Ding Dong

The Ding Dong is a chocolate cake produced and distributed in the United States by Hostess Brands and currently owned by private equity firms Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Co; it remains in production and distribution in Canada from Saputo Incorporated under the name King Don. Ding Dong production resumed in the United States on July 15, 2013, after an absence from American store shelves. It is round with a flat top and bottom, close to three inches in diameter and slightly taller than an inch high, similar in shape to a hockey puck. A white creamy filling is injected into the center, and a thin coating of chocolate glaze covers the entire cake. The cake was originally wrapped in a square of thin aluminium foil, enabling it to be carried in lunches without melting the chocolate glaze.

History and naming

The Ding Dong is similar to other cream-filled cakes such as Arcade Vachon's Jos. Louis introduced before 1934. Hostess began marketing its Ding Dong in 1967. The name was given to coincide with a television ad campaign featuring a ringing bell. Hostess went out of business on November 16, 2012, stopping all production. In June 2013, the new Hostess Brands reopened a Kansas product plant and announced that Ding Dongs production would resume on July 15, 2013.