cupcake, originally produced by the Taggart Bakery as the Chocolate Cup Cake. [2] Hostess has also claimed that it was "the first snack cake ever introduced to the market." [5] In 2004, rival Tastykake disputed this claim, stating that he introduced the first snack cake. [5]

Originally, two cupcakes were sold for five cents. [4] Different flavors were offered during the early years, including cupcakes topped with vanilla or malted milk flavored icing. [3] During the 1940s, an orange flavored cupcake was developed, with orange cake and icing. [3] But until 1950, the Hostess CupCake did not have any filling or the white squiggly line across the top. [3] [6]

In 1947, D.R. "Doc" Rice, who started his career at Hostess in 1938 with a job that entailed dumping baked cakes on a table, was given the task of developing the Hostess CupCake further. [3] These developments culminated in an updated cupcake in 1950. [6] A white line consisting of squiggles was added to the top in order to distinguish the Hostess CupCake from other brands. [3] [6] [7] The vanilla creme filling was also added. [3] [6] [7] Rice got the idea for using a creme filling when a new machine for injecting filling into Hostess Twinkies became available. [3] Improvements were also made to the cake mix and the chocolate icing in 1950. [3] According to Rice, the updated cupcakes were first produced and test marketed in Detroit. [1]

Other flavors of Hostess CupCakes that have been available at times have been golden (vanilla with chocolate icing) and strawberry. [6]

In 1988, 400 million Hostess CupCakes were sold. [1] As of 2011, Hostess sells over 600 million CupCakes each year. [7] Although Hostess Brands entered into bankruptcy protection in 2012, the company planned to continue making CupCakes and other snack cakes such as Twinkies and Sno Balls. [8] These plans were derailed by the company's liquidation and announcement that they were going out of business on November 16, 2012. However, the company was eventually bought by Apollo Global Management, which began selling Hostess products in July 2013.

Manufacture

A halved CupCake, showing the cream filling Hostess-Cupcake-Split.jpg
A halved CupCake, showing the cream filling

The cakes are produced from a batter which includes flour, sugar, cocoa and water. It is baked in trays for 17 minutes in a 70-foot (21 m) conveyor oven that can turn out 11,000 cupcakes an hour. After cooling, the cakes are injected through the top with the vanilla creme, then taken by conveyor to be covered on top by chocolate icing. After a special machine lays white icing in the signature squiggle the cakes are cooled then wrapped. [7]

Branding

Hostess CupCakes were marketed for a time by the animated character of Captain Cupcake, [2] who was a companion in commercials to Twinkie the Kid and Fruit Pie the Magician. One marketing slogan that was used was "You get a big delight in every bite." [6] Numerous commercials featured the slogan "Hey! Where's the cream filling?"

Hostess CupCakes are sold as "Pingüinos" (Penguins) in Mexico, and by extension the rest of Latin America (including Brazil), [9] by regional company Marinela (the pastry division of the bread making brand Bimbo). [10]

Popularity

Hostess cupcakes have a firm place in pop culture. One survey shows that 97% of those surveyed have heard of them, and at least 71% like them. Gen X leads the way with their support at 75%. Hostess CupCakes are ranked #62 in a list of the most familiar food & snack brands. [11] As copycat recipe sharing took hold in the early 2000s, food bloggers began and continue creating and sharing homemade versions of Hostess CupCakes, using both traditional [12] and healthier ingredients. [13]

Other flavors

Standard

In addition to the chocolate flavor, these flavors of Hostess CupCakes are available year-round in 8-quantity boxes:

Limited Edition

These flavors are (or have been) available as "Limited Time Only" or "Seasonal" products in 8-quantity boxes; all of these flavors were first introduced after the 2013 acquisition of Hostess by Apollo Global Management.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dolly Madison</span> Snack food brand

Dolly Madison is an American bakery brand owned by Hostess Brands, selling packaged baked snack foods. It is best known for its long marketing association with the Peanuts animated TV specials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Twinkie</span> American snack cake

A Twinkie is an American snack cake, described as "golden sponge cake with a creamy filling". It was formerly made and distributed by Hostess Brands. The brand is currently owned by Hostess Brands, Inc., itself currently undergoing an acquisition by The J.M. Smucker Company and having been formerly owned by private equity firms Apollo Global Management and C. Dean Metropoulos and Company as the second incarnation of Hostess Brands. During bankruptcy proceedings, Twinkie production was suspended on November 15, 2012, and resumed after an absence of a few months from American store shelves, becoming available again nationwide on July 15, 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oreo</span> Chocolate cookie with creme filling made by Nabisco

Oreo is a brand of sandwich cookie consisting of two cocoa biscuits or cookie pieces with a sweet fondant filling. It was introduced by Nabisco on March 6, 1912, and through a series of corporate acquisitions, mergers and splits both Nabisco and the Oreo brand have been owned by Mondelez International since 2012. Oreo cookies are available in over one hundred countries. Many varieties of Oreo cookies have been produced, and limited-edition runs have become popular in the 21st century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moon Pie</span> American snack cakes

A Moon Pie is an American snack, popular across much of the United States, which consists of two round graham cookies, with marshmallow filling in the center, dipped in a flavored coating. The snack is often associated with the cuisine of the American South, where they are traditionally accompanied by an RC Cola. Today, MoonPies are made by Chattanooga Bakery, Inc., in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pocky</span> Japanese snack food

Pocky is a Japanese sweet snack food produced by the Ezaki Glico food company. Pocky was first sold in 1966, and was invented by Yoshiaki Koma. It consists of coated biscuit sticks. It was named after the Japanese onomatopoeic word pokkiri (ポッキリ), which is supposed to resemble the sound of the snack being cracked.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Icing (food)</span> Food producing method

Icing, or frosting, is a sweet, often creamy glaze made of sugar with a liquid, such as water or milk, that is often enriched with ingredients like butter, egg whites, cream cheese, or flavorings. It is used to coat or decorate baked goods, such as cakes. When it is used between layers of cake it is known as a filling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tastykake</span> American food company

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milka</span> Confectionery brand primarily sold in Europe

Milka is a Swiss brand of chocolate confectionery, originally made in Switzerland in 1901 by Suchard. It has then been produced in Lörrach, Germany from 1901. Since 2012 it has been owned by US-based company Mondelez International, when it started following the steps of its predecessor Kraft Foods Inc., which had taken over the brand in 1990. It is sold in bars and a number of novelty shapes for Easter and Christmas. Products with the Milka brand also include chocolate-covered cookies and biscuits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hunt's Snack Pack</span> Pudding snack brand

Snack Pack is a brand of pudding and gelatin snacks manufactured since 1968 by ConAgra Foods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ho Hos</span> American snack cake brand

Ho Hos are small, cylindrical, frosted, cream-filled chocolate snack cakes with a pinwheel design based on the Swiss roll. Made by Hostess Brands, they are similar to Yodels by Drake's and Swiss Cake Rolls by Little Debbie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arnott's Group</span> Australian snack food manufacturer

Arnott's Group is an Australian producer of biscuits and snack food. Founded in 1865 by William Arnott, they are the largest producer of biscuits in Australia and a subsidiary of KKR.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gansito</span>

A Gansito is a Mexican snack cake, described as “a strawberry-flavored jelly and crème-filled cake with chocolate-flavored coating.” It is made and distributed by the Marinela Brand, which is owned by Grupo Bimbo. Gansito is also available in the U.S., Colombia, Peru, and many countries in Latin America, as well as having a limited presence in Europe. In 2019 in the U.S., 5.46 million Americans ate Gansito 1-3 times a month, with 1.24 million eating 4-7 in a month, and 1.31 eating 8 or more in a month.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zingers</span> Snack cake

Zingers is a snack cake produced and sold by Dolly Madison and Hostess, snack food brands owned by Hostess Brands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snack cake</span> Small cake

Snack cakes are a type of baked dessert confectionery made with cake, sugar, and icing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solo Foods</span>

Solo Foods, Inc. is a manufacturer of food ingredients, makers of Solo and Baker dessert fruit and nut fillings, marshmallow creme and toasted marshmallow creme, Simon Fischer fruit butters, marzipan, almond paste and Chun’s Asian cooking sauces. Based in Countryside, Illinois, Sokol & Company which provides food manufacturing, packaging and processing to retail and industrial markets as well as anchovy products packaged under the Certified Savory brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hostess (snack cakes)</span> Brand of snack cakes made by Hostess brands

Hostess Cake, mostly known simply as Hostess, is a brand under which snack cakes are sold by Hostess Brands. The brand originated in 1919 when the first Hostess CupCake was sold. However, it is better-known as the brand under which Twinkies are sold, after that product appeared in 1930.

The first season of Top Chef: Just Desserts was broadcast on Bravo. It featured 12 pastry chefs fighting to win the title of Top Chef.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Inventor Honored on Birthday of Hostess CupCake". Daily Union . May 11, 1989. p. 4. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
  2. 1 2 3 Smith, A.F. (2011). Fast Food and Junk Food: An Encyclopedia of What We Love to Eat. ABC-CLIO. p. 181. ISBN   978-0-313-39393-8.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Hostess Cupcake Marks 70th Birthday". The Vindicator . May 10, 1989. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
  4. 1 2 Volland, V. (May 11, 1989). "The Hostess Cupcake Turns Sweet 70". St. Louis Post-Dispatch . Retrieved 2012-02-20.
  5. 1 2 DeWolf, R. (May 14, 1989). "Hostess Cupcake Claim Crumbles Before Tastykake". Boca Raton News . Retrieved 2012-02-20.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Hostess CupCake". Hostess Brands. Archived from the original on 2012-02-08. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Stuffed". Unwrapped. Food Network. Archived from the original on 2012-02-12. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
  8. ↑ Smith, A. "Twinkies will keep coming despite bankruptcy". CNN . Retrieved 2012-02-20.
  9. ↑ "Ana Maria inova e lança bolinho cupcake no Brasil" . Retrieved 2021-04-21.
  10. ↑ "Pingüinos || Marinela". Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2013-11-28.
  11. ↑ "Hostess CupCake Popularity & Fame". YouGov. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  12. ↑ "Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Filling". New York Times. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  13. ↑ "Homemade Hostess Chocolate Cupcakes". Green Smoothie Gourmet. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.