Classic Chocolate Whoopie Pie
Makes about 48 two-inch cakes
Ingredients:
- 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 4 tablespoons vegetable shortening
- 1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper.
- In the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter, shortening, and brown sugar on low speed until just combined. Increase the speed to medium and beat until fluffy and smooth, about 3 minutes.
- Add the egg and vanilla and beat for another 2 minutes.
- Add half of the flour mixture and half of the milk to the batter and beat on low until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the remaining flour mixture and 1/2 cup milk and beat until completely combined.
- Using a spoon, drop about 1 tablespoon of batter onto one of the prepared baking sheets and repeat, spacing them at least 2 inches apart.
- Bake one sheet at a time for about 10 minutes each, or until the pies spring back when pressed gently. Remove from the oven and let the cakes cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups Marshmallow Fluff (or other prepared marshmallow cream, which will do in a pinch)
- 1 1/4 cups vegetable shortening
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- In the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the Marshmallow Fluff and the vegetable shortening, starting on low and increasing to medium speed until the mixture is smooth and fluffy for about 3 minutes.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low, add the confectioners' sugar and the vanilla, and beat until incorporated.
- Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes more.
About Sarah Billingsley:
Sarah Billingsley is a food writer and cookbook editor. She has written for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Edible Brooklyn and worked on the 75th anniversary edition of Joy of Cooking.
She graduated from the Food Studies master's program at New York University. She lives in San Francisco.
About Amy Treadwell:
Amy Treadwell was born in Massachusetts and raised on a steady diet of whoopie pies and franks and beans on Saturday nights. A self-taught home cook and avid baker, Amy now lives in San Francisco, where she edits a wide variety of cookbooks.
About the book:
All hail the whoopie pie! Is it a cake? Is it a cookie? With an oh-so-creamy filling sandwiched between pillowy-soft, cakelike cushions, does it matter?
Heralded by the New York Times as a possible successor to the ubiquitous cupcake, and by Epicurious as one of the big food trends for 2010, whoopie pies are currently inspiring devotees far beyond their traditional stomping ground of the Northeast.
Now Whoopie Pies delivers everything home bakers need to create these irresistible, simultaneously nostalgic and au courant treats themselves.
In addition to the lowdown on equipment (basic), technique (easy peasy), and whoopie pie lore, Whoopie Pies includes more than 40 mix-and-match recipes, including the classic chocolate with marshmallow cream and a range of bright flavor combinations such as red velvet, green tea, pumpkin with tangy cream cheese filling, jalapeño cornbread filled with goat cheese and oatmeal with, yes, maple-bacon buttercream.
A puffy cover, plenty of color photos and hand-drawn illustrations, dozens of DIY decorating instructions, and suggested combinations like The Fat Elvis, The S'more, and The Candy Striper make Whoopie Pies as cute as the delicacies on which it's based.
So hop aboard the whoopie pie bandwagon with Whoopie Pies -- after all, shouldn't everyone be making whoopie?
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