Blog: Twinkie Makes Triumphant Return

By Sidna Brower Mitchell, HT.com blogger

The Twinkie is back! Hallelujah!

Now I no longer have to ration those Twinkies that I had been saving in my freezer. I can go back to the supermarket and purchase boxes of those decadent sweets to make two of my favorite desserts—Twinkie Pie (aka Redneck Pie) and Twinkies Sushi.

For a little history: Twinkies® were invented in 1930 by baker Jimmy Dewar. They sold as two for a nickel and quickly became very popular for Hostess. In fact, half a billion were made each year.

However, when another baking outfit took over the company, Twinkies were discontinued. The comeback was on July 15, 2013. Hallelujah!

I first made the Twinkies Sushi back in 2004 for part of the refreshments for a Women’s Guild meeting at church. At first I had difficulty getting the ladies to try the sweet treat.

Maybe the sushi part was convincing—or perhaps it was their failing eyesight — so that some ladies said, “Oh, I don’t like fish” or “I don’t eat sushi.”

I reminded them that the operative word was Twinkie. Here’s my version of something sweet that will appeal to all ages.

Twinkies Sushi

3 Hostess Twinkies
assorted dried fruit
assorted candied fruit
2 green fruit roll ups
dried mango (looks like pickled ginger)

Cut the Hostess Twinkies into pieces about an inch tall.

Slice fruit roll ups in strips long enough and wide enough to wrap around the Twinkie pieces. Then wrap the strips around the Twinkie pieces.

Place dried fruit and candied fruit into the cream filling.

Place the Twinkies “sushi” on a plate.

Garnish with strips of dried mango to resemble pickled ginger.

NOTE: I cut the Twinkies into quarters and used Betty Crocker’s Fruit by the Foot in the green apple flavor to wrap around the Twinkie quarters. I wrapped the green strip around the Twinkie before cutting and wetted the ends to make sure the strips stuck together.

To dress up the “sushi” I julienned dried apricots to stick up in the cream filling and used tiny pieces of candied cherries to look like red caviar. I also added a small piece of candied lemon peel or a thin sliver of candied ginger.

Admittedly, I had a deep fried Twinkie at a quilt show in Paducah, KY, years ago, but the Twinkie sushi is much better and I’m sure less fattening.

Sidna Brower Mitchell, a Memphis native, was graduated from Ole Miss in 1963 when she was named to the Hall of Fame. As editor of the Daily Mississippian when James Meredith integrated the university, she was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for her editorials and received a number of other honors and job offers. Sidna accepted an internship with Scripps-Howard to become a general assignment reporter for the World Telegram and Sun in New York City and a deskman for UPI in London. Her other media work included being officer in charge of employee communications for Citibank in New York City, a hospital community affairs director and an assistant director of development for a NYC management consultant firm. She and her late husband owned weekly newspapers in Morris County, NJ, for 25 years, where she has continued to write a weekly cooking column since 1975. Sidna retired as deputy director of the New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing (COAH).

Although retired, Sidna continues to be active on a state and local level. She serves on the state board for CAI-NJ (Community Association Institute-New Jersey), a Middlesex County GOP committeewoman, on the Rossmoor Board of Governors, president of the Rossmoor Kiwanis Club, president of the Rossmoor Republican Club and Community Church secretary. Her sport is serious croquet in which she has participated in tournaments in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Florida.

Reach Sidna Brower Mitchell at sbmcooks@aol.com