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Thursday, June 28, 2007

Makin' Whoopie...


No, I haven't been watching reruns of "The Newlywed Game" (hopefully I haven't given any of you strange flashbacks to the show...we used to watch it when I was a young baker), I'm talking about Whoopie Pies. I have seen Whoopie Pies before and I always wanted to try them out. So, imagine how happy I was to find a recipe for them in Chocolate American Style by Lora Brody (a book I am just now beginning to appreciate). These little cakes look very promising with their deep dark chocolate rounds filled with billowy marshmallowy filling. These are just wonderful when you are having an attack of the sweet tooth. Easy to make and very very satisfying. The name is fun to say to boot, so really, you can't go wrong! These could also be perfect for a picnic as they last a while, are individually wrapped and are crowd pleasers.

Whoopie Pies (adapted from Chocolate American Style by Lora Brody) Makes 9 large pies, 18 smaller ones:

For the cakes:
2 cups all-purpose flour (5 ounces..I used the weight measurement instead of volume for this one)
3/4 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup whole milk (I used buttermilk instead of the whole milk and lemon juice cause I love the moisture buttermilk brings to the party)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp vanilla extract (or a little more if you like, I used 3 tsp or 1Tbsp of it)
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
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-Heat oven to 350f. Prepare two sheet pans by lining them with parchment paper.
-Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and baking soda into a medium bowl, set aside.
-Mix the milk, lemon juice and vanilla together and set aside (the mixture will thicken and curdle while it sits).
-Cream together the brown sugar, butter and egg until light and fluffy. Turn the mixer down to low and begin to add the flour and milk mixtures alternately. Starting with 1/3 of the flour adding 1/2 of the milk, 1/3 of the flour, the rest of the milk and then the rest of the flour mixture. Mix until just blended.
-Measure the batter out with a 1/4 cup (if you want 9 large pies) or about 2 tbsp each for smaller pies. Drop this batter onto the prepared sheet pans leaving about 2 inches between the cakes. Tap the sheets gently on a counter before baking to remove a bit of the air.
-Bake the cakes for 12-15 minutes (shorter time is needed for the smaller cakes, I'd say 8 to 12 minutes) until they are firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and cool on the sheet pans.

Filling:

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 cups marshmallow cream or fluff ( I tried this with marshmallow cream, but it did not work out for me. I ordered the fluff and it really did make a difference....maybe it was just to warm here that one day for cream..)
2 tsp vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste if you have it on hand to add little beautiful vanilla specs to the filling)
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-Place everything but the vanilla in a mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat everything until it is blended, then stir in the vanilla.
-Spread half the little cakes with this mixture, then top with the other half of the cakes.
The Whoopie Pies may be wrapped individually in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to a week. I love to make these for road trips or picnics, they would be perfect for the Fourth of July. Next time anyone asks you where the best place to make whoopie is, you can smile and reply "in the kitchen, of course!".

Whooooooopie!
Happy Baking.


This post can also be seen at Just Baking.

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11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I for one welcome our new Whoopie overlords.

Cinara said...

When I saw your Whoopie Pies, Jen, I almost couldn't believe it: I've been planning to try them for months now, and I was just waiting for a good recipe ro come by! And here it is! Last year I spent a month in the US, and only then I got to know Whoopie Pies, during a visit to Lancaster, PA. I would associate these cookies to the Amish country, but I've noticed you didn't do it... Would it be wrong to do so? Anyway, thanks again for sharing another wonderful recipe I will certainly try! ;o) XXOO

yuko said...

wow...this whoopie pie was absolutely deeee-licious! it smelled so good and it was just the right amount of sweet! thanks for sending them in with geoff! ~yuko :D

BetterCell said...

Your baked products(I looked at all of them) look great.
We both should open up a cafe together(I also bake).

Jen the Bread Freak said...

Cinara: I usually associate whoopie pies with the entire northeastern coastal area, but that's just me :). I know there is another kind of whoopie pie that is made with a cooked filling, and those may be the ones you remember. Wikipedia has a nice entry about Whoopie Pies that goes a bit into origins : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whoopie_pies
I hope you do like this recipe! :)

Yuko: Thanks so much! I'm glad you all liked them :D

Bettercell: Thank you for your kind compliments :D. I would love to open a cafe sometime, it's one of my future dreams.

Anonymous said...

Jen (or anyone reading this post),
These look great. I have a question though. My boyfriend really doesn't like chocolate (I know, I know, he's a total freak show) so I was wondering how this recipe might go if I left out the cocoa powder.
Any suggestions would be wecolmed, 'cause, while he doesn't like chocolate, he LOVES marshmallow.
Thanks

Jen the Bread Freak said...

Hello Anonymous! I have actually seen many recipes online for pumpkin and banana whoopie pies as well. If you were to make one of these and use the marshmallowy filling listed here, I think that would be a very nice combination, that is if he likes pumpkin or banana (I am always surprised at the amount of people who don't like chocolate). I did find some recipes at BellaOnline for those flavors (as well as chocolate peanut butter ones, hmmmmmm...). The recipes look like they make quite a few, and I'm not sure how they would turn out, but you could certainly give them a try: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art3563.asp
Other variations I've heard of involve red velvet cake or oatmeal cakes. I really don't think taking the cocoa powder out of this recipe (and subbing and equal amount of flour for it) would be all that tasty. Hope this helped! :D

Anonymous said...

Thanks Jen.
Good suggestions. Is there such thing as a Vanilla Whoopie Pie???? That would be perfect!

Cookie baker Lynn said...

Your Whoopie Pies look wonderful! I love that the filling has no shortening in it. Most recipes do and I think it tastes dreadful. Well done!

Jen the Bread Freak said...

Cookie Baker Lynn: I really do agree. I don't much care for the mouth feel of shortening, butter just makes these kinds of things better :D
Thank you so much!

brianesp said...

mmm.. whoopee pies!! So where is the strangest place you ever made whoopee? http://www.wherewhoopee.com/wherewhoopee_video.html