Aired May 26th, 2009 on Tastykake Face-Off. 
Welcome to the inaugural installment of Tastykake Face-Off, where Philadelphia’s hometown hero snack product goes up against the competition in a fight for top snack bragging rights. The winner will be carefully selected via analysis of several key criteria discussed below. Today it’s the battle of the lemon pies, as Entenmann’s takes on Tastykake. Let’s see if it’s a TKO…
Packaging: Landing an early blow, Entenmann’s takes the lead. Sporting a simple wax paper sleeve emblazed with drawings of large lemons and the reminder that the pie is “Made with Real Fruit,” the Entenmann’s packaging looks like it hasn’t changed in about 50 years. That kind of commitment to olde-tyminess commands respect. In comparison, Tastykake’s newfangled cardboard box with plastic wrapper comes across as comparatively contrived. And is it made with real fruit? The packaging doesn’t say. Tsk-tsk. Advantage: Entenmann’s.Price: The Tastykake retails for $1.29. The Entenmann’s normally sells for $1.49, but the Wawa where it was purchased had an abundance of coupons on hand to save 30 cents, meaning that the victor in this category is dependent on location of purchase and whether there are coupons available. It’s a draw.Appearance: As previously noted, the Tastykake uses a plastic wrapper as part of its packaging, meaning that the consumer can see the pie before purchase. This can be rather persuasive, as the flaky, slightly crisp-looking top of the Tastykake looks quite appealing. The Entenmann’s must be unwrapped before being seen. Once inside, the customer can see that it boasts more of a glazed look with fluted edges. As for the filling, the Tastykake’s is opaque and more custard-esque, whereas the Entenmann’s has more of a translucent, brighter yellow gel. The perfection of the Entenmann’s looks like something out of a magazine ad; the Tastykake looks like a mini-sized version of something homemade that would’ve come out of your grandma’s kitchen. They both look good, so take your pick. It’s a split decision.Taste: Perhaps the most important category — taste is really what it’s all about. And the Entenmann’s is good. It keeps it delicate, landing punches with its flaky glazed crust and not-too-sweet filling. But the Tastykake is even better. A real heavyweight, the contrast between the heavy filling and the unglazed crust is outstanding. Advantage: Tastykake.Nutrition: The Tastykake is slightly larger (113 grams vs. 99) but a lot healthier. The Entenmann’s has approximately double the amount of fat and saturated fat as the Tastykake. With 69% of your RDA of sat. fat in just one pie, the Entenmann’s is starting to creep into the “dangerous” category. The only real upside to the Entemann’s is that it has no cholesterol compared to the Tastykake’s 40 milligrams. Surprisingly, neither of these lemon products has any vitamin C. Advantage: Tastykake.Victory: Tastykake. The Entenmann’s lemon pie puts up a great fight, but ultimately, the Tastykake knows how to hit all the sweet spots without overstaying its welcome, giving it the victory. But if you’re jonesing for a lemon pie fix and are somewhere outside Tastykake’s distribution radius (for shame!), don’t hesitate to reach for an Entenmann’s. Either way, this is one product battle where the consumer can’t lose.
Phoodie, you came to the correct, obvious conclusion. That being said, I take issue with your characterization of the packaging, you seem to have gotten it backward. The heat-sealed, highly-designed plastic wrapper is the “newfangled” entry, the cardboard box is hardly contrived as that is how Tastykake pies have been sold for at least the past 45 years, maybe longer.
I’ve always thought the Entenmann’s pies were nowhere near as good. The flavor is generally pretty good, but the crust is rock hard. The glaze makes every shard of the crimped edge into a mouth dagger, like eating Captain Crunch with too little milk. I just can’t trust a pie that can stand up to the jostling of shipment exclusively thanks to it’s own rigid outer shell.
Of course Tastykake makes the pies.
How about trans fat? Do either use hydrogenated oils?
I was born and raised on TastyKake. Its the one thing I cant get enought of when I get home. Tasty pies are just like mom makes. They are baked, not FRIED. They arent coated in frosting which isnt the way a pie should be. As far as the packaging goes, its retro look makes it more like home made. It doesnt have to be updated. The pie speaks volumes!
Like Chuck said, “new fangled?” I was opening Tastykake pies in elementary school in the early ’60s and we thought they were like opening parachutes – in fact, the contest was to pull the wrapper completely off in one yank.
The Entenmann’s icing is definitely like shards – much too hard. The tastykake soft crust is perfect with the lemon filling inside.
Speaking of Tastykake pies, have any of you ever had the Tastykake cheesecake pie? I’ve heard of this magical creation but have never seen one in the wild.
@Clare, last I checked there were plenty in the South Philly Acme. I think they’re “limited edition” though; and I just saw the “limited edition” strawberry shortcake jr’s roll out, so the availability of the cheesecake pies may be dwindling.
I’m a bit amused at the I suppose literal mealy mouths complaining about shards of icing on Entenmann’s.* Entenmann’s pies are a direct clone/competitor with the national big boy of the snack cake world, Hostess. I doubt they were thinking of Tastykake when they developed the product (expanding in the past decade into the individual serving snack cake market from its comfortable perch in the larger “family/office sized” cake/danish/donut/cookie box market). This particular pie fight is small potatoes.
Personally, I’d love to see Tastykake big up its juniors into cakes that compete with Entenmann’s, but they’d have to work on their cake recipe a bit before that fight goes down.
One technical bit, generally on nutrition you should include caloric count as opposed to volume/weight. You can also do a price breakdown in terms of calories per penny or what have you. One summer I was on a super fixed budget in made such calculations, sustaining myself largely on Taco Bell 2 bean burrito meal deals. You can do that when you’re 20 and live.
*I suppose this icing aversion may be why Tastykake packages literally balls of crap for chocolate donut holes in an epic fail against Entenmann’s glazed munchkins. But seriously, guys worried about jagged icing really ought to consult an oral surgeon, maybe while sucking limes to treat your scurvy.