The first Twinkie was produced in 1930. Since that time, Hostess has produced various "baked" goods, and the alleged baked goods can be found in stores across the nation.

Hostess box

The Tasty Baking Company was formed in Philadelphia in 1914. You may not have heard of the company, as their products are sold mainly in the east. The company has an annual profit of over $250 million and is beginning to expand nationally, however, so you may well have the privilege of ingesting these fine products in the forseeable future.

Logos

As a result of a significant degree of anti-Tastykake sentiment that I have encountered, I am performing this scientific analysis of the products of the Hostess and Tastykake companies. I will only compare products that have an analog, that is, I will not evaluate Twinkies, as Tastykake produces no such product. Similarly, I cannot analyze Peanut Butter Kandy Kakes, which are nonetheless awesome, due to a lack of a comparable Hostess product (as if it would compare anyway). In addition, I will perform this analysis using Tastykakes with an expiration date of April 7, 2004 (the date of this writing is April 12) in a comparison with fresh Hotess products. You know, so it's fair.

I currently live in Chicago and as a result do not have Tastykakes readily available. However, a recent excursion to the Philadelphia area has provided me with 4 boxes of Tastykakes. I will be using the cream-filled chocolate cupcakes in my analysis for a number of reasons:

(1) Hostess has a comparable product

(2) I ate the rest of the Tastykakes

Part 2 of this analysis will provide a scientific account of the relative merits and shortcomings of the products of Hostess and the Tasty Baking Company. I will soon depart for Walgreens so that I can purchase some Hostess cupcakes.

On to part 2