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Hostess Baseballs (Cupcakes)

OFFICIAL SNACK REPORT
Sanctioned By WASAW Snack Committee

Reviewed By: Paddy O'Poppycock Location: A&P OFFICIAL NAME OF SNACK: Hostess Baseballs DESCRIPTION OF SNACK: Hostess throws us a curve by taking their classic chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting and white swirl and - thanks to white frosting and red swirls - make them look like - yes! - cupcakes that third graders tried to make look like baseballs. SSI RATING (SNACK SATISFACTION INDEX - 1-10):  6.39 FIRST 4 INGREDIENTS: Sugar, Enriched Wheat Flour, Water, Vegetable and/or Animal Shortening

UPSIDE:

Hostess, it should be noted, is the McDonald's of snack cakes. It is seldom you'll find something they offer that repulses you. Even more rare that someone offers you a Hostess snack that you don't enjoy in some way. And while Hostess has hit perfection with its HoHos (HoHos are to Hostess what french fries are to McDonald's), Hostess snacks often just offer momentary satisfaction after which you feel a little guilty.

And I'm totally fine with all of that.

So it is that Hostess Baseballs offer no surprises, don't live up to its predecessor (Hostess Cupcakes), but each one does satisfiy your hunger, if not your need for a sugar rush. And if you're an eight-year-old boy with a spring/summer birthday party on the horizon, you're begging mom to serve these during the party. Because, c'mon, these look cool as hell. Even if it appears third graders designed them.

DOWNSIDE:

1. I love white frosting. The problem is... white frosting is very sweet. So sweet you don't even taste the creamy cupcake center - a staple of the classic chocolate Hostess Cupcake, where the filling is the raison d'etre. Hostess could just as well have stuck hummus in the center of these Baseball cupcakes and boosted their nutritional value.
2. Regular Hostess Cupcakes never made me question what the white swirl at the top of each cupcake was made of... but Baseball Cupcakes are really begging the eater to wonder how on earth the red swirls are produced. There's a fairly good chance that eating actual baseball stitches would be better for you.
3. About two bites into one of these, you realize you should have purchased the chocolate original version. Oh well, baseball season is only 7 months long.
    

PACKAGING:

Classic Hostess. Which is to say very clean-looking packaging, great shot of the product. Nice job, as always.
 

DO YOU RECOMMEND THIS SNACK? (YES/NO - EXPLAIN):

Recommend? No. But will I dissuade you from trying one? Absolutely not. Hostess Baseballs are fun snack cupcakes that taste fine, are very sweet, and I'm sure are the official snack of pick-up youth baseball games across the nation. If I was in elementary school today and my mom put one of these cupcakes in my lunch box, I would be pumped. Snacks and baseball - two of my great loves wrapped up in one package. Thing is, I'm not in elementary school. So I'm passing on the rest of the box to co-workers and eating hummus right now.

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