Tea Cakes Vs Snack Cakes: What's The Difference?

Cakes can be a great dessert course, or even a guilty pleasure meal like birthday cake for breakfast, but they're also an excellent choice for a tasty treat at any time of the day. However, not all cakes are created equal, or are even the same type of baked goods.

Despite both being labeled as cakes, tea and snack cakes are quite different things. And while cakes of various types are often served with tea, in the United States, "tea cakes" have more in common with cookies. Snack cakes, on the other hand, more closely resemble typical cakes, though not without their own quirks.

Despite their differences, both tea cakes and snack cakes are classic midday indulgences for a sweet tooth. And, for each, part of their long-term popularity comes from their portability, making them an on-the-go treat perfect for the busy lives of many Americans.

Not to be confused with cakes made with tea, "tea cakes" take different forms in different cultures but, in the Southern United States, the cookie-like treats are a traditional African-American food. They arose in the 18th century when enslaved people started baking European-style tea cakes for whites, and then adapting the recipes for themselves. 

Enslaved people had fewer and lower-quality ingredients available for making their own food so they made substitutions, like molasses instead of refined sugar, or lard instead of butter. To level up the flavor, bakers added seasonings and crushed nuts. Instead of looking like a cupcake, like the European version, the result was a soft, often irregularly shaped disc that resembled a sugar cookie in size and texture.

Tea cakes endured in the postbellum south as a portable snack, perfect in packed lunches for kids going to school or adults going to work. Though the homemade treat has waned in popularity over the past century, it remains an important part of southern African-American history and culture.

Definitions vary, but one thing most people can agree on is that a snack cake is a cake one eats as a snack. They are typically individual cakes that are small enough to be eaten with one hand, and sometimes covered or filled with frosting. Snack cakes are similar to and easily confused with snacking cakes, which are typically basic, moist sheet cakes cut into handheld pieces and snacked on in between meals.

Unlike tea cakes, snack cakes are a massive international industry. The average American consumer may be most familiar with snack cakes through individually-wrapped cake treats from international brands. Much of Hostess' lineup of snacks qualify as snack cakes, including Ding Dongs, Ho Hos, and the iconic Twinkie.

Thanks to their portability and ease of eating, snack cakes are an incredibly popular food category, with manufacturers like Hostess and other brands reporting considerable sales growth as consumers' lives become busier.