Snack Cake Stingers - Hostess Twinkie Bumble Bee Treats

These bee-utiful Snack Cake Stingers are the cutest treat you've ever seen! They're simple and easy but will have anyone who sees them in tears. Be careful, they might sting!!

One of the flowering bushes that is next to our front porch has attracted large numbers of bumble bees this summer. I sat one afternoon and just watched as they worked and admired their fuzzy little features. As I studied the bumble bees, I couldn't help but think about the first themed cuisine project I posted here...

my Bumble Bee Corn Dogs.I thought it was good to start Hungry Happenings by sharing a simple project that utilized some store bought products; something anyone could reproduce at home.

Being inspired by the bumble bees in my yard, and wanting to keep it simple this summer, I decided to try my hand at turning another store bought product into bumble bees.

Hostess Twinkies had everything I was looking for; a nice yellow color, a good oblong shape, and a kid (and adult) friendly taste. I chose to use modeling chocolate to create the eyes, wings, stripes, antennae, and stinger for each bee. The flavor of the candy clay compliments the taste of the Twinkies nicely and it is so easy to cut, bend, and twist into bee parts. Once the modeling chocolate decorations have time to dry a bit, they harden enough to hold their shape perfectly but are still soft enough to bite through.

I drew on a little smile using black food coloring.

Isn't it cute?

I think these bees are much more adorable than the Bumble Bee Corn Dogs; don't you?

Snack Cake Stingers

You'll need:
Hostess Twinkies Snack Cakes
White modeling chocolate (recipe here)
black food coloring
frosting (or use Nutella, peanut butter, or corn syrup)
powdered sugar
rolling pin
pizza wheel or knife
a ruler is also helpful
small round (½") and oval/egg (1") metal cutters
#8, 9, or 10 round pastry tip
fine tip paint brush (used for food only)
clay extruder with round insert, optional, but very helpful
toothpick or skewer

Instructions:

Pinch off some white modeling chocolate, color it black using black food coloring (see instructions here.) Allow it to sit for 5 minutes, otherwise it will be too soft.

Dust work surface with powdered sugar. Roll out black and white modeling chocolate to about 1/16" thickness. Use a knife or pastry wheel to cut ½" wide by 5"-6" long strips from the black. Use small round and oval/egg cutters to cut the eyes and wings out of the white. Curve the edges of the oval wings and allow them to dry. Pinch off small pieces of black and roll into a pointed oval for the stinger.

Use the small end of a round pastry tip to cut pupils out of the black - press the small end of the tip into the modeling chocolate, then turn it upside down and tap on counter and the circle will drop out the larger end of the tip. You can press it and cut many circles before turning the tip upside down. Then a bunch will drop out. Attach the pupil to the round white of the eye using water. If you prefer, just draw a pupil onto the white part of the eye using black food coloring.

(Bear with me this picture was from another post, so follow the directions.) Fill a clay extruder with black modeling chocolate. Attach a disk with a single round opening into the end of the extruder. Place the plunger into the tube and extrude the modeling chocolate into long pieces. Cut off about 1 ½" pieces and curl up one end to make antennae. If you don't have a clay extruder, just roll the modeling chocolate into thin logs. Allow them to dry for about an hour or freeze for 10 minutes.

To decorate your bees: Brush frosting onto one side of the black modeling chocolate strips. Wrap them, frosting side down, around the snack cake, cutting off any excess. Each bee gets three black stripes set about ¾" apart.  Use a dab of frosting to attach the wings and eyes. Use a toothpick to poke two holes in between the eyes and the first stripe. Then stick an antennae in each hole. Paint on a black food coloring smile.

Use a knife to cut a whole at the back end of each Twinkie. Add some frosting in the hole, then push in one end of a black modeling chocolate stinger.

You must store these snack cakes in an airtight container like Tupperware or Rubbermaid so that the Twinkies do not dry out. I learned this the hard way; I left them sitting out overnight and had hard cakes in the morning.

Items used to make this project that are available on Amazon.com (commission earned for sales)

You can find McCormick's Black food coloring at the grocery store.

Show Mother Nature how much you appreciate her by making some of these festive Earth Day Recipes.

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Beth

Hi, I'm Beth Jackson Klosterboer, a professional chocolatier & baker, cookbook author, and event planner. I love sharing recipes for happy occasions here on Hungry Happenings. I also create easy fudge recipes to share at HowToMakeEasyFudge.com, rice krispie treat recipes at HowToMakeCerealTreats.com, and easy cookie recipes at HowToMakeEasyCookies.com

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