Phantom Gourmet: Cupcake Taste Test

BOSTON (CBS) -- Phantom recently purchased four boxes of chocolate cupcakes from a local supermarket. The cream-filled contenders were Drake's, Hostess, Little Debbie, and Sara Lee. See if you can guess which brand ended up at the Top of the Food Chain.

Drake's Yankee Doodles finished in last place. The problems start straight out of the package, as too much of this cupcake's chocolate icing sticks to the top of the plastic wrapper. Even worse for eye appeal, the decorative white squiggle just looks flat and sad. As for taste, the cake is too dry and too sweet, with very little chocolate flavor. Add in the contrast of a marshmallow-like filling, and it's obvious this cake is nothing more than a Devil Dog in cupcake form.

Next up is Little Debbie. The heaviest of the cupcake competitors, this brand offers a dense cake that makes for a more substantial snack. Unfortunately, all that cake didn't taste all that chocolatey. But the far bigger sin is the paltry amount of cream stuffed inside. So much dense cake with so little creamy filling makes Little Debbie totally unbalanced.

The runner up is Sara Lee. With their squat shape and off-white stripes, Phantom didn't have high hopes for these strange-looking snacks--but boy, was he wrong. The icing on top is thick and fudgy, and the sweet cream filling is abundant. Unfortunately, the cake itself lacked a little flavor, keeping Sara Lee from taking the top spot.

At the Top of the Food Chain is Hostess. Sometimes the classics are the classics for good reason, and that was certainly true in Phantom's taste test. The moist cake has plenty of rich chocolate flavor, and the ample marshmallow-y filling isn't too sweet.  Best of all, the icing on top imparts a nice bite that pleasantly gives way to the soft cake, providing a wonderful contrast of flavors and textures.

That's why hostess cupcakes are at the Top of the Food Chain.

Watch Phantom Gourmet on Saturdays and Sundays at 10:30 and 11 a.m. on myTV38.