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CopyCat Hostess Zingers

Homemade raspberry-filled sponge cakes with coconut coating that taste better than store-bought Hostess Zingers
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Resting Time 2 hours
Total Time 3 hours 10 minutes
Servings: 16 Servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients
  

For The Cake Batter:
  • 1 Yellow Cake Mix
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 (5.1oz) vanilla instant pudding box mix
For The Filling:
  • 1/2 cup butter room temperature
  • 1/2 cup shortening room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 cups confectioner's sugar
  • 1 (7oz) marshmallow fluff jar
For The Raspberry Soak & Coconut Coating
  • 1 (3oz) raspberry jello box
  • 2 cups boiling water
  • 2 cups sweeneted shredded coconut
  • 2-3 tbsp cornstarch

Equipment

  • 1 Twinkie Pan - can use a regular muffin pan as well
  • 1 Stand or Hand Mixer
  • 1 Piping bag with tips - can use a ziplock with the corner cut off
  • 2 cooling racks
  • 2 shallow dishes

Method
 

Making The Cakes
  1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray cake pan with non-stick spray, generously.
  2. In a mixer bowl, beat the eggs, oil, and water until combined. Add your cake mix in and blend on medium for 2 minutes. Add the pudding mix and beat for another 3 minutes.
  3. Scoop about 2.5 ounces of batter into each "boar" pan (or muffin tin).
  4. Bake for 20 minutes, then check for doneness with a toothpick. Once toothpick comes out clean, remove from oven. Allow to cook slightly before removing from pan. Cool completely on wire racks.
Make the Filling:
  1. In your clean mixer bowl, combine the butter, shortening, vanilla and salt. Beat on medium-high for about 3 minutes, until it is creamy with no lumps.
  2. Add the confectioner's sugar. Starting on low, so that you don't create a sugar tornado in your kitchen, then gradually increase speed to high. Beat until light and fluffy.
  3. Add the marshmallow fluff and beat on high until everything is light, airy, and looks like clouds.
Making the Raspberry Soak & Coconut Coating
  1. Boil the water, add the jell-o, and stir until it dissolves. Stick in the fridge for 30+ minutes until it is thick but not fully set. You want it syrupy, not jiggly.
  2. While that is chilling, pulse your coconut in a food processor until the flakes are small. Dump it into a shallow dish and add 2 tbsp cornstarch. Mix it up. If it's clumpy, add another tablespoon of cornstarch until its loose and easy to roll in.
Assemble the Zingers:
  1. Using a knife, cut a small slit in each cake. Load your filling into an icing bag (or ziplock with the corner snipped off) and pipe it into the cavity. Hold the cake gently so that it doesn't split. Once fillied, place it cut-side down on a cooling rack.
  2. Pour your thickened Jell-O into a shallow dish. Roll each filled cake in the jell-o to coat it completely. Work quickly - you want it coated, not waterlogged.
  3. Immediately roll the jell-o coated cake in the coconut mixture. Place it back on the cooling rack.
  4. Allow them to sit for about 2 hours to set and "cure". This gives the coating time to stick and the cake time to settle.
  5. Eat them. Share them. Pretend you didn't eat three before anyone else got one.