Recipes with Julie Van Rosendaal: Make your own full-sized snack cakes

For many of us, snack cakes taste like nostalgia. Those individually-wrapped Jos Louis, Hostess cupcakes, Passion Flakies, Billot Logs and Twinkies have a place in our hearts, if no longer in our stomachs.

We had some fun with full-sized, homemade versions of snack cakes on the Calgary Eyeopener this week. I brought in all of the above, and wrote up the recipes to share. Four of them, anyway. As for the giant Twinkie, I'll talk you through the process.

Make any plain pound cake recipe, adding a few drops of yellow food colouring to the batter for a more Twinkie-like hue.

Bake it in an 8x4-inch loaf pan — one with a taller shape, versus wider, if you have more than one.

• Bookmark cbc.ca/juliesrecipes to keep up with all of Julie Van Rosendaal's dishes.

Cool the cake completely and inject it with the same creamy filling as the Jos Louis and other cakes. You can do this by spooning it into a piping bag or Ziploc bag (just snip off one corner), poke the tip of a paring knife in four to five places and squeeze it in — the cake will bulge a bit.

Turn it upside down and freeze it until it's at least frozen on the outside, and then use a paring knife to carve the edges and corners to give it a more rounded Twinkie shape.

Jos Louis Cake

Jos Louis was the snack of my childhood dreams — chocolate cake layers sandwiched around a creamy filling, with a waxy chocolate coating.

The cakes themselves have a red hue, and some believe they're red velvet. I think they're more chocolatey than most red velvet cakes, but if you want to give them that colour, dial back the cocoa to ¼ or 1/3 cup, and add a couple teaspoons of red food colouring (that's how red velvet cake is made, too!).

Ingredients

Cake:

• 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1½ cups sugar
• ½ cup cocoa
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp fine salt
• ¾ cup sour cream or plain yogurt
• ½ cup canola or vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup hot coffee or water

Filling:

• 1 cup milk (any kind)
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar

Ganache:

• 1 1/3 cups chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips (8 oz/225 g)
• 1 cup whipping cream or coconut milk

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Spray two 8-inch round pans with nonstick spray and place a circle of parchment in the bottom of each. 

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a smaller bowl (or measuring cup), whisk together the sour cream or yogurt, oil, eggs and vanilla. Whisk into the dry ingredients, and when they're almost combined, whisk in the coffee, stirring just until blended. 

Pour into the prepared pans and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until domed and springy to the touch.

Let cool for about 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. 

Meanwhile, make the filling:

Put the milk into a small saucepan and whisk in the flour. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking until it thickens to the consistency of pudding.

Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

Pour into a shallow dish, cover with plastic and set aside to cool completely.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy, then beat in the cooled milk mixture a spoonful at a time, beating until the mixture is light and fluffy.

Once the cakes have cooled, cut the domed top off of one (keep the roundest one for the top layer) and place on a serving plate.

Spread the bottom layer with the filling and top with the rounder layer. 

To make the ganache: 

Put the chocolate into a bowl, warm the cream on the stovetop or in the microwave and pour it over the chocolate, and let it sit for a few minutes.

Whisk until well-blended and smooth — it will appear broken at first, but then will turn darker and have a smoother, more even consistency.

Let sit for about half an hour to cool and thicken — it should be a little thicker than heavy cream.

Set the cake on a rack and set the rack on a baking sheet or cutting board, and pour the ganache over the cake to coat it completely.

Let stand until set, or put it into the fridge to help it along. But if you do this, make sure you take the cake out and serve it at room temperature, not cold.

Serves: About 12.

LISTEN | Julie Van Rosendaal explains her snack cake recipes:

Vachon Billot Log

Billot Logs are sponge cakes rolled around a jelly and cream filling, topped with more jelly and coconut.

If you have a smaller rimmed sheet, you can reduce the eggs to four and the sugar and flour to ¾ cup and keep the rest the same.

Ingredients

Cake:

• 5 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• ¼ cup water
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp fine salt

Cream Filling:

• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1½ cups raspberry, strawberry or cherry jam or jelly
• red food colouring (optional)
• shredded or flaked coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar for about two minutes, until thick and pale yellow (I use the whisk attachment of my stand mixer, or whisk by hand).

Beat in the water and vanilla. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and beat (or whisk, or stir) until well blended.

Line a shallow rimmed baking sheet with parchment — I use a half sheet pan that's about 12x18 inches. Pour in the batter and spread it out evenly to fill the pan to every edge.

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until golden and springy to the touch.

Before the cake cools, lay a clean, smooth (not textured or terrycloth) tea towel on your countertop and dust it generously with icing sugar.

Run a thin knife around the edge of the cake and invert it onto the towel.

Peel off the parchment, then starting on a short side, roll up the cake with the towel inside and let it sit on the counter until it's completely cool. 

Make the cream filling:

Put the milk into a small saucepan and whisk in the flour. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking until it thickens to the consistency of pudding.

Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Pour into a shallow dish, cover with plastic and set aside to cool completely.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy, then beat in the cooled milk mixture a spoonful at a time, beating until the mixture is light and fluffy. 

Unroll the cake (it's OK if the inside edge stays curled — don't try to flatten it) and spread about one cup of the jam or jelly over the cake. Warm it up a bit if it's hard to spread.

Gently spread over the cream filling, or transfer it to a piping bag with a small tip of any shape (or a large Ziploc bag and snip off one corner) and pipe in stripes or zigzags over the jelly — this can be easier than spreading it on.

If you don't have enough filling to make it to one end, don't worry. Sometimes I leave an inch on a short end as the filling pushes down as the cake gets rolled up. 

Starting at a short end, roll the cake back up and transfer to a board or serving platter.

Warm the remaining ½ cup jam or jelly and, if you like, put it through a sieve to get rid of any seeds or large lumps.

Add a few drops of red food colouring, if you like.

Brush all over the outside of the log and sprinkle with coconut, pressing it against the sides as well.

Serves: About 8.

Knockoff Hostess (Almostess) Cupcakes

How fun are these?

Homemade chocolate cupcakes with a creamy filling (to streamline things, you could use sweetened whipped cream — but this creamy ermine frosting is closer to the real thing) and topped with chocolate ganache and the iconic loopy line of icing squiggled across the top. 

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

• 1¾ cups all-purpose flour 
• 1½ cups packed brown sugar
• ¾ cup cocoa
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup milk (any kind — dairy, oat, coconut, soy)
• ½ cup canola oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup coffee (instant is fine, I use decaf)

Filling:

• 1 cup milk (any kind)
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp vanilla
• pinch salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar

Ganache:

• 1 1/3 cups chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips (8 oz)
• 1 cup whipping cream or coconut milk (or ½ cup oat or other milk)

White icing:

• ½ cup icing sugar
• 2 tsp water, milk or cream

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. You can use a whisk for this, or the whisk attachment of your stand mixer.

Add the milk, oil, eggs and vanilla and whisk or beat until well-blended and smooth. Add the coffee and whisk or beat on low speed just until blended. The batter will be thin.

Fill paper-lined muffin tins almost full and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the tops are domed and springy to the touch. Tip them in the pans to help them cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the filling:

Put the milk into a small saucepan and whisk in the flour. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking until it thickens to the consistency of pudding.

Pour into a shallow dish, cover with plastic and set aside to cool completely.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy, then beat in the cooled milk mixture a spoonful at a time, beating until the mixture is light and fluffy.

Use a paring knife to cut a piece out of the middle of each cupcake (eat the pieces!).

Spoon the filling into a piping bag (or Ziploc bag, and snip off one corner) and pipe some filling into each cupcake. 

To make the ganache:

Put the chocolate into a bowl, warm the cream on the stovetop or in the microwave and pour it over the chocolate, and let it sit for a few minutes.

Whisk until well blended and smooth — it will appear broken at first, but then will turn darker and have a smoother, more even consistency.

Let sit for about half an hour to cool and thicken slightly. It should still be pourable.

Spoon some over each cupcake, enough to cover the top. It should spread and smooth itself out.

To make the icing: 

Whisk together the icing sugar and water, milk or cream — it should have a consistency you can pipe, but won't run. Add a bit more sugar (or liquid) if you need to.

Spoon into a Ziploc bag and snip a tiny bit off one corner; once the ganache has set, pipe a loopy stripe over each cupcake, Hostess-style. 

Makes: 1½ dozen cupcakes. 

Passion Flakie

It seems Passion Flake — also known as Flakie — is passionately remembered by many (including myself) but doesn't exist in other peoples' memories.

For those who aren't familiar, it's a square of puff pastry, filled with jam or jelly and a creamy filling, and it's so easy to make at home.

Ingredients

• ½ package puff pastry, thawed (pre-rolled is easy)
• beaten egg, cream or oat milk, for brushing
• coarse sugar, for sprinkling
• 2 cups sweetened whipped cream (or a batch of the Jos Louis filling, above)
• 1 cup jam or fruit preserves

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

If you have pre-rolled puff pastry, unroll the square onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. If it's a block, roll it out to about a 10-inch square and place it on the sheet.

Brush with beaten egg. I stir it up with a fork, with about a tablespoon of water, milk, cream or oat milk.

Sprinkle with coarse sugar and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until puffed and golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Meanwhile whip about one cup heavy cream with a bit of sugar, honey or maple syrup, or make a batch of the same filling used to fill the Jos Louis cake.

When the pastry is completely cool, cut it open crosswise using a sharp chef's knife or long serrated knife.

Place the bottom on a cutting board or serving plate and drop the jam in spoonfuls overtop.

Gently spread it over the pastry and top with spoonfuls of whipped cream or creamy filling.

Top with the lid and cut into squares to serve.

Serves: About 9.