EXTREME CAKEOVERS: Recommended substitutions and product descriptions
We encourage you to be as creative as you want and make product substitutions as necessary. We have assembled a list of some of the food products we used and our recommended substitutions to help guide you. Availability of products may vary based on your location and the time of the year.
The food product industry is exciting and constantly in flux, with companies frequently changing packaging or modifying products, or occasionally discontinuing them. If you can’t find a product listed in the book at your local store or online, please check here for our recommended substitutions. You can refer to our “Sources” page in the book or website for some of our favorite places to shop!
PRODUCT INFORMATION:
PRODUCT: Hostess snack cakes: Sno Balls
Hostess Sno Balls should be available soon! In the meantime, use any comparable snack cake product with the same sizing and look.
PRODUCT: Betty Crocker Blastin’ Berry Hot Colors Fruit Roll-ups in Blazin’ Blue/Green and Sizzlin’ Red/Yellow.
Look for the Fruit Roll-ups showing a split red/yellow or split blue/green on the box, either sold alone or as part of the Betty Crocker Variety Pack (includes: Fruit by the Foot, Fruit Roll-ups, and Fruit Gushers). 8 total Blastin’ Berry Roll-ups. Distribution of the flavors varies. 4 Fruit by the Foot.
PRODUCT: Betty Crocker Fruit Roll-ups, strawberry flavor
Also may be found in the Betty Crocker Variety pack. Betty Crocker Roll-Ups, Simply Fruit, Wildberry (5-ounce box) are the same size and may be used in its place.
PRODUCT: Betty Crocker Fruit by the Foot
Some versions of Fruit by the Foot contain patterns on them. If you prefer to have them plain without patterns, we recommend Target’s “Market Pantry” brand Cherry Fruit Flavored rolls.
PRODUCT: Tootsie Fruit Rolls
Packages of Tootsie Fruit Rolls contain both fruit flavors and vanilla Midgees
PRODUCT: Airheads Xtremes Sweetly Sour Belts
Any flavor Xtremes Sour Belts may be substituted for the ones used.
PRODUCT: Betty Crocker Writing Icing
You may also use Cake Mate, Wilton Icing Writer, or any brand of writing icing in its place.
RECOMMENDED SUBSTITUTIONS:
RECIPES: MOTHERBOARD, FIRE ENGINE
PRODUCT: Haribo Brixx
SUBSTITUTION: Warheads Sour Chewy Cubes, Jujyfruits (oval-shaped), or Starburst
Use 2 Warheads Sour Chewy Cubes for every Brixx in the recipe. Pipe 6 small white dots on the Warheads Sour Chewy Cubes, oval-shaped Jujyfruits, or a Starburst cut in half to achieve the same look. Use the photo as a guide.
RECIPES: FIRE ENGINE, BANANA SPLIT, LAWNMOWER
PRODUCT: Oreo Cakesters
SUBSTITUTION: Nabisco SnackWells Devil’s Food Cookie Cakes or Nabisco Chips Ahoy! Chewy Gooey Mega-Fudge Cookies
FIRE ENGINE (wheels)
Use 6 SnackWells Devil’s Food Cookie Cakes or Nabisco Chips Ahoy! Chewy Gooey Mega-Fudge Cookies, 1 per tire, in place of 3 Oreo Cakesters. The Cakesters were split in half.
You’ll need: 1 piece parchment or wax paper and a #4 round artist’s paintbrush
Tint 1 level Tablespoon of vanilla frosting black with food coloring. Brush an even coat of black frosting on the top and sides of the 6 Snackwells Devil’s Food Cookie Cakes or Chips Ahoy! Chewy Gooey Mega-Fudge Cookies and set aside on the parchment or wax paper until needed. If you prefer a smooth over a textured look, smooth out the frosting with your finger.
BANANA SPLIT, LAWNMOWER
Use the SnackWells Devil’s Food Cookie Cakes or Nabisco Chips Ahoy! Chewy Gooey Mega-Fudge Cookies in place of the Oreo Cakesters. Spread a small amount of frosting in between the SnackWells or Chips Ahoy! and the Ding Dongs for both recipes to replace the frosting used from the center of the Oreo Cakester. If you are using the SnackWells option, slightly press down on its top to level it before placing it on the frosting on the Ding Dong.
RECIPE: VOLCANO
PRODUCT: Little Debbie Coffee Cake, Apple Streusel flavor
SUBSTITUTION: 1 (16-ounce) frozen pound cake (we use Sara Lee family-size)
Using a chef’s knife, trim the top of the pound cake to make it flat. Place the pound cake horizontally in front of you and cut 1 inch off each end and discard the trimmings. Cut the pound cake into 5 strips that are 1 1/2 inches wide each and cut the thickness of each piece of pound cake in half. Use the photo as a guide for the placement of each pound cake piece.
RECIPE: CHEESEBURGER AND FRENCH FRIES, TACO PLATE
PRODUCT: Post Cocoa Pebbles Treats
SUBSTITUTION: Rice Krispies Treats Double Chocolaty Chunk, (.78-ounce), or General Mills Cocoa Puffs Treats Triple Chocolate, (.85-ounce)
RECIPE: CHEESEBURGER AND FRENCH FRIES
PRODUCT: Jelly Belly Sunkist Fruit Gems (green)
SUBSTITUTION: Cut any large green gumdrop in half then discard the rounded end
RECIPE: CHINESE TAKEOUT NOODLES
PRODUCT: Sour Punch Bites
SUBSTITUTION: Any bite-size red licorice pieces
RECIPE: SUSHI PLATTER
PRODUCT: Sour Punch Rope, green apple
SUBSTITUTION: Sour Punch Twists, green
RECIPE: MOTHERBOARD
PRODUCT: Rips Bite-Size Licorice Pieces
SUBSTITUTION: Haribo Fruity Pasta
