All the Twinkie flavor you love, homemade. In bundt cake form.
★ Why You’ll Love this Recipe ★
Love Twinkies? You'll love this homemade Twinkie Bundt Cake with fluffy marshmallow buttercream filling.
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-hen laid 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. You can also use butter in place of the oil for a richer flavor.
- Marshmallow Frosting. I love to save time and use Pillsbury Fluffy Frost Vanilla frosting. This specific kind of frosting will give you the best flavor and texture. If you'd prefer to make your own version of this, check out my 5-minute marshmallow buttercream frosting recipe.
- 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 ★
Here's a look at the steps involved:
- 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 & FAQs ★
You will need a 12-cup bundt pan. Here's the bundt pan I use: Nordic Ware Original Bundt Cake Pan
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. 😉
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.
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.
The 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 or to make my own homemade marshmallow frosting. 
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 and don't have time to make it yourself, then a vanilla frosting would work well too.
You absolutely can. And it's quite simple to do. Check out my 5-minute, no-cook marshmallow buttercream frosting recipe.
Any cooking oil with a high smoke point works. You can use nuetral coconut oil or regular if you'd like — but you do end up with a little coconut flavor and it's not quite as Twinkie-like. A neutral cooking oil like vegetable oil or corn works best. Avocado oil also works.
You can, yes. You'll get a creamier tasting cake with a slight buttery flavor. It may seem more dry and dense than using oil.
You can use your finger (make sure you have clean hands of course) or the clean end of a round-handled utensil.
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.
★ 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!
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 or make your own marshmallow frosting (see notes)
- baking spray
- powdered sugar optional
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Prepare cake batter. Using a mixer on medium speed, blend together cake mix, eggs, water and cooking oil until just slightly lumpy.
- Pour batter into a bundt pan coated with BAKING spray (contains flour) or grease and sprinkle lightly with flour.
- Bake 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.
- Cool cake. Let bundt cake cool completely.
- Poke hole for filling. 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 more frosting. Keep poking making your holes about 1 ½" apart.
- Add frosting. Fill 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 then squeeze the bag to dispense the marshmallow frosting into each hole. Tip: Put the tip of the bag as far into each hole as you can get so plenty of frosting gets into each poked hole.
- Remove cake from bundt pan. 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 and slowly lift away the bundt pan while you peak around all sides to see if the cake dropped evenly onto the plate.
- Add powdered sugar. Top with sprinkled powdered sugar for a festive look.
Video
Notes
- To easily remove your bundt cake from your bundt pan, be sure to grease using baking spray. This help prevent the cake from cracking.
- If your cake does crack though, just add a little extra powdered sugar to the top!
- Be sure not to overcook or cake will become dry. It will be nice and moist if you cook it just until it sets!
- 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.)
- To make your own marshmallow filling, check out my marshmallow buttercream frosting recipe.
Equipment
Recommended equipment listed may contain affiliate links.
Jane Gareri says
Now I want to try this with a chocolate cake. Chocolate frosting on top with white squiggles to look like the cupcakes. As a child it was always a hard choice between those two!
Michelle says
Made this for husband's office and security teams. Had to make my own marshmallow filling, super easy. Huge hit!!! Changed it up to pumpkin bundt with marshmallow filling!
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.
Caron says
This recipe was easy and tasted amazing. The only thing I changed is I used a sugar free cake mix, I’m doing weight watchers and have family that has diabetes. I chose the s/f to bring down the amount of sugar but used the suggested frosting just less of it.
Everyone loved this cake!!! I will be making this in the future!!
Angela G. says
Hi Caron, It's great to know a sugar-free cake mix can be used and it still tastes good. Thanks for sharing this feedback!
Cynthia says
I love making this cake!!!...the only thin I do different is I make my filling...I use the same filling I use when I make cream puffs...easy and sooo good...
beat the whipping cream in the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a hand mixer or wire whisk). Once the cream is whipped to desired level of firmness, beat in the powdered sugar, a little at a time, until it is as sweet as you would like.
We use about 1 cup whipping cream with 1/4 to 1/3 powdered sugar. It’s the perfect filling!
Angela G. says
Hi Cynthia, Thanks so much for the filling recipe. Super helpful for anyone who wants a more homemade taste. Seems easy too! I'll have to try that next time we make this.
Cyndi says
Do you add any vanilla for taste or leave it powered sugar and whipping cream??
Angela G. says
Hi Cyndi, If you're a vanilla lover, you could always add some to the homemade filling recipe Cynthia commented with below that I believe you are referencing. I use vanilla frosting when I make this cake and it complements the yellow cake mix really nicely.
Lisa peters says
@Cynthia, Great idea, thanks
Angela G. says
Thanks, Lisa!
Dee Lewis says
love this cake - very easy to make. I made it for friends last night and they all loved it, and couldn't believe how it tasted like Twinkies.
A few hints: I used an apple corer (mine is a Pampered Chef) to pull out the cooled cake - no loose crumbs - worked perfectly. I also used a cookie/frosting tube to add the frosting into the holes. Only took a few seconds and the job was done, and not as messy as using a plastic bag.
Angela G. says
Glad you guys liked the cake! Thanks for sharing the tips. Love the idea to use an apple corer!
Bev says
I'm sure glad you posted that picture and clarified that "fluff" problem. I am 58 years old and have been baking seriously since age 10, and took my first Wilton classes at age 14. I had NO CLUE what you were talking about! I knew if I didn't know, a LOT of others didn't either. You must live in a large city or very near one to have variety enough to carry that frosting. I live near a city of almost 100,000 and with 3 chains in town, one of them being Walmart, we do not have that frosting. This is outside of the common vanilla, chocolate, and cream cheese you see even in generics.
In the future, please consider your more rural, elderly readers such as I, and when listing and ingredient such as this, please be more complete:
1 cup Pillsbury Fluffy Frost Vanilla Marshmallow
And some somewhere, like you had to do here in the comments, a picture of the container. The companys should not have an issue with the free advertising! 🙂
Ruby says
Has anyone ever made this using Kraft Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme? I assumed that was what you meant by Marshmallow Frosting and bought the big jar of it. Just wondering how this will turn out, or if I should just run to the store to look for actual frosting...
Angela G. says
Hi Ruby, I've made this with both marshmallow frosting and marshmallow fluff. Either one works! I personally prefer the frosting because its light and fluffy yet still has a marshmallow flavor. I find marshmallow fluff to be sticky and more dense. So it's just a personal preference not a deal breaker. You could also use plain vanilla frosting and I imagine that would taste pretty good too.
Ruby says
I agree with you Angela, now that I used it. The fluff/creme was a little difficult to work with and then sort of evaporated inside the cake! My sons kept asking "Where's the cream filling, if this is supposed to be a Twinkie?" (sigh) It still tasted great though! Completely gone in 24 hours. Next time, we will use the actual frosting as suggested.
Marcia says
I've read the recipe 3 times. What is the coconut oil for? Does that replace the vegetable oil in the cake?
Angela G. says
Thank you for the feedback and your question! I updated the instructions to make it more clear. Yes, the coconut oil would replace the vegetable oil however, if you do not have coconut oil, you can use any kind of cooking oil.
Angela G. says
Really good question. So, I've used both marshmallow fluff and marshmallow frosting. Two different things. I personally prefer the frosting but fluff works too, it just absorbs a little more into the cake and is stickier.
Here's the fluff frosting I use:
pat says
Marshmallow frosting? Do you mean just straight ol' Durkee Fluff? (I've never heard it being referred to as frosting before.)
Angela G. says
Really good question. So, I've used both marshmallow fluff and marshmallow frosting. Two different things. I personally prefer the frosting but fluff works too, it just absorbs a little more into the cake and is stickier.
Here's the fluff frosting I use:
Linda Brooks says
In so happy I found this recipe and can’t wait to try it! Another company that went out of business about the same time is Tastykake. I don’t like what the new company provides The product is so different from Tastykake and is horribly sweet..
Angela G. says
I hope you like it! One thing you can be sure of is fewer "junk" ingredients with this version at least. If you try it, I'd love to hear what you think!
Angie says
Looks awesome and simple to make! ????????????
Wish I had this for my birthday... which was the day you posted this ????
Linda says
How do you make the fluff? No directions,,,,
Angela Gast says
I’ve never tried making the marshmallow fluff, I just buy it ready made. You could possibly melt marshmallows just enough and then whip them into a frosting-like consistency but not sure if that would work since I’ve never tried it. If you want to keep it easy, look in the aisle with other sandwich spreads and you should see it there. Hope that helps!