As promised last month, the relaunched Hostess Brands has brought Twinkies, Cup Cakes and other magical snacks back to America's store shelves after disappearing last November.

Sorry, generic and off-brand creme-filled sponge cakes — your days are numbered. On July 15, the prodigal snack returns.

The rain has subsided, the clouds slowly dissipate and the forecast for this summer is golden-yellow sponge cake with creme filling, as private equity firms Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Co confirm a $410 million winning bid for the Hostess brand.

It's not easy to make themed cakes. Spend any time online, and you'll quickly become jaded from seeing all the amazing desserts. But don't be!

Over the years, Kotaku has posted so many cakes that the site is now jaded. It takes a lot to impress. It takes a life-sized Stormtrooper.

This is a pretty great replica of Portal 2's Space Core. The scale is good, the colours are right, the lighting looks spot on, and I bet it was delicious. Wait, what?

We've posted a few zillion video game themed cakes on Kotaku, but rarely do they impress as much as this Angry Birds-inspired creation. It's one of the rare birthday cakes that's actually playable.

Xbox 360 Controller Cupcake by Clever Cupcakes, as seen on Cupcakes Take the Cake. Thanks to reader .em. for the tip.

Every year, jewelry maker Robin Dahlberg at Steelhead Studio throws a big game party to ring in the new year. This year Dahlberg and co. did more than that — they made one hundred gaming cupcakes.

I'm torn. On the one hand, I love Left 4 Dead. On the other, I love cake. A lot. Surprisingly, bringing the two hands together results in total revulsion.