Homemade Choco-Bliss Snack Cakes

Raise your hand if you remember the Hostess Choco-Bliss snack cakes from the glory days of the ’80s. These were one of the many “junk foods” that were seen few and far between at my house. I could probably count on one hand (maaaaaybe two) how many times I actually ingested a Twinkie, Ding Dong, Hostess Cupcake, Fruit Pie or any snack cakes during my entire childhood. They were always so tempting in the checkout line, but were usually off-limits. I didn’t even know the glory that was Little Debbie until I was in high school! Our high school somehow managed its class schedule so that every single Friday was a half day. Don’t ask me how it was done – it was a small, Catholic high school – but, suffice it to say, everyone was pretty happy with that arrangement. For four whole years, I never had school past 12:20pm on a Friday. Upperclassmen (juniors and seniors) were dismissed at 11:20 and freshmen and sophomores at 12:20. It was a tradition for the junior class to raise money for the prom by selling snacks and pop to the underclassmen to eat during their final period on Fridays. This is where I discovered the land of snack cakes, and there was no going back! Little Debbie managed to undo all of my mom’s previous 14 years of discipline. Oops! When I saw a recreation of the Choco-Bliss snack cakes – moist, chocolate cakes with a fluffy chocolate filling and rich chocolate icing – on King Arthur Flour’s website, I had to bake them up. Immediately.

These little babies are some of the most amazing chocolate treats that I have ever baked up. The chocolate cake is so incredibly moist and the filling is totally irresistible. It’s fluffy, sweet and incredibly chocolate-y. I couldn’t help taking taste after taste while I was assembling the cakes. It took so many tastes, in fact, that I totally ruined my dinner that day. No matter, it was absolutely worth it. On top of the filled chocolate cakes is a rich chocolate icing that sets firm and completes the snack cake recreation. No snack cake was complete without that fudgy icing on top, right?!

These are cut into snack cake-size portions, but there are two important things you should know: (1) With all of that chocolate, you’ll definitely want to eat these with a glass of milk; and (2) I have an extremely hard time eating just one at a time. Needless to say, I absolutely loved these chocolate snack cakes – they were a perfect replication of the original, and they brought back fun memories of high school and carefree Friday afternoons. I love when food can trigger memories!

One year ago: Homemade Primanti Bros. Sandwich

Two years ago: Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins

Three years ago: Ultimate Ginger Cookies