# Describe for me what American sweets and treats are like? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 6, 2006, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-for-me-what-american-sweets-and-treats-are-like/359590 "2006-06-06T08:48:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-for-me-what-american-sweets-and-treats-are-like/359590/1 "2006-06-06T08:48:55Z")
Ok, so, I know from reading books and watching movies and TV that you have HoHos and Twinkies and Ding Dongs and Baby Ruths and so on, but I don’t actually know what these things _are_ or what they look like. I was watching _The Closer_ the other night, and Kyra Sedgewick was eating some kind of round brown thing wrapped in foil. Now, I know it was one of your treats, but I don’t know which one, and what it is made of or what it tastes like. So, I know Twinkies are a sort of yellow cake thing with sweet white cream in the middle, can you tell me about the others? ---
**Author:** ![zuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9c0ed/32.png) [@zuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuma)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-for-me-what-american-sweets-and-treats-are-like/359590/2 "2006-06-06T09:12:27Z")
From your description, it sounds like Kyra was eating a Ding Dong… it’s round chocolate cake, with a whipped-cream like substance injected into the middle, and coated in chocolate. Ho-Hos are kind of the same concept, except imagine a thin strip of chocolate cake, coated with whipped-cream like material. Then roll it up, and cover it in chocolate. Baby Ruth I can’t help you with. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-for-me-what-american-sweets-and-treats-are-like/359590/3 "2006-06-06T09:17:59Z")
Ah ha! HoHos are sort of like [Cadbury’s Swiss Rolls](http://www.ocado.com/webshop/getProductDetails.do?parentContainer=DEFAULT&sku=16003011)! I have a frame of reference! ---
**Author:** ![ColonelDax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@ColonelDax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColonelDax)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-for-me-what-american-sweets-and-treats-are-like/359590/4 "2006-06-06T09:22:21Z")
[Baby Ruth](http://www.babyruth.com/ChooseBandwidth.asp). [Butterfinger](http://www.butterfinger.com/). [Tootsie Roll](http://www.tootsie.com/). [Tastykake](http://www.tastykake.com/HomepageTemplate.aspx?PostingID=21&ChannelID=2). [Hostess](http://www.twinkies.com/index.asp). ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-for-me-what-american-sweets-and-treats-are-like/359590/5 "2006-06-06T09:59:51Z")
> [@irishgirl](#): > > Ah ha! > HoHos are sort of like [Cadbury’s Swiss Rolls](http://www.ocado.com/webshop/getProductDetails.do?parentContainer=DEFAULT&sku=16003011)! > > I have a frame of reference! I think twinkies must be qualitatively similar to the vanilla-sponge mini-swiss rolls that you can get in supermarkets; granted, the construction is different (twinkies are, as I understand it, just sweet sponge cake fingers injected with confectioner’s cream) and those mini swiss rolls contain jam-esque stuff too, but I would imagine they’re quite similar to eat, nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-for-me-what-american-sweets-and-treats-are-like/359590/6 "2006-06-06T11:10:35Z")
European sweets are a lot less sweet then the American ones. Even chocolates and such are a lot less sweet in Europe. As I get older I much perfer the European stuff because of it’s sweetness. I’m always amazed that even though there are the same types of items on both sides they don’t always taste the same. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-for-me-what-american-sweets-and-treats-are-like/359590/7 "2006-06-06T12:41:00Z")
> [@zuma](#): > > From your description, it sounds like Kyra was eating a Ding Dong… it’s round chocolate cake, with a whipped-cream like substance injected into the middle, and coated in **chocolate.** > > Ho-Hos are kind of the same concept, except imagine a thin strip of chocolate cake, coated with whipped-cream like material. Then roll it up, and cover it in **chocolate.** The ‘chocolate’ used for both of those is a thin coating of waxy off-tasting stuff. IMO, not very good. Kids like them, but they’re overly-sweet and way too processed for my tastes. The cream filling is the same - too sweet and off-tasting. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-for-me-what-american-sweets-and-treats-are-like/359590/8 "2006-06-06T13:02:41Z")
Also, there is a far greater emphasis on peanuts and peanut butter in American confectionery than there is in Europe, where ‘nutty’ confectionery is perhaps more likely to contain almonds or hazelnuts. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-for-me-what-american-sweets-and-treats-are-like/359590/9 "2006-06-06T13:03:56Z")
A company called Little Debbie makes a whole line of snack cakes, but like \*\*BiblioCat \*\* says, their quality is not of the highest (to say the least.) A lot of adults eat them, mostly I think, out of nostalgia for childhood. [Little Debbie Home Page](http://www.littledebbie.com/) Check out the product listing Now, in exchange, what is fairy cake? I’ve found recipes but I can’t for the life of me figure out the defining characteristic. Is it the silver dragees? ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-for-me-what-american-sweets-and-treats-are-like/359590/10 "2006-06-06T13:07:53Z")
I’m not sure that the Euro chocolate is less sweet than ours is. I had gotten a Cadbury [Flake](http://www.cadbury.co.uk/EN/CTB2003/about_chocolate/brand_stories/flake.htm) candybar that was almost too sweet to finish. Also it was a horrible mess to attempt to actually eat, being that it crumbles the second you actually bite it. ---
**Author:** ![dre2xl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@dre2xl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dre2xl)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-for-me-what-american-sweets-and-treats-are-like/359590/11 "2006-06-06T13:19:47Z")
They all taste the same: sugary & rich crap. Abstain from them a few weeks and you’ll be surprised at how alike they taste. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-for-me-what-american-sweets-and-treats-are-like/359590/12 "2006-06-06T13:25:41Z")
The Baby Ruth has a really dense nougat to which peanuts are adhered with caramel. The whole thing is dipped in chocolate. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-for-me-what-american-sweets-and-treats-are-like/359590/13 "2006-06-06T13:26:23Z")
Two of my favorites are Hostess Suzy Q’s–two pieces of chocolate cake with a thick layer of vanilla creme in the middle. Snoballs–chocolate cupcakes injected with vanilla creme, covered with white or pink (or, on St. Patrick’s Day, green) marshmellow and covered with coconut. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-for-me-what-american-sweets-and-treats-are-like/359590/14 "2006-06-06T14:05:55Z")
My two standbys: [Raisinettes](http://www.nostalgiccandy.com/store/images/products/raisinettes_2.JPG) and [Sour Patch Kids](http://thecandybaron.com/detail.html?7006) mmmmm… ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-for-me-what-american-sweets-and-treats-are-like/359590/15 "2006-06-06T14:50:21Z")
> [@zuma](#): > > From your description, it sounds like Kyra was eating a Ding Dong… it’s round chocolate cake, with a whipped-cream like substance injected into the middle, and coated in chocolate. Oh, Ding Dong hadn’t occurred to me, good one. From the OP’s description, the first thing that came to my mind was a [York Peppermint Pattie](http://www.hersheys.com/products/details/york.asp), which I always liked because it one of the few round candy bars. (So I guess it’s not really a “bar,” eh? These are the thoughts that keep me up at night.) A York\* Peppermint Pattie is some sort of mint cream/chemical covered in dark chocolate. For me, it’s one of those snacks that turns on a dime – I have a few bites and think nostaligcally about how much I enjoy Pepperment Patties, and then I’ll have another bite and think “urrrrggggh, this is like eating mint-flavored glue!” \*York was formerly the brand name, but then it was bought out by another company that kept “York” as part of the product name, because it was called that for so long. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-for-me-what-american-sweets-and-treats-are-like/359590/16 "2006-06-06T15:11:18Z")
Little Debbie’s Swiss Cake Rolls are far superior to Hostess Ho-Ho’s. Also, they look much larger than the Cadbury’s linked above. The way to eat them (if so inclined) is to slowly eat all the chocolate coating, then eat the cake as you unroll it. Lasts longer. I always find it interesting in threads like these that people come in just to say how nasty everything is. I still enjoy snack cakes and other “kid” items. And I’m a bonified adult!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-for-me-what-american-sweets-and-treats-are-like/359590/17 "2006-06-06T15:13:33Z")
Could it have been a cold treat? There’s also a square thing with rounded corners in your grocer’s freezer section, the Klondike Bar. Immortalized in a commercial with the jingle “What would you do for a Klondike Bar?” and people would do stupid stunts for one. Which of course leads to the hipster t-shirt “What would Jesus do for a Klondike bar?” I kinda want one now. It’s just vanilla ice cream coated in chocolate. Another frozen thing I don’t know if you have over there is ice cream sandwiches, which come in foil wrappers - it’s crappy ice cream between two chocolate cookie things, rectangularly shaped. And now I want one. Also in the freezer section are, crap, what do you call those things? Argh, you know, there’s lots of knockoffs, and basically it’s long little pouches filled with colored/flavored sugar water. You freeze them. I have the very precise tactile memory even as we speak of how the sharp edges feel in the corner of your mouth. I can’t for the life of me think of what they’re called. The name brand ones had cutesy little cartoon characters on each color. I liked the blue ones and the red ones and the green ones. Also, I wonder if in faraway lands they have the “Nutty Buddy”? Another pre-formed ice cream treat, this one comes pre-made cone and all. You get a cone with the same crappy ice cream as seen in the Ice Cream Sandwich, and on top you get this flat piece of chocolate and peanuts. The whole thing comes in a wrapper. I don’t think I’ve seen them around for a while, though. Used to love the things as a child. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-for-me-what-american-sweets-and-treats-are-like/359590/18 "2006-06-06T15:18:48Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > The ‘chocolate’ used for both of those is a thin coating of waxy off-tasting stuff. Maybe it’s just Nostalgia Disease, but I seem to remember the coating being different (and much better) in my youth: darker, more chocolatey, less waxy. And Ding Dongs used to come wrapped in foil, whereas now they’re in plastic. (But that was back in the days of King Ding Dong, Twinkie the Kid, Fruit Pie the Magician, et al.) ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-for-me-what-american-sweets-and-treats-are-like/359590/19 "2006-06-06T15:22:35Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Also in the freezer section are, crap, what do you call those things? Argh, you know, there’s lots of knockoffs, and basically it’s long little pouches filled with colored/flavored sugar water. You freeze them. I have the very precise tactile memory even as we speak of how the sharp edges feel in the corner of your mouth. I can’t for the life of me think of what they’re called. The name brand ones had cutesy little cartoon characters on each color. I liked the blue ones and the red ones and the green ones. [Fla-vor-ice](http://www.jelsert.com/products_flavor_ice.asp) ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-for-me-what-american-sweets-and-treats-are-like/359590/20 "2006-06-06T16:23:56Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Also in the freezer section are, crap, what do you call those things? Argh, you know, there’s lots of knockoffs, and basically it’s long little pouches filled with colored/flavored sugar water. You freeze them. I have the very precise tactile memory even as we speak of how the sharp edges feel in the corner of your mouth. I can’t for the life of me think of what they’re called. The name brand ones had cutesy little cartoon characters on each color. I liked the blue ones and the red ones and the green ones. Otter Pops! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-for-me-what-american-sweets-and-treats-are-like/359590.md?page=2)