Drake's is a baking

Baking

Baking is the technique of prolonged cooking of food by dry heat acting by convection, and not by radiation, normally in an oven, but also in hot ashes, or on hot stones. It is primarily used for the preparation of bread, cakes, pastries and pies, tarts, quiches, cookies and crackers. Such items...

 company

Company

A company is a form of business organization. It is an association or collection of individual real persons and/or other companies, who each provide some form of capital. This group has a common purpose or focus and an aim of gaining profits. This collection, group or association of persons can be...

 in Wayne, New Jersey

Wayne, New Jersey

Wayne is a Township in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States, located less than from midtown Manhattan. As of the United States 2000 Census, the township had a total population of 54,069....

, United States, owned by Hostess Brands, which makes snack cakes such as Ring Dings, Yodels

Yodels

right|thumb|250px|YodelsYodels are frosted, cream-filled cakes that are made by the Drake's company, which is owned by the Hostess Brands. Yodels are distributed on the east coast of the United States. They are similar to HoHos, which are made by Hostess....

, Devil Dogs, Yankee Doodles, Sunny Doodles, Funny Bones, and coffee cake. Their mascot is a smiling duck

Duck

Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the Anatidae family of birds, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the Anatidae family; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered...

 wearing a chef's hat and neckerchief holding a spoon.

At their peak, Drake's bakery operations spread to thirteen states. In New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 and New England

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

, Drake's popularity came to rival national brand Hostess. In New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

 and eastern Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, Drake's cakes compete head-to-head with that area's popular Tastykake

Tastykake

Tastykake is the brandname for a line of snack foods manufactured by the Tasty Baking Company, currently headquartered at the Philadelphia Naval Business Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Established in 1914 by Philip J. Baur and Herbert T...

 brand.

Largely unknown outside of these areas until the 1990s, the Drake's product line received national exposure on the sitcom Seinfeld

Seinfeld

Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...

, most notably the episode "The Suicide" in 1992. Later in 1990s television talk show host Rosie O'Donnell

Rosie O'Donnell

Roseann "Rosie" O'Donnell is an American stand-up comedian, actress, author and television personality. She has also been a magazine editor and continues to be a celebrity blogger, LGBT rights activist, television producer and collaborative partner in the LGBT family vacation company R Family...

 professed a fondness for them, sharing the cakes with her audience members on The Rosie O'Donnell Show

The Rosie O'Donnell Show

The Rosie O'Donnell Show is an Emmy Award-winning American daytime television talk show hosted and produced by actress and comedian Rosie O'Donnell. It aired for six seasons from 1996 to 2002...

.

Origin and History

The company's founder, Newman E. Drake, baked his first pound cake

Pound cake

Pound cake refers to a type of cake traditionally made with a pound of each of four ingredients: flour, butter, eggs, and sugar. The traditional recipe makes a cake much larger than most families can consume, and so the quantity is often changed to suit the size of the cake that is desired...

 in Brooklyn, New York, in 1888. He sold it by the slice. Popularity increased, and soon a whole line of cakes was produced.

By the late 1960s, the resulting Drake Bakeries was owned by the huge Borden

Borden

-Places:Australia*Borden, Western AustraliaCanada*Borden, Saskatchewan*Borden, Ontario*Borden-Carleton, Prince Edward Island, formerly the town of Borden*Borden Peninsula, Nunavut, Canada*Borden Island, Nunavut, Canada...

food company, along with Cracker Jack

Cracker Jack

Cracker Jack is a U.S. brand of snack consisting of strong molasses flavored candy-coated popcorn and peanuts, well known for being packaged with a prize of nominal value inside. Some food historians consider it the first junk food...

 and Wise potato chips. In 1987, Borden sold the company to Ralston Purina, which owned ITT

ITT Corporation

ITT Corporation is a global diversified manufacturing company based in the United States. ITT participates in global markets including water and fluids management, defense and security, and motion and flow control...

 Continental Baking Company, makers of rival Hostess Cakes and Wonder Bread

Wonder Bread

Wonder Bread is the name of three North American brands of white bread: One produced by George Weston Bakeries in Canada, another by Hostess Brands in the United States, and the third by Grupo Bimbo in Mexico.- United States :...

. This created a virtual monopoly

Monopoly

A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...

 in some areas, soon overturned. While the union lasted, Hostess was able to use the name Ding Dong for its Ring Ding clone in formerly restricted areas; when dissolved, instead of restoring the product's original Big Wheels moniker, Hostess compromised with a new "King Dons" trademark for the affected areas. During this period, Drake's celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1988, by producing the world's largest Ring Ding cake. Drake's was soon sold off to management.

For a time in the 80s, Drake's produced a line of imitation Twinkies, including versions filled with strawberry, banana, or chocolate creme. They were originally called Shortcakes; later, when only the plain vanilla Twinkie-clone was being produced, renamed Zoinks!, before the line was discontinued for good.

Drake's was acquired by the Canadian company Culinar

Dare Foods

-History:“Feel good food is at the heart of everything we do at Dare, especially when it comes to baking delicious, quality snacks for your family.” They are dedicated to creating high quality snacks for the average person....

 in 1991. Among the highlights of this period was the introduction of a pastry called "Pick 'M Ups", which became the only Drake's brand product to contain animal fats. A frosted chocolate cupcake that looked like Hostess' signature CupCake with a white icing swirl also appeared under the Drake's label, though Drake's never produced such an item on their own. In 1994 Culinar also initiated a drastic restructuring and optimization of the company-owned routes, which enabled Drakes to become profitable by 1997.

In 1998 Drake's was sold by Culinar, Inc., to Interstate Bakeries Corporation

Interstate Bakeries Corporation

Hostess Brands, Inc. is the largest wholesale baker and distributor of fresh bakery products in the United States, and is the owner of the Hostess, Wonder Bread, Nature's Pride, Dolly Madison, Butternut Breads, and Drake's brands. For many years it was based at 12 East Armour Boulevard, Kansas...

, which had previously acquired ITT/CBC and its Hostess and Wonder brands. The resultant market concentration was not overturned, other companies such as Little Debbie having sufficiently expanded market share since the previous monopoly arbitration to avoid it. In the New York City area Drake's and Hostess operations were combined, sharing the same trucks, delivery routes, and store racks. Some Hostess cakes distributed in the Northeast, such as Twinkies and Ding Dong

Ding Dong

A Ding Dong is a chocolate cake that is sold by Hostess Brands. It is round with a flat top and bottom, about three inches in diameter and a little more 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...

s, are produced at the Drake's bakery and bear a kosher certification symbol in those areas.

In 2008, Drake's boxes began to carry a hybrid "Drakes by Hostess" logo with a message on the box explaining that the companies share ownership and a commitment to quality, possibly a first step toward an ultimate phase-out of the Drake's brand name.

Expansion

Throughout its history, Drake's Cakes have attempted to expand to other areas, either through third-party distribution deals, or shipping frozen cakes to distant areas, as was being done for Florida.

This remote presence reflected the preferences of many Drake's consumers from the north who had relocated to that retirement haven. Reinforcing this brand loyalty was the distinction that Drake's were at one time if not the only then one of the very few kosher snack cakes on the market, eschewing lard

Lard

Lard is pig fat in both its rendered and unrendered forms. Lard was commonly used in many cuisines as a cooking fat or shortening, or as a spread similar to butter. Its use in contemporary cuisine has diminished because of health concerns posed by its saturated-fat content and its often negative...

 (forbidden under kosher laws outright) and tallow

Tallow

Tallow is a rendered form of beef or mutton fat, processed from suet. It is solid at room temperature. Unlike suet, tallow can be stored for extended periods without the need for refrigeration to prevent decomposition, provided it is kept in an airtight container to prevent oxidation.In industry,...

 (prohibited in conjunction with dairy products commonly used in baking).

By 1989, Drake's could be found as far away as Southern California

Southern California

Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...

, through a deal with a local distributor for the Von's supermarket chain. But the distributor soon failed, and the arrangement ceased. Not long afterwords, distribution in the established Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

 and Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, areas folded. In the Fall of 2005 IBC operations in Orlando, Florida

Orlando, Florida

Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...

 discontinued carrying the products.

Popular Products

Ring Dings : Chocolate frosted hockey puck shaped chocolate cakes with vanilla creme filling. Another version is filled with custard

Custard

Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on a cooked mixture of milk or cream and egg yolk. Depending on how much egg or thickener is used, custard may vary in consistency from a thin pouring sauce , to a thick pastry cream used to fill éclairs. The most common custards are used as...

 and labeled Boston Creme Pies. Originally sold one per package (4" Diameter, .5" high) and also in a yellow cake / milk chocolate frosted variation.
Yodels

Yodels

right|thumb|250px|YodelsYodels are frosted, cream-filled cakes that are made by the Drake's company, which is owned by the Hostess Brands. Yodels are distributed on the east coast of the United States. They are similar to HoHos, which are made by Hostess....

 : Chocolate frosted creme filled Swiss roll

Swiss roll

A Swiss roll or jelly roll is a type of sponge cake roll. The thin cake is made of eggs, flour and sugar and baked in a very shallow rectangular baking tray, called a sheet pan. The cake is removed from the pan and spread with jam or buttercream, rolled up, and served in circular slices.The...

. Drake's also from time to time offers a non-frosted version, simply called Swiss Roll. These are usually larger and sold as one in a single wrapping or four in a family pack, in the past sold as two smaller cakes in a single wrapping. Similar to Hostess HoHos

HoHos

Ho Hos are semi-cylindrical, frosted, cream-filled cakes that are made by the Hostess company and are distributed in the United States. These cream filled chocolate cakes have a pinwheel design based on the Swiss Roll...

.
Creme Cups : Chocolate frosted chocolate cupcakes with creme filling. Discontinued c. 1980.
Devil Dogs : An unfrosted devil's food cake sandwich with vanilla creme with round edged cake wafers resembling a hot dog

Hot dog

A hot dog is a sausage served in a sliced bun. It is very often garnished with mustard, ketchup, onions, mayonnaise, relish and/or sauerkraut.-History:...

.
Yankee Doodles : Chocolate cupcakes baked and sold in paper baking cups. Unlike most other snack cupcakes on the market, there is no icing, and the hole through which the creme filling was inserted is clearly visible in the risen center. The cake is not as dense as Devil Dogs but similar in appearance and taste.
Sunny Doodles : Yellow cake version of Yankee Doodles
Funny Bones : Rectangular chocolate cakes filled with peanut butter

Peanut butter

Peanut butter is a food paste made primarily from ground dry roasted peanuts, popular in North America, Netherlands, United Kingdom, and parts of Asia, particularly the Philippines and Indonesia. It is mainly used as a sandwich spread, sometimes in combination as in the peanut butter and jelly...

flavored creme and covered with milk chocolate frosting.
Fruit Pies : Offered in apple, cherry and chocolate, these pies are unique among their niche in having two half-sized square shaped pies in a pack instead of a single rectangular pie, and in not containing lard. Originally called Fruit Doodles.
Coffee Cake Junior : A single serving-sized round crumb cake. Family packs contain smaller ones.
Pick 'Em Ups: A flaky pastry filled with flavored jelly (raspberry or strawberry) and cream, topped with sugar. Drake's has since discontinued this product.