Twinkies are cream-filled sponge cake fingers. They aren’t glazed or iced. First introduced by the Hostess company in 1930, the cream filling was originally banana flavored but it was switched to vanilla during WWII rationing.
Twinkies, among many other similar cake-based snacks are made with emulsified shortening rather than butter or vegetable oil as you might bake a cake at home, which keeps them from going stale when stored at room temperature. This has led to an urban legend that they have an infinite shelf life, that they might even survive a nuclear war. 20th century Twinkies had a stated shelf life of 7 to 10 days; in 2012 a preservative was added which upped it to 45, but they do indeed spoil.
Twinkies are cream-filled sponge cake fingers. They aren’t glazed or iced. First introduced by the Hostess company in 1930, the cream filling was originally banana flavored but it was switched to vanilla during WWII rationing.
Twinkies, among many other similar cake-based snacks are made with emulsified shortening rather than butter or vegetable oil as you might bake a cake at home, which keeps them from going stale when stored at room temperature. This has led to an urban legend that they have an infinite shelf life, that they might even survive a nuclear war. 20th century Twinkies had a stated shelf life of 7 to 10 days; in 2012 a preservative was added which upped it to 45, but they do indeed spoil.