Dear Tastybakers,
What have you done with our beloved Tasty-Klair Pie?????
I used to look forward to consuming the delicious 21 grams of fat, washed down with an ice cold glass of whole milk.
At first, I thought it was some sort of a one-time manufacturing deficiency at your new high-tech bakery at the Naval Ship Yard… I was comfortable sleeping at night knowing I must have gotten into a bad batch, and all would be well the next time I stopped into the local Wawa on my way home from somewhere.
… and then it happened again. … and yet I still made excuses.
It turns out, that was a case of denial.
You have changed one of the greatest baked products in the history of Philadelphia to a sad, crumbly shell of what it once was.
… and I’m absolutely certain the problem was caused by the change in baking locations.
I have no idea how the old pies were baked. Probably in some huge multi-pie muffin-style pan…. I’m thinking maybe 12 or 16 per tray… an employee lovingly squirting the eclair filling into them, and further down the line another placing the tops on. After a short ride through a Hunting Park oven, they’d pop out on the other side, where after a brief cool down, another long-time employee (no doubt in a hairnet) would paint the chocolate icing on top. Another moment or two later, someone else would cover them in a wax-paper and gently place them into the box…. where during shipment the plastic would stick to the chocolate (or is it vice-versa?) At least this is how my slightly demented Tasty-Klair fantasy goes.
As opposed to now, where some soulless machine assembles these “recipes” in their new-fangled tin trays in a dispassionate emotionless way, not caring that the product doesn’t hardly resemble the packaging, and not being aware of the generations of fans, who care for this product with all of their soul. Not knowing what “Nobody bakes a cake” even means, or the joy that the jingle brought to our hearts.
I’ve included some pictures for reference.
To the right, is the Tasty-Klair and it’s box. Note how the pie has a stripe of chocolate down the middle. It’s sad. Look at the box. It has chocolate from coast to coast. Literally 66% of the chocolate promised to me on the box is absent. I noticed that. Don’t think for a second that the rest of the Delaware Valley didn’t either. It’s embarrassing… that kind of short-changing makes Oompa-Loompas cry.
Evidence B.
The tray. I think that’s the cause of all of the all problems. Why? Because it’s a fundamental change in the baking process. I suspect the ‘Klairs after they are baked run single file underneath a chocolate striping machine, very conservatively applying a stripe down the middle. The old pies probably glided past a Tasty Baking expert who applied the icing to the top.
I regret not taking a picture of the current Tasty-Klair with a bite or two taken off of it, so you could see down the end of it. It’s a lame trapezoid. Flat on top, tray shaped on the bottom. Compare that to the top most picture, one I shamelessly stole from Amazon… which depicts the old Tastyklair.
The one I loved. It was hexagonal! Tray shaped on the bottom, to be sure, but it had a very definitive hump on top… and it was full of eclair filling. Not Tasty-Klair 2.0. There was the same filling, but it doesn’t seem like nearly enough, and it wasn’t full to the brim.
My other Tastybaking fan friends, including co-blogger Lisa Mossie, contend that the product line changed with the removal of trans-fats. Maybe that’s true. The crust isn’t as tough or sturdy like I remember. I still enjoy the other products, in particular the buttercream iced Chocolate Cupcakes “with the stripe.” But damn… why’d you have to go and change the Tasty-Klair?
I ask again, Tastybakers, What’s the Tray For?
It’s a shame, though no surprise, when I read that your revenues are down lately. I can absolutely see why. You’ve lost sight of your core competency and fell pray to business school buzz-words.
I’ve got a limited-time-only “Black and White” Tastykake pie waiting for tomorrow. I hope it doesn’t disappoint.
Black n whites r the sh#t I’m on a search for some right now mmmmmmmmm I can taste that creamy bliss right now dribbling down my chin ………………..and I can’t find any no where wtf l have stopped by every wawa around n that’s a lot there is one 30 miles south of Fredericksburg I’m thinking of calling I need one so bad I’m sweating n moody I’m not ready to detox of these n there it was on the empty box I was searching for crumbs limited edition why why would they do this get u hooked on something n bam take it Away n replace it with some cheesecake crap guess I’m off to the store to get some pudding n graham crackers
I could not have said it any better my fellow Tasty-klair addict! I miss everything you mentioned. I live in Florida and it’s rare I get back home to pick up some of my beloved pies. I used to get my mom to ship a box of 6 of them onmy birthday, but it’s been well over a year since I had one. I was therefore quite happy to come across a Wawa today on a business trip and get 4 of them. The first thing I noticed was the new packaging, which I can live with. But then I saw that pathetic strip of chocolate frosting and thought I had a defective one! It obviously wasn’t defective once I ate the next one. I had not even noticed they still use the old picture shoiwng it SHOULD be covered with frosting on the top. I am amazed they shorted us on something like that.
I am also not a a fan of the tin and the way it makes the edges burn. I had not recognized what it did with the shape change until I saw you site – that filling is SOOOO unique and I feel gyped without a full trapezoid now! Aside from that, it seems wasteful and cannot be cheaper than the old way.
Lastly the price jump is amazing. You could always count on Tastykake to inch up slowly in price with inflation, but always be a good deal. But $1.59 now for a pie? Wow.
Overall, I am incredibly bummed about one of my favorite things from growing up in Philly getting messed up.
These crummy-crust excuses will never compare to the original pies. Bring ‘em back, Tastykake!
I was born in New Jersey and grew up with only one addiction, the Tasty-klair. Nothing could ever compare to its mixture of flavors upon the first bite. I have lived many places across the world and would always come back to my klair. I am saddened to learn of this development and morn the loss of a true culinary delight.