A Hostess Fan Just Recreated The Iconic Cupcakes

Hostess cupcakes are, needless to say, completely iconic. Said to be the first commercially produced cupcakes, these little morsels of cake, frosting, and (of course) filling have been around for more than a century, and for all of that time, they’ve had a permanent residence in the hearts, bellies, and pantries of people everywhere. Hostess hasn’t slowed down, either: Now a legacy brand, it continues to innovate and bring out new items, with its new spring snack cakes dropping just a few months ago. 

Videos by Sporked

However, this is the age of dupes, copycat recipes, and make-it-at-home vibes – and one Hostess’ fan’s faithful recreation of its cupcakes caught our eye recently. And you can do it too. Anyone hungry?

Sometimes, Homemade Really Is Better

Baker and content creator Lee McGuire (also known as @laneandgreyfare) recently shared her video for homemade Hostess cupcakes, seemingly in honor of Hostess Cupcake Day, which, in case you didn’t know, is a real thing, falling on May 11 every year. Her recipe is simple: She makes a fairly standard chocolate cupcake batter as the base (hers is gluten-free, but you can use regular flour if you wish), and then whips up a vanilla buttercream with unsalted butter, confectioners’ sugar, pure vanilla extract, and water. Once her cupcakes have baked and cooled, she then presses a dent into the middle of each one and pipes the buttercream right in.

Then, she covers the top with chocolate frosting, sealing the filling inside. And as a final touch, that iconic Hostess braid goes right on top. Easy peasy. 

The Choice Is Yours

Although McGuire is working with chocolate and vanilla flavors here, you don’t have to limit yourself to that. You can emulate pretty much any of Hostess’ products by tweaking its recipe slightly. Want to make its recent Key Lime Pie flavor? Make a zesty frosting and a standard vanilla cupcake instead of a chocolate one. Prefer strawberry? You know the drill: Add strawberry flavors into your frosting instead. The possibilities aren’t quite endless, but they stretch well beyond just mere chocolate and vanilla combos. 

And if you want to make that other Hostess favorite — yes, we’re talking about the Twinkie — then you can do that too. It’s a little bit of a fiddly process, but Leite’s Culinaria has a step-by-step recipe for all your emulating needs. Sorry, Hostess, we don’t mean to put you out of business here.