The Snack Attack: Hostess Brings Back Sea Salt Caramel CupCakes For A Limited Time [TASTE TEST]

It was one of their most popular treats last summer and this year, Hostess is bringing back their Sea Salt CupCakes for a limited time. And if you're craving something sweet, you need to try these!

Hostess describes the cupcakes as the perfect blend of sweet and salty. "Caramel icing sprinkled with sea salt atop a fluffy yellow CupCake. Packed with creamy caramel filling. The indulgence you can't wait to not share."

While the cupcakes are delectably sweet -- I could have easily eaten the whole box in one sitting -- they aren't very salty and they don't taste much like caramel. I actually think the cupcakes taste more like a syrup-covered pancake.

But the biggest deception of all comes in the chunks of "sea salt" sprinkled on top. It's actually not salt at all -- it's sugar crystals. What the heck, Hostess? Where exactly is the sea salt in these things? It's not even listed in the ingredients.

All that said -- these are still a really delicious treat and a nice alternative to the abundance of chocolate snack cakes that line grocery store shelves.

Review: Hostess' Sea Salt Caramel Cupcakes

Appearance: The actual product looks pretty much exactly like it does on the box. The cake was moist and spongy and the frosting was surprisingly soft, adorned with what appears to be sea salt and the signature Hostess Squiggle on top. Cutting the cupcake in half revealed a bounty of fluffy crème filling.

Aroma: The only scent I could really smell was pancakes -- sweet, syrupy pancakes. I tried to smell something, anything else, but everything just came up as pancakes.

Taste: It's a very, very sweet taste. The yellow cake I would describe as a standard flavor. The frosting by itself has subtle caramel notes, but not much. It took me a minute to peel the "sea salt" off the top and when I put the crystals in my mouth, I was shocked -- it's SUGAR, not salt. In fact, I struggled to find event the faintest taste of salt in these cupcakes. As with the smell, I think these tasted more like pancakes than they did caramel.

Pros: While the advertised taste isn't there, these are still very yummy cupcakes. And because they're individually wrapped, they're the perfect snack for a quick sugar rush.

Cons: Major lacking of caramel and saltiness. The fake salt crystals -- what a rip-off!

Rating: 5 out of 10 - Even if they don't taste much like salted caramel, these cupcakes are DE-LICIOUS.

The Snack Attack is a new daily feature on CBSDetroit.com that centers around all things food. Know of a new snack we should attack? Send an email and we'll be sure to add it to the list.