In our 120th video Stephanie demonstrates how to make Whoopie Pies.
Whoopie Pies have seen a bit of a resurgence in recent years. This might be due to the popularity of cupcakes, since Whoopie Pies are really a cupcake in sandwich cookie form. They come in many flavors, but the classic seems to be these Chocolate Whoopie Pies which combine two soft and moist, dome shaped chocolate cookies with a creamy vanilla flavored filling. What’s nice is that they can be stored for up to a week in the refrigerator and you can enjoy them cold or at room temperature.
Chocolate Whoopie Pies have two parts; the cookie and the filling. The chocolate cookies are often described as a Devil’s Food Cake in cookie form. The addition of buttermilk and coffee (can use water) to the batter helps to contribute to their moist sponge cake-like texture. (You can buy buttermilk or buttermilk powder or you can make your own buttermilk by stirring 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar into 1 cup (240 ml) milk. Let stand at room temperature for about ten minutes before using.) Their dark chocolate color and flavor comes from adding unsweetened cocoa powder and my preference is to use Dutch-processed cocoa powder. I like its mild and delicate chocolate flavor, but you could use regular unsweetened cocoa powder if you like. Once the cookies are baked and cooled, I like to fill them with a creamy vanilla frosting and this recipe comes from Wayne Harley Brachman’s book “American Desserts”. This frosting has a nice vanilla flavor with a wonderfully soft and creamy texture (like marshmallow cream) which comes from the addition of shortening and corn syrup. (However, if you prefer not to use shortening, replace it with an equal amount of butter.)
Just in case you haven’t read the head note for the Pumpkin Whoopie Pies, I will tell you a little about the Whoopie Pie’s history. The debate is ongoing, but they have their origins in either the Amish country of Pennsylvania or in New England. Nancy Baggett in her book “The All-American Cookie Book” gives an excellent account of their history. She tells us that they can be traced back to the depression era and the Berwick Cake Company of Boston was the first to start making them commercially (around 1926). Although we may never know who or how someone came up with these delicious cookies, the story is that one day a creative cook had leftover cake batter and decided to make large round cookies with it. When they turned out, the cook was heard to say “Whoopie!” “Pies.”. If you are wondering why they are called “Pies”, it is because cakes were once baked in pie tins, so the two names often became interchangeable.
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More Recipes at Joyofbaking.com
Article by Stephanie Jaworski
Photo by Rick Jaworski
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