A bankruptcy judge has given final approval for the sale of Twinkies, Wonder Bread and many of Hostess Brands' other assets, clearing the way for the iconic products to return to shelves.

Hostess snacks - including Twinkies, Ho Hos, Ding Dongs and Zingers - were sold for $410 million to a joint venture of private equity firms Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Co. They expect to return the product to store shelves this summer.
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Twinkies and other Hostess snacks could be back on shelves by this summer after a successful $410 million bid for the business.

The winning bid is a joint venture by private equity firms Apollo Global Management (APO) and Metropoulos & Co. A statement from Dean Metropoulos, founder of one of the firms, confirmed they are the winning bidder.
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Hostess Brands - the maker of popular baked goods such as Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Wonder Bread - announced it is shutting down, blaming a strike by bakers opposed to a new contract.

As the 82-year-old company begins the liquidation process, analysts say that some of its most iconic brand names will likely live on, getting scooped up at auction and attached to products from other companies.

Or ... you can just make your own like these CNN iReporters!
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iReporter ace2012 says this "Twurkie" as he calls it, was his "contribution for this year" at Thanksgiving. For those wondering how it's put together, the Charlotte, North Carolina, resident posted information on Pinterest. The idea began when ace2012 started contemplating a future without Twinkies.

"On Nov. 16th, I ran out and bought a box of Twinkies when I heard they might be going out of business," he said.

"I thought they could become a collector's item. But, two days before Thanksgiving, I saw a picture of a cooked turkey and something clicked in my mind. I thought it was a very similar color to a Twinkie. I studied art and sculpture in college and I work in a creative field, so I'm always thinking creative thoughts."

The next question was to figure out how it's done.
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Hostess Brands said Tuesday evening that a last-ditch mediation session with its bakers' union over a new contract imposed in bankruptcy court had failed, bringing the company closer to liquidation.

Hostess said in a brief statement that the mediation session "was unsuccessful," and that it had no further comment ahead of a hearing scheduled for Wednesday morning in bankruptcy court, where it has requested permission to liquidate.
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The recipe involves "de-creaming."
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Hostess Brands and a key union agreed Monday to try to mediate their dispute - an unexpected development that could spare the company from permanently shutting down.

The Bakery Workers union, which represents 5,000 of the 18,500 employees at the maker of Twinkies and Wonder Bread, went on strike on Nov. 9. The company had imposed paycuts and other concessions opposed by the union's membership.
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Casey Barber, a food writer in Clifton, New Jersey, says many Hostess products and their associated feelings of nostalgia are easy to conjure up in a home kitchen, but there's one thing she's never been able to replicate: "There's just a fakeness about them, a teeth rattling extra super-sugaryness that comes with the high fructose corn syrup that you're not going to get if you make a Twinkie or Devil Dog at home."

She made these raspberry "Zingers" - a snack cake sold under both the Dolly Madison and Hostess brand names - in October. The recipe is in her forthcoming book,"Classic Snacks Made from Scratch."

Barber advises:
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Private equity firm Sun Capital Partners wants to buy bankrupt bakery Hostess Brands Inc., Fortune has learned.

The proposal would be to operate Hostess as a going concern, including reopening the shuttered factories and continuing union representation of Hostess workers.
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Hostess Brands – the maker of popular baked goods such as Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Wonder Bread – announced it is asking a bankruptcy court for permission to shut down, blaming a strike by bakers opposed to a new contract.

This weekend, we'd like you to bake your own Hostess treat. Please send us a photo of your homemade creation along with the recipe. And of course, tell us how it tastes! (If you're not the baking type, tell us about your fondest memories of the iconic snacks.)
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