REVIEW: Hostess White Fudge Ding Dongs

Hostess White Fudge Ding Dongs

Ding Dongs really are the laziest of the Hostess family.

Ho Hos have some level of technical achievement.

CupCake’s got the swirl.

But the Ding Dong? It’s just a puck.

It’s a slice of a chocolate cake tube, stuffed with creme, and coated in the most chocolatey of wax. Despite their cartoonish name, Ding Dongs are a distinctly utilitarian snack food and the most mathematically efficient delivery system for chocolate and vanilla flavors.

In their search to remove even more joy from their brand of sugar discs, Hostess have introduced White Fudge Ding Dongs. An all-white variation that subs the coating for white chocolate, and switches the cake from cocoa to vanilla. The resulting product is bleak, bland, and cynically sweet.

The waxy exterior of a classic Ding Dong cracks into sweet shards, unmelting as the tongue is distracted by the cake and creme. For the White Fudge variant, Hostess appears to have shelled out for an actual food product. The exterior melts, enriching the entire bite with a sugary swirl. For a packaged cake, the texture is pretty satisfying. However, it’s also very prone to melting after just a few seconds of being held. Prepare for sticky fingers.

Hostess White Fudge Ding Dongs 2

While the coating is good, it’s wasted on a cake that is already saturated with creamy vanilla. It’s white chocolate on yellow cake, surrounding white creme. The flavor profile is blindingly sweet, lacking any deeper notes to appreciate. The fudge tastes like an extension of the cake, which tastes like an extension of the creme. All binding into a single, monotone bite. These white pucks offer little more a profound head rush. With 33 grams of sugar between the pair, I struggled to get through both of them.

White Fudge Ding Dongs feel like the result of an algorithm gone wrong. The classic version is already so basic, and so simplistic – distilling it any further leaves nothing behind but sugar. White chocolate is best used as an accent for other, more bold items. Had Hostess kept the chocolate cake, something special would have been found with this white fudge coating. But as is, White Fudge Ding Dongs are difficult to recommend.

(Nutrition Facts – 2 cakes – 310 calories, 140 calories from fat, 16 grams of fat, 11 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 15 milligrams of cholesterol, 160 milligrams of sodium, 41 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 33 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.)

Purchased Price: $1.99
Size: 2.55 oz./2 cakes
Purchased at: Safeway
Rating: 3 out of 10
Pros: Coating tastes and melts like actual white fudge. Overflowing with creme. You won’t want to eat both, so they’re sharable.
Cons: Tastes like straight sugar and vanilla. Coats your fingers in melted white goo. Looks like prop food in a teen dystopian movie.

27 thoughts to “REVIEW: Hostess White Fudge Ding Dongs”

  1. Make the cake lime or the filling, and you’d have something here.

    Gansitos did a limited-edition lime Twinkie-type-thing covered with white chocolate, and it was awesome in a very sweet way.

    1. Which are delicious. Not really sure what the problem here is. I would definitely try these.

      1. Reggie,
        You are so right. I would never eat a chocolate ding dong.. I hardly ever eat Chocolate unless it’sWhite or Semi Sweet Dark Chocolate. But, after one of the white Ding Dongs I’m sold.
        I think it’s a cake you have to take time and enjoy. Some people just make about two bites of a cake and it’s gone. The White Ding Dong has a white chocolate taste….. and. …Not everyone likes white chocolate.
        I can not find the individual packs in Central Kentucky. I’ve found only in Box.

  2. Where can I purchase the white fudge ding dongs? I seriously don’t know what the problem is here. These are AMAZING! My neighbor is a truck driver and gave us a box of them. I’ve been hooked every since! I just can’t get enough of them! The vanilla cake is spongy and has an unbelievable texture and taste for being a snack cake. I really hope they weren’t a limited time thing and I can still purchase them. I eat the fudge off the sides first and then take notes of the cake while assuring I get a little creme filling with each bite. It’s literally the best packaged, individualized cake I’ve ever had. It’s a glorified version of the hearts you get from little Debbie on Valentine’s season. I will be devastated if they have discontinued them. The only complaint I’ve got is why haven’t the advertised them better? I would of never knew about them if it weren’t for my neighbor and that’s a shame. I wouldn’t of stocked up on them had I known sooner! Shame on you for acting like these cakes are horrible. I love them just the way they are.

  3. Sorry let me correct take bites not notes. And I would of stocked up on them had I known about them sooner. Darn autocorrect!

  4. I’am hooked on the white chocolate ding dongs . I can’t find them anywhere !

  5. I love these very much, but hard to find. I think it’s a good tasting cake, especially for use that do not like dark cho8

  6. We just found these over the weekend at Walmart but they weren’t with the regular Hostess products. They were in a cardboard standee in the cooler section. And I have to agree with most of the comments that they were delicious. I’m not fond of the regular ones as its too much chocolate. I much prefer white chocolate and this is the best snack cake I have ever tried. They don’t say limited edition on the box so I really hope they are here to stay. I’m gonna stock up on them just in case.

  7. This is a great idea for those of us who can not have chocolate. I grew up with sweets like ding dongs, ho hos, and the like now that I can no longer have caffeine I miss chocolate. I find substitutes and hope I find white chocolate anything and thrill when I do. This review reads as though written by someone who strongly dislikes snack cakes, but really just wanted something to complain about.

  8. I love these.. they are not sold in enough stores.I would choose these over the chocolate ones anyday.

    1. Gimme a freakin’ break! Food that is lazy?? Get a life. It’s a matter of taste, and I like the way these taste, so much so that they are now my favorite snack-crack. Difficult to find, but why does some hater have to make one person’s pleasure into a downer for the masses? Some people don’t like lemon, or lime, or vanilla, but some love those flavors. We have choices in this world, and some choose what they like. I choose these white hockey pucks and I don’t want any hater to help these away too. They remind me of white wedding cake, usually the only good part of the wedding that the guests can enjoy. Hostess needs to keep making these and let the masses vote with their wallets. My market has been sold out more than they can keep them in stock. Make you wonder which side of right Chris could be on? With so little joy left in the daily world, stop trying to kill any other person’s idea of good. It could be your idea of joy that gets the next body bag!

      1. I am addicted they are soooooo good they dissolve in your mouth. They are hard to find so when I do I buy them in multpile cases. Anyone I have shared them with loves them too.

  9. Keep in mind that not everything that lacks flavor or seems to lack flavor or is white or “golden” is automatically “vanilla.” Vanilla is an actual flavor, not the absence of flavor, not withstanding widespread lack of understanding on this issue.

  10. Shit is so good, people i was giving them out to at work came back to me asking how to get them like it was crack. This review is so” enough about me, what do you think of me” Get out your own way, lol. Hostess comeback story is one of the greatest. Cheers to them…

  11. I absolutely love these. I’m not a chocolate eater, but I do love white chocolate and when I saw these, I just had to buy them. I couldn’t wait to get home and OMG when I ate the first one, it was so good. Moist, the icing wasn’t to waxy, this is overall the best product in my opinion. I love the White Chocolate Ding Dongs. Now they will probably discontinue them. I sure hope not.

  12. I LOVE these things!!! I am a White Chocolate fan as it is, but these are incredible!!! Great Job Hostess!!!!

  13. I think they are awful. Bought a box today. They will most likely go in the trash.

  14. In my opinion, the Ding Dongs are GREAT. Yes, they are sweet, but so what. The taste is pleasant vanilla, and there is plenty of gooey goodness, just love them. Certainly do not agree with your terrible review of them’ not that your writing is terrible, but that you say the Ding Dongs are terrible. Incidentally, you paid $1.99 for just TWO of them? You can buy a box of 10 for nearly the same price.

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