Hostess Dark Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes are back! Please find our original review republished below with updated pictures and a slight refresh:
Valentines Day’s is great! Love is everywhere you look, and what’s better than love?
Here are some highlights from a typical Valentine’s Day:
- Breakfast in bed.
- Flowers & candy.
- Romantic dinner.
- Dirty, dirty sex stuff.
- Me eating cupcakes in my basement while you enjoy everything above.
Tonight I’m going to celebrate Valentine’s Day the Junk Banter way with these new Hostess Dark Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes!
Hostess Dark Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes
Hostess has historically gone HAM with limited edition cupcakes, but results have been rather inconsistent. The Hostess Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes were one of my favorite pumpkin products ever while the Hostess Candy Corn Cupcakes were stuffed with lies and disappointment. I also enjoyed the Hostess Caramel Apple Cupcakes, even if they were not especially special.
With the release of these Hostess Dark Chocolate Raspberry cupcakes back in mid-December, we had our first official Valentine’s Day release as evidenced by all the hearts on the package. The combination of dark chocolate & raspberries is a classic food pairing that is symbolic for Bow Chicka Wow Wow.
I could be wrong and don’t care to fact check, but I believe this is the first time Hostess has gone the dark chocolate route with any of their snack cakes. The description is: “Frosted Dark Chocolate Cake with artificially flavored Raspberry Creamy Filling. Note that the filling is “creamy,” not to be confused with actual cream. Heavens, no.. this is some good ole-fashioned chemical goop right here.
But of significance is that actual raspberries are an ingredient, despite the box insisting on artificial flavor. They’re pretty damn high on the list, appearing before the first mention of cocoa. There’s no way to tell exactly where they lie as the ingredients don’t separate the cake ones from the filling ones.
I first sampled the cake. Good but I’m not blown away either. It feels different than their standard chocolate cake – more bitter, less sweet, even a little salty. I would miss the sweetness, but the frosted topping rights the ship right quick.
Diving into the creamy filling, I’m greeted with the glaring artificial flavor element. As far as fake raspberry goes, though, they did about as good of as job as one could hope for. It’s a smooth berry flavor that I wouldn’t confuse with strawberry or goji berry or yumberry or dumberry – this goop is raspberry.
As for where those REAL raspberries lie, beats me. I didn’t pick up on any authentic raspberry in the cake nor the filling – just a pretty darn good but definitely artificial raspberry filling.
Hostess Dark Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes are as fresh as packaged goods with a 2-month shelf life can be, featuring a soft cupcake base, stiff frosting, and the creamy center. The sum of all the elements is greater than the parts. The overall flavor reminds me of those Chocolate Covered Jelly Rings that sustained me as a kid; I used to put them on all my fingers (that’s 10 if you’re counting at home) until the age where my fat thumbs would no longer fit through the center (also 10).
I think these cupcakes are pretty neat, even if the dark chocolate things falls a little flat. They’re good enough for me anyway; I just wouldn’t give them to a significant other to woo them on Valentine’s Day. You’ll definitely end up in the dog house if you do.
I did give one to my Dad though. He loved it.
Hi, Dad.
Odds My Dad is Reading This Rating: 0.5 out of 10 (I force him to sometimes)
Odds Of Me Having A Valentine This Year Rating: LOL out of 10
Overall Rating: 7 out of 10
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