★ Why You’ll Love this Recipe ★
Love Twinkies? You'll love this homemade Twinkie Bundt Cake!
Inspired by the beloved Hostess snack cakes, this giant "Twinkie" cake will satisfy a craving and is a fun way to celebrate special occasions.
This giant Twinkie Bundt Cake is so easy to make. All you need is 5 main ingredients!
★ Ingredients You'll Need ★
You just need FIVE main ingredients to make this fun cake! Six if you want to finish things off with powdered sugar.
Here's everything you'll need:
- Yellow cake mix. You can use white cake mix too but yellow gives that signature "Twinkie" color.
- Eggs. Use farm fresh, corn-fed eggs for the best flavored cake.
- Water. For creamier, more rich flavor, you can use milk instead.
- Cooking oil. Vegetable oil or corn oil works best.
- Pillsbury Fluffy Frost Vanilla Marshmallow Frosting. This specific kind of frosting will give you the best flavor and texture.
- Baking spray. This is more of a tool than an ingredient but it's a must! This will help you easily remove your bundt cake from the bundt pan. You can find this spray in the baking aisle. It's made up of a mix of oil and flour. Great for releasing baked good from their pan.
- Powdered sugar (optional). Sprinkle this on for a more festive finishing touch.
★ How to Make this Twinkie Cake ★
- Fix, mix together cake mix, eggs, water and oil.
- Coat your bundt pan with baking spray.
- Add batter to bundt pan then bake.
- After cake cools, poke holes into cake and fill with frosting.
- Release from bundt pan onto a cake plate.
- Sprinkle with powdered sugar then serve!
Easy!
★ Tips ★
You will need a bundt pan. Here's the bundt pan I use: Nordic Ware Original Bundt Cake Pan
You don't need any special tools to inject the fluffy marshmallow icing inside other than a plastic sandwich bag and a clean finger, however you can use a piping bag if you prefer. You can also use the end of a spatula to poke the holes.
How to Easily Release a Bundt cake from your Bundt Pan
Also, ever wondered how to keep cake from sticking to your bundt pan? First, make sure the bundt pan is nonstick, then here's the secret: Baker's Joy. This stuff! It's a game changer.
Thoroughly coat the bundt pan with Baker's Joy spray not cooking spray. Baking spray contains flour. Use baking spray and the cake should come out easily looking perfect. It does help to loose up around the edges with a small spatula.
Never fear though, if your cake comes out in more than one piece, then sprinkle on some powdered sugar to cover up any cracks. 😉
and... TA-DA!! Perfect.
★ FAQs ★
Remember when Twinkies were almost not a thing?!
I never realized just how sad I'd be to see a favorite childhood snack gone. For-ev-er (or so I thought). Until it happened in 2012.
My two favorite extra lunch money indulgences, HoHos and Twinkies were reportedly being taken off the market. I remember people saying things like "Well, they just aren't a healthy option. Americans are wising up."
Hmmm... don't think so. But that's a nice optimistic thought.
Why did they stop making Twinkies for awhile?
The real reason was actually quite controversial and quite frankly, a little shady.
If you never got the full scoop or somehow missed this moment in history, you can read this article that talks about the behind-the-scenes politics that were at play when Twinkies (and their chocolatey friends, HoHos) were taken off the market.
Thankfully in 2013 balance to the universe was restored. Twinkie and HoHo lovers everywhere rejoiced and the American level of health-conscientiousness remained relatively the same, somewhere between "I'm making healthy eating choices daily" and "YUM, that was delicious."
It's always best to know how to make something yourself, just in case. 😉
So, this homemade Twinkie bundt cake is for all of you still in fear that there might be another scarcity of Twinkies OR for the truly health conscious American who enjoys a good Twinkie but would like the ability to eliminate some of the "junk" ingredients typically found in super processed foods.
Could you use Marshmallow Fluff instead of Marshmallow flavored frosting?
This first time I made this I did use marshmallow fluff. It was yummy. So you can use marshmallow fluff. However, I prefer to use marshmallow frosting now. Specifically, Pillsbury Fluffy Frost Vanilla Marshmallow.
I'll explain why. The Marshmallow fluff is sticky and dense and unless you let the cake completely cool, it tends to melt into the cake so you get the flavor but not much of the Twinkie-like creme filling that you'd expect.
So, when I found out there was a marshmallow flavored frosting, I switched to using that. I prefer it. You still need to let the cake completely cool or the same melting/absorbing issue can occur. I live in a rural area so my grocery store has a pretty limited selection of frostings, however they do carry this flavor.
If you can't find it though, then a vanilla frosting would work well too.
Want to make your own marshmallow frosting?
You can. Here's a well-reviewed recipe for a homemade version of marshmallow frosting: view the frosting recipe here. One reviewer of this recipe on Pinterest had success with Martha Stewart's homemade marshmallow filling, saying it was, "simple and awesome." Here's Martha Stewart's homemade marshmallow filling recipe.
I have not personally tried either of these filling recipes so please feel free to leave a comment if you have about whether it's worth the extra effort and what it tastes like so other readers can decide what they want to do. 🙂
What kind of cooking oil works best?
Any cooking oil with a high smoke point works. You can use coconut oil if you'd like but you do end up with a little coconut flavor and it's not quite as Twinkie-like. A more neutral cooking oil like vegetable oil or corn works best.
Can this be made with coconut oil?
If you enjoy a hint of coconut flavor and want to use coconut oil, I find it's easier to measure in liquid form. I spoon the oil into a glass measuring cup and microwave it for about 30 seconds. Add more as needed until you get to the right amount. It blends a bit better into the batter when it's in liquid form too.
★ Helpful Tools ★
- Bundt Pan
- Thin Rubber Spatula
- Cooling Rack
- Piping Bag
- Cake Stand
- Serving Knife
- Powdered Sugar Shaker
★ More Recipes You'll Love ★
Want more easy dessert ideas?
If you love this Twinkie Bundt Cake, I bet you'll love this Boston Cream Bundt Cake!
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Check out my most popular recipes on Pinterest!
This Giant Twinkie Bundt Cake recipe was featured on South Your Mouth as recipe of the week.
Giant Twinkie Bundt Cake
Ingredients
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup cooking oil
- 1 cup Pillsbury Fluffy Frost Vanilla Marshmallow Frosting*
- Baking spray
- Powdered sugar optional
Instructions
- Prepare cake batter by stirring together cake mix, eggs, water and cooking oil until well blended and only slightly lumpy. Pour batter into a bundt pan coated with BAKING spray (contains flour) or grease and sprinkle lightly with flour. Bake at 350˚for 25-35 minutes. Cook time varies by pan so when the top of the cake starts to firm up, insert a toothpick into the middle of the cake, AS SOON AS it comes out clean, remove the cake. Be sure not to overcook or cake will become dry. It will be nice and moist if you cook it just until it sets!
- Once the bundt cake is done, remove from oven and cool. To speed up cooling, you can put the cake in the freezer for 30 minutes. (Note: Make sure you let the cake cool completely or the marshmallow filling will melt and be absorbed into the cake after you add it.)
- Once the cake is cooled, leave it in the pan and poke the cake almost all the way to the bottom of the pan (which will be the top of the cake). Move your finger from side to side to widen the cavity and allow in more frosting. Keep poking making your holes about 1 and a half inches apart.
- Next, fill up a sandwich bag with marshmallow frosting and cut one of the corner tips of the bag to create a pea-sized hole. Seal the bag and squeeze the bag to dispense the marshmallow frosting into each hole. Tip: Make sure to put the tip of the fluff bag as far into each hole as you can get so plenty of fluff gets into each poked hole.
- Using a tiny rubber spatula or butter knife, separate the sides of the cake from the bundt pan as best you can without cutting into the cake. Once the cake is nice and loose, place a flat plate or cake stand upside down on top of the bundt cake pan. Then gently turn both the bundt pan and cake pan over and let gravity do its thing. Carefully lift the bundt pan while you peak around all sides to see if the cake dropped evenly onto the plate.
- Top with sprinkled powdered sugar for a festive look.
Marcy K says
Can you use butter instead of oil in the cake mix?
Angela G. says
Yes, you can use butter in place of the oil. Use the same amount. Thanks for asking!
Carolyn Lawrence says
Can you freeze the Twinkie cake?
Angela G. says
Yes you can. Freeze in an air-tight container and bring to room temperature before serving. Allow an hour or more for thawing.
Carolyn Lawrence says
Wonder if you could use marshmallow creme instead of tHe frosting,
Angela G. says
You can, yes. I've tried both. See notes in the post above for more info!
Antigone Crawford says
I can't wait to try this recipe, which yellow cake mix do you prefer?
Angela G. says
Hi Antigone, I've tried them all and honestly couldn't tell a difference. So any brand, as long as it's yellow cake mix, should do! The frosting does need to be Pillsbury Fluffy Frost for the closest Twinkie flavor. Enjoy!
Meg Rulewicz says
None of the grocery stores in San Antonio, TX carry this flavor of frosting, though I did find a Funfetti variety, with sprinkles. I decided to buy both vanilla frosting and marshmallow fluff - I'll mix them together and see how it tastes. Hopefully it works!
Angela G. says
Bummer, Meg! You could try ordering it from Amazon if it's reasonable to do so. But I actually think your solution of mixing marshmallow fluff with frosting would work well. The problem I found with marshmallow fluff is that it's too dense and sticky. But the flavor is good. So adding some vanilla frosting should help with that. Let us know how it turns out!
Katherine A Dietz says
The Pillsbury frosting is not available in Denver, which of the other 2 do you suggest?
Angela G. says
I would go with vanilla frosting, probably whipped. I don't have a preferred brand so Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines is up to you and what flavors those brand have available near you.
Tina W says
Try mixing the vanilla frosting with a jar of marshmallow fluff. Try a 1:1 amount first and if it's too dense add more fluff.
I would pre-beat the frosting alone first to get it to loosen up a bit before adding the fluff and would gently fold the two together so you don't lose the fluffiness.
You can also use an apple corer to remove a nice size plug of cake to push your filling into and can take a little bit off the plug to put back over the holes if you like( I'd consider it a necessary step in the summertime when heat and frosting gets melty)
Katherine A Dietz says
When using frosting do you use the rich and creamy or the whipped frosting by Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines?
Thanks
Katherine
Angela G. says
Hi Katherine, There's a specific kind of frosting I use to get the best Twinkie-like flavor. It's Pillsbury Fluffy Frost Vanilla Marshmallow. If you scroll up, you can see a photo of the can. It's blue and white with the Pillsbury dough boy on it.