Making Whoopie (Pies)

I am absolutely sure I am not the first and will not be the last one to think of that little joke! Nor am I the first and will not be the last one to discover the delight that is the Whoopie Pie. Indeed now you are here, you might be next.

Actually I think these have been around for decades under one name or another. Back in NZ in my teenage years you used to be able to buy a cream filled ginger flavoured whoopie pie type creation – not that I can remember what they were called – maybe Ginger Dreams or some such – but they were totally delicious, and will be the subject no doubt of my next post!

Lets get this straight. Whoopie Pies are not only completely adorable to look at, eating a soft cakey cookie sandwich filled with buttercream is a true joy of living.

To prove my point, I just got this feedback from a colleague who swung past to sample my first batch of Chocolate Vanilla Cayenne Whoopie Pies:

Thanks to you, I’ve already fallen off the band wagon only 2 weeks into the new year! The chocolate ‘cake’ was so good, it was not to be outdone by the filling 😉

Sorrynotsorry, Daniel!

There may have to be a Whoopie Pie a Day month this year. I’m not sure if I can wait til May like I did with the cupcakes.

Though I’ve known about Whoopie Pies for a while (I even heard some pastry chef or other assert that they would be the next craze after the macaron (or was it after the cronut?)), I’ve never made them. In fact If I’m being honest they are so mainstream now that they aren’t really featured in supermarket food mags anymore and I know for a fact that you can buy cake pans specifically designed to make them the right size (which I deem completely unnecessary, but I suppose I have piping skills outside the ordinary sphere of experience). Then earlier this week, someone on Sploid posted a video of the commercial production of Whoopie Pies and I was taken (not only with the massive mixers, and the fact that about three cups of raspberry goo was tipped into the icing mixture) with the layery sandwich cuteness of them. They went on the list of things to make. Now. Unfortunately the same day, Melbourne turned on another 43 degree heatwave and I had to wait a day before I would dare heat up the house by turning on the oven. So it’s fair to say I’ve come to the party spectacularly late. On the other had, I arrived at said party with Whoopie Pies. So perhaps I will be forgiven.

After some extensive pinterest research, and because yesterday I was craving something devil’s foody, I went with a dark chocolate flavoured whoopie pie. The buttercream caused some moments of wavering. Oreo crumb sounds like a superb idea, vanilla is an obvious choice, the raspberry goo ones in the video looked pretty good…

I went with vanilla in the end. Only it’s a little bit more than vanilla: I made the buttercream with salted cultured butter (this tastes slightly like cream cheese, just as European butter does – in Australia Devonvale makes cultured butter, or you can use the Danish brand Lurpak), and added a tiny zing of cayenne pepper and a splash of vodka. Trust me when I say: this was a good idea. Just like coating the exterior of the buttercream with hundreds and thousands sprinkles was also a good idea. So darling.

Chocolate Vanilla Cayenne Whoopie Pies

makes 20-22 Whoopie Pies

Chocolate Whoopie “Cookies”

ingredients

125g butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 2/3 cups flour
2/3 cup dark cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk

mixing

Vanilla Cayenne Buttercream

ingredients

175g salted cultured butter, softened (use normal butter if you can’t get cultured butter)
175g icing sugar
1 tbsp vodka
1/2 tsp ground vanilla bean ( I use Equagold; use 1 tsp vanilla essence if you can’t get ground vanilla bean)
1/8 tsp ground cayenne

about 1/2 cup hundreds and thousands sprinkles, for decoration

mixing

Beat the butter until creamy. Add the icing sugar and beat 2 minutes until very pale and fluffy. Add the vodka, vanilla bean and cayenne and beat for another minute.

Enjoy!xxx