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A squidgy American dessert classic
As with my recent dip into Twinkies, I had not eaten a Hostess Sno Ball in decades. But the news that Hostess has declared bankruptcy convinced me to try one.Would it be the last Sno Ball I would ever eat? Unlikely; I am convinced that the Hostess name is a valuable enough property that some other company will snap it up and keep churning out the delicious treats. But hey, you never know, right? And if Zombieland taught us anything, it's that you should cherish your desserts while they are easily accessible.
The traditional Sno Ball is pink. However, I could only find white ones. Upon research I learned that the pink is changed to white during the winter months, to make it more festive. You can also get specially colored Sno Balls for Halloween: orange and green. Fun!
Conceptually, a Sno Ball is basically a Hostess cupcake covered with a layer of marshmallow, and then a layer of coconut. I'll be honest with you: I didn't really dig it.
For one thing, I am prejudiced against coconut. I don't like the texture, the way it tickles your throat. Coconut shreds make me want to cough. And they get all over the place, too. Considering that I eat most of these review treats at my desk, I prefer the kind that won't force me to move my keyboard out of the line of shrapnel.
I also found the marshmallow coating to be unpleasantly rubbery. Perhaps my Sno Balls were a bad batch, or had gone stale. (I bought them at a low-traffic grocery store in a down-at-the-heels neighborhood.) I was expecting something like a Peep, which is a kind of marshmallow that is foamy and tender. Instead, it was more like those chocolate covered marshmallow treats you find in the drug store at Valentine's Day and Halloween. Sticky and somehow plasticky.
And finally, the cupcake inside was thoroughly underwhelming. I love Hostess Cupcakes, but what was lurking inside the Sno Ball was not that. It was very similar to a Hostess Cupcake without the chocolate coating, but it was more dry and firm than a standard cupcake.
Had it too gone stale? Or is it a different cake? The resemblance is uncanny, although I feel like the Hostess Cupcake is a little bit larger. I would need to do a side-by-side comparison to tell for sure. But the Law of Conservation of Factory Resources would seem to indicate it's a regular Hostess Cupcake in there.
Photo courtesy Flickr/clarkmaxwell
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