And it’s taken just eight weeks to complete the newest architectural wonder — this one involving Hostess Twinkies.
Interstate Bakeries Corp. and design firm Ellerbe Becket have teamed up to create the world’s largest Twinkies birthday cake. When finished, it will stand 25 ft. tall (7.6 m), sit 16 ft. wide (4.8 m) and contain more than 20,000 Twinkies.
The colossal cake will be the centerpiece of a lavish April 1st birthday party at Chicago’s Navy Pier, celebrating the Twinkie’s 70th year of serving America’s snacking needs. It will include a special appearance by Twinkie the Kid and a city proclamation naming April “Twinkies Turn 70 Month” in Chicago.
During the celebration, guests will be able to peel thousands of wrapped Twinkies from the cake’s massive base to reveal a secret birthday message. A six-foot (1.8 meter) likeness of Twinkie the Kid will stand proudly on the cake’s upper tier, and 70 battery-charged candles will serve as a reminder of the Twinkie’s years of service.
“We wanted to create something that would be monumental yet fun for Twinkie’s 70th birthday,” said Stan Osman, Interstate Bakeries’ vice president of cake marketing. “The world’s largest Twinkies birthday cake seemed like a good way to accomplish both of those goals.”
Like most cutting-edge design, the Twinkie birthday cake posed some structural challenges. Designers at Ellerbe Becket spent weeks testing the Twinkie’s response to various conditions, everything from submerging it in water for six hours (result: mush), to shooting it across the office from a tubular “Twinkie Launcher” (result: splatter).
Eventually, the design team decided on a circular, 25-ft.-tall (7.6-m) birthday cake made of three tiers. The cardboard lower tier contains slots to hold thousands of wrapped Twinkies for birthday guests to sample. The middle tier is made up of 800 boxes of Twinkies, and the third tier consists of a six-ft.-tall (1.8-m) Twinkie the Kid standing behind a giant number 70.
“We really learned a lot about the structural integrity of the Twinkie,” said Ellerbe Becket project leader Doug Brown, whose resume includes work on Boston’s Fleet Center and the expansion of Notre Dame’s Football Stadium. “I must say it’s been one of the most fun projects I’ve ever participated in.”
Officials at Interstate Bakeries and Ellerbe Becket are confident the cake will make a big splash at the April 1st party in Chicago. Like the party itself, the cake will be a one-time event. Workers will take the cake apart and donate its 10,000 or so remaining Twinkies to Chicago-area food pantries.
“Some of life’s most precious events just can’t be prolonged or repeated,” Osman said. “We felt it should be the same for the birthday party and the cake.”
Interstate Bakeries Corporation, through its operating subsidiary, Interstate Brands Corporation, is the nation’s largest wholesale baking company with 67 bread and cake bakeries in strategic markets from coast to coast. The company is traded on the NYSE under the symbol IBC.
An innovator since its founding in 1909, Ellerbe Becket provides integrated architecture, planning, interiors, engineering and construction services around the world.
