Hostess Brands, maker of the Americana Twinkie cake, filed for bankruptcy protection Wednesday, begging the question: Who's going to keep making Twinkies?

The baking company, also known for Wonder Bread and Ding Dongs, isn't going away as it reorganizes its finances bogged down by $1 billion in promised pensions, but if the Chapter 11 bankruptcy doesn't work out and the company sinks, fear not.

Plenty of bakers across America have their own recipes for making golden Twinkie-like cakes with cream filling. Some recipes call for cream canoe pans to best mimic the shape of Twinkies, though some recipes suggest you make your own container with spice-jar shaped tin foil molds.

Below is a brief list of some recipes for Twinkie-like cakes.

From Leite's Culinaria:

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray or vegetable oil

1/2 cup cake flour

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon 1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons milk, preferably whole

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 large eggs, at room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position.

2. To make your shiny, single-use Twinkie molds, start with a piece of aluminum foil, preferably heavy-duty, that's approximately 14 inches long. It should be just a little longer than it is wide. Fold the foil in half lengthwise, then fold it in half again to create a rectangle that's about 6 inches long and 7 inches wide. Repeat to make a dozen rectangles.

3. Place 1 sheet of folded foil on your work surface, with the long side facing you. Place a standard-size plastic or glass spice jar on its side in the center of the foil, the jar's long side also facing you. Bring the long sides of the foil up around the jar. The foil won't reach all the way around, and that's okay. Fold the foil in around both top and bottom ends of the spice jar, nice and tight. You'll end up with a sort of trough situation. Repeat until you have 12 foil Twinkie molds. Spritz the molds with an obscenely generous amount of nonstick spray or use your fingertips to coat the molds with vegetable oil. Place the Twinkie molds on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan.

4. Whisk the flours, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.

5. Heat the milk and butter in a small saucepan over low heat until the butter melts. Remove from the heat add the vanilla. Cover to keep warm.

6. Separate the eggs, placing the whites in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or, if using a hand mixer or whisk, a large mixing bowl) and reserving the yolks in another bowl. Beat the whites on high speed until foamy. Gradually add 6 tablespoons of the sugar and the cream of tartar and continue to beat until the whites reach soft, moist peaks.

7. Transfer the beaten egg whites to a large bowl and add the egg yolks to the standing mixer bowl-there's no need to clean the bowl (or, if using a hand mixer or whisk, simply place the egg yolks in a separate large bowl). Beat the egg yolks with the remaining 6 tablespoons sugar on medium-high speed until the mixture is very thick and a pale lemon color, about 5 minutes. Add the beaten egg whites to the yolks, but do not mix.

8. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the egg whites and then mix everything on low speed for just 10 seconds (or, if using a hand mixer or whisk, until blended but not thoroughly combined). Remove the bowl from the mixer, make a well in one side of the batter, and pour the melted butter mixture into the bowl. Fold gently with a large rubber spatula until the batter shows no trace of flour and the whites and yolks are evenly mixed, about 8 strokes.

9. Immediately scrape the batter into the prepared molds, filling each with about 3/4 inch of batter. Bake until the cake tops are light brown and feel firm and spring back when touched, 13 to 15 minutes. Transfer the pan containing the molds to a wire rack and allow the cakes to cool in the molds.

10. Just before filling, remove each cake from the foil. Using the end of a chopstick, poke three holes in the bottom of each cake, just like in the bottom of real Twinkies. Wiggle the tip of the chopstick around quite a lot to make room for the filling.

11. Make Frosting

Ingredients

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

3 large egg whites

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. In the metal bowl of a standing mixer set over (but not touching) a saucepan of simmering water, combine the sugar, corn syrup, 3 tablespoons water, egg whites, and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar has completely dissolved, 3 to 4 minutes.

2. Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat the mixture on high speed until glossy, thick, and billowing peaks form, about, well, you know, 7 minutes. (Although truth be told, sometimes it doesn't take quite that long. When in doubt, just look at the picture above; that's what you want.) Beat in the vanilla. Use immediately.

Back to Twinkie recipe:

12. Transfer the frosting to a pastry bag fit with a small tip (about 1/4 inch across). Pipe the frosting into the holes you created in the bottom of the cakes. As you fill each cake, hold it in your hand and press your palm gently around it so you can feel the cake expand, taking care not to overfill and crack the cake.

From Simple Math Bakery:

Cake ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

4 tablespoons corn starch

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup canola oil

3/4 cup cold water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

7 eggs, separated

Preheat the oven to 350°. Spray a canoe pan or muffin tins with cooking spray and set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they are very stiff. They should hold their shape when removed from the bowl. Set aside.

Combine the flour, corn starch, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together or beat on low speed for a minute, until combined. Add oil, water, Princess flavoring, and egg yolks. Beat on medium speed until smooth.

Using a rubber spatula, gently scoop 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter. Fold the egg whites in by slicing the spatula through the center of the bowl, gently scooping batter from the bottom and wrapping it over the top. Turn the bowl 1/4 turn and repeat until the egg whites are barely visible. Repeat this process with each remaining 1/3 of the egg whites.

Spoon the batter into the pan, filling the wells 2/3 full. Bake for 8-12 minutes, or until cakes are golden brown and just starting to pull away from the sides of the pan. Cakes will puff up when cooking, but will settle as they cool. Cool the cakes in the pan for 5 minutes, then gently remove them from the pan using a rubber spatula. Allow them to cool, flat side down, directly on the cooling rack.

Filling ingredients:

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

In a small saucepan, heat the flour and milk over medium heat, stirring constantly. When the mixture becomes a paste (about 5 minutes), remove from heat and allow to cool for 1 minute. Stir in the vanilla extract. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming, and set aside to cool completely.

With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the cooled milk mixture and beat for about 5 minutes, until smooth and creamy.

Use the pastry filler that comes with the pan (or a pastry bag with round tip) to fill the cakes. Place the tip about halfway into the cake and squeeze gently. Holding the cake in your palm while filling it will allow you to feel when it is full. Fill each cake 3 times to ensure that each bite contains cream filling!

From Allrecipes.com:

Cake ingredients:

4 eggs

1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled to lukewarm

1 cup water

1 (5.1 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix

1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix

Filling ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature

5 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 10x15 inch jelly roll pans.

Beat the eggs until combined; stir in the melted butter. Add the water, pudding mix, and yellow cake mix, stirring well to combine. The batter will be very thick. Divide the batter between the prepared pans, spreading it evenly.

Bake until the cakes spring back when pressed lightly with a finger or a tester comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool completely on wire racks.

To make the filling, combine the room-temperature butter, cream cheese, and confectioners' sugar. Beat until smooth. Stir in the whipped topping and vanilla extract.

When the cakes are cool, spread the filling mixture on top of one cake layer. Place the second cake layer on top of the first, and cut into bars. Wrap each bar in plastic wrap and store in the freezer.

Simple Recipe from Cooks.com:

One yellow cake mix

5 tbsp. flour

1 c. milk

1/2 c. Crisco

1/2 c. butter

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. sugar

Bake one yellow cake mix in 9 x 13 inch pan. Cool. Split lengthwise (I use a jelly roll pan lined with wax paper and cut cake in half. Wax paper will peel off.)

Cook until thick: 5 tablespoons flour and 1 cup milk, stirring constantly. Cool.

Beat until fluffy: 1/2 cup Crisco, 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 cup sugar.

Stir flour mixture well. Slowly add to sugar. Beat until very fluffy. Use a small, deep bowl.

Put filling between layers of cake and dust with powdered sugar. Refrigerate.

Twinkie Bake Off

Instructables.com also had a Twinkie bake off to find the best recipe for the distinct Americana dessert.