By now, I suppose that you anxiously await each month the Food Trivia from Rudy’s – A Cooks Paradise in Twin Falls. This is an interesting month, because it includes an ancient delight – Twinkies!! Some of these trivia points of interest are amazing. I don’t know who keeps these “records”, but it would be interesting to see their library. Oh! There will be a surprise at the end of the trivia list. Cheers!

April 5, 1774: The Sugar Act passed in Britain, placing new restrictions on the import of molasses to America.

April 6, 1930: Twinkies go on sale for the first time. I wonder how they tasted back in 1930, before they had ingredients like this. The BBC article calls the ingredient list a “veritable who’s who of the chemical world”. Instead, why not try the Homemade Twinkie recipe below!

April 7, 1948: The World Health Organization was established.

April 8: St. Walter of Pontnoise’s Day, patron of vintners.

April 9, 1850: William Prout died. An English chemist, he was the first to classify food components into 3 main divisions – carbohydrates, fats and proteins.

April 10, 1633: Bananas were supposedly displayed in the shop window of merchant Thomas Johnson. This was the first time the banana had ever been seen in Great Britain. It would be more than 200 years before they were regularly imported.
In 1999 remains of a banana were found at a Tudor archaeological site on the banks of the Thames River. This would seem to date it 150 years earlier than Thomas Johnson’s banana. A classic food mystery!

And as promised, a “treat surprise”! Thanks to Rudy’s for the recipe and the photo.

Ingredients:
1 Cup Cake Flour
¾ Cup Sugar
1 Tsp Baking Powder
3 Eggs
¼ Cup Milk

Directions:
Whisk together the dry ingredients. Add eggs and continue to whisk to combine (or use a hand or stand mixer). Add half the milk. If the batter is too thick, gradually add the rest of the milk until the batter is thick, but easily pourable. Divide batter into nine mini loaf pans.Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for about 10 minutes and invert onto wire cooling racks. Cool completely.

To add filling (recipe follows), fill half a pastry bag & tip with the filling. Poke each loaf three times, squeezing out icing while pulling up and out. Stop pressure prior to pulling the tip out completely. If the cream overflows a little, use a butter knife/spatula to carefully scrape off.

Ingredients:
½ Cup Unsalted Butter, Softened
1 Cup Confectioners Sugar
2 Cups Marshmallow Cream Such As Marshmallow Fluff
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
2-3 Tbsp. Milk

Directions:
Beat together all the ingredients in a bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes.