Twinkies stage a confectionary comeback

Attention all Hostess Twinkie fanatics: Your beloved creme-filled treat will return from the snack cake graveyard on July 15. You'll no longer have to make do with such Twinkie wannabes as Supermarket chain Safeway's The Snack Artist Crème Cake, which we checked out about four months ago.

During a blind taste test of the real-deal Twinkie and its doppelgänger, our tasters found that the Crème Cake was sweeter, and its filling grittier, while the lighter, more airy Twinkie had slightly more filling.

We're not sure how the new Twinkies will taste, but they will last longer—important if you stash them in a desk drawer or in your car. The shelf life of the new Twinkies has grown, from the previous 26 to 45 days, according to Hostess. We'd dare say that most Twinkies, especially those being consumed by glassy-eyed late-night revelers, don't make it through more than 45 seconds let alone 45 minutes.

Twinkies and other Hostess cakes were bought up by Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Co., which also own Pabst Brewing Co. If a can of PBR and a couple of Twinkies doesn't sound like a mouth-watering combo, check our Food & Drink page for details on other snack ideas.

—Maggie Shader

Copyright © 2005-2013 Consumers Union of U.S., Inc. No reproduction, in whole or in part, without written permission. Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on this site.