Twinkie Pie

I love Twinkies, that is my confession. I think I love the sentiment around Twinkies more than the actual taste of these cream filled, spongy cake delights. I picture in my mind a woman from the 1950's in her crisp dress with a collar, greeting her adorable children at the door with a beautiful plate of Twinkies. The house has a white picket fence and no one has any issues that require tissues. They are simply a lovely family. Reality then sits in and I read the ingredients on the box. They are not a good snack or a food to be consumed often, but I like my dream.

The developer of Twinkies: Hostess has major financial problems. They have filed for bankruptcy and they announced they are going to stop making my comfort food. Oh no, the end of America as we know it. I have a "White Trash Twinkie Cookbook" that was given to me a gift. There is nothing that can be used as a substitute if the main ingredient is no longer available. I will grieve when this day happens.

I had leftover Twinkies from my personal mission to keep the company afloat this week. But I realized a middle aged woman buying boxies of Twinkies will not save the company from demise. So I whipped out my Twinkie cookbook and made this yummy pie. I know it has Cool Whip, which I have been told is manufactured by the devil, but it is the ultimate in comfort food. I didn't actually eat the pie, I brought it to nursing students in  my clinical lab. They eat just about anything, but they said it was delicious. And it does have canned pineapple-does this count as a fruit?  

Ingredients:

One box of Twinkies
Two 3.9 oz boxes Instant Vanilla Pudding
3 1/2 cups milk
20 oz can crushed pineapple, drained
Cool Whip, cherries, and sprinkles for garnish

Instructions

1.  In a large bowl, whisk together both packages of pudding mix and milk for 2 minutes.  Place bowl in the refrigerator to set.
2.  Unwrap Twinkies and split lengthwise.  Line a 9×13 pan with the Twinkies, cream side up.  There should be exactly enough to line the entire pan.
3.  Remove pudding from refrigerator and spread over Twinkies.  Top with drained pineapple.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours.
4.  Serve topped with Cool Whip, sprinkles and a cherry.