In this blog post, I break down what happened with these beloved snack cakes that generations have come to love, are no longer available for purchase, and possible substitutions.
The Hostess Sweet Roll
Remember these rolls? Well I sure do! In fact, they were a big part of my childhood growing up. My absolute favorite was the Cherry Sweet Rolls, but my parents preferred the Cinnamon Rolls, so that's what they bought 90% of the time. Mind you, I would never complain about eating the cinnamon rolls if they were in front of me. I remember my Mom putting these out for people she would invite over for coffee, or for visitors after dinner. On weekends, my Dad would get up early to buy a newspaper, and would bring these home for us as a snack before breakfast. That was a weekend tradition I carried on after I started my own family.
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| The Hostess Cherry Sweet Roll's Cousin |
While the icing helped the Hostess Sweet Rolls to be iconic in their own way, the great taste of the Hostess Cherry Sweet Roll would tend to get lost in that vast sea of icing. Unless, you warmed the rolls up prior to eating them. Then the icing would melt and spread out, somewhat correcting the whole icing to bread ratio.
Like so many other Hostess snack cakes, they have been discontinued in recent years. This was one of many snack cake casualties of the brand that deeply saddened me. I believe their demise had to do with corporate reorganization that happened after Hostess filed bankruptcy, temporarily closed, and were then bought up by another company.
TASTYKAKE Sweet Rolls
The most recent casualty in the sweet roll game.
I can't tell you how ecstatic I was, upon discovering Tastykake Cherry Sweet Rolls a few years back. I opened the package and the smell of cherry filling and yeast leavened sweet bread instantly hit me. That same type of soft wax paper tray even held the rolls tightly together just like the Hostess packaging used to.As for the taste, it was very similar with one exception. That being, the white icing atop all of the rolls. Tastykake opted to use a layer of lighter glaze on these sweet rolls. Hostess had that thick white icing that was very sweet, messy, or if getting close to the sell by date.. crunchy or brittle. Hostess Sweet Rolls were definitely always better when heated up prior to serving. A quick warm up would get that icing softened up and melted into the cracks and crevices of the sweet roll.
Tastykake Cherry Sweet Rolls had the perfect balance of glaze, cherry filling, and sweet bread. While they are wonderful warmed up, they were every bit as enjoyable if you ate them right out of the package. It was quite obvious that Tastykake went for a quality, rather than just trying to be a copycat, and it showed through and through.
Where have all the Sweet Rolls gone?
I had talked with customer relation folks at Tastykake in the past, so I sent a message out to them this week asking for any info they could share about these products. Sadly, they responded back and notified me that both Cherry and Cinnamon Tastykake Sweet Rolls have officially been discontinued. Needless to say, I was incredibly bummed out once I heard the news.
Tastykake came through for me and countless other folks, by replacing a sorely missed Hostess snack cake that was a staple in households for decades. I wondered how Tastykake could justify removing this product, but to be quite honest, I'm sure it all boils down to lower consumer demand for sweet rolls.
UPDATE! 7-22-2022
These may be back to stay. I spotted them on the shelves again at a Publix supermarket this week! Hey.. lots of things changed during the pandemic. Lets hope the demand for these great rolls has been on the rise and they will make a strong comeback along with the sorely missed Cherry Sweet Rolls!
These may be back to stay. I spotted them on the shelves again at a Publix supermarket this week! Hey.. lots of things changed during the pandemic. Lets hope the demand for these great rolls has been on the rise and they will make a strong comeback along with the sorely missed Cherry Sweet Rolls!
What's next?
So Hostess Sweet Rolls are gone and now Tastykake has followed suit. Lets face it, younger generations have different tastes, so I believe these snack cakes are simply being aged out. However, it makes me wonder what beloved snack cakes are next in the firing line. Coffee Cake? Boxed Donuts? Oatmeal Creme Pies?
So Hostess Sweet Rolls are gone and now Tastykake has followed suit. Lets face it, younger generations have different tastes, so I believe these snack cakes are simply being aged out. However, it makes me wonder what beloved snack cakes are next in the firing line. Coffee Cake? Boxed Donuts? Oatmeal Creme Pies?
There IS one small glimmer of hope for us sweet roll lovers however. It appears that Hostess and Tastykake-esque sweet rolls are still being made by bakeries. Here is what I've found at my local Wal-Mart..
Strawberry rolls from Wal Mart Bakery
I realize this is Wal-Mart Bakery we are talking about, but the good news, is that it's pretty easy to make a decent sweet yeast roll. There's really not much to icing and filling, so I'm willing to bet these taste pretty good. Plus, they aren't going to be jam packed with chemicals and preservatives that mass produced snack cakes typically contain.
If Wal-Mart Bakery still sees a demand for this type of sweet roll, it makes me wonder if smaller grocery store bakeries, and lesser known or regional snack cake companies recognize a demand as well. Its definitely given me a bit of hope that these types of snack cakes haven't been totally snuffed out yet.
I'm not sure if anything out there will hold up to the old Hostess and Tastykake sweet rolls, but I'm willing to put in the research hours to find out! If you have personally found a reasonable simile to the classic cherry or cinnamon rolls, let me know about it in the comments section below.