As a New Englander, whoopie pies are just something that we grow up with. To outsiders, they may just seem like cake with frosting, but they are so much more. Whoopie pies are something that as a child were a special treat we would get after going to get Italians at Amatos, or a surprise dessert sitting on the counter, wrapped in wax paper ready to be eaten.
After a quick trip to Maine this past weekend to begin the epic journey that is wedding planning, I remembered why I love Maine so much. Not only is my incredible family there as well as my two snuggly little pups, but it is just as beautiful with what seemed like 10 feet of snow as it is during peak foliage season when everything smells of apples and damp leaves. It's so true that I never appreciated all that New England has to offer until I left. Not to hate on West Virginia one bit, but it's got nothing on Maine! L.L.Bean boots are the everyday shoe, flannel isn't seen as hipster, and when you want some of that good ol' red, clawed crustacean, you better mean lobstah.
After returning from 3 terribly short days in Maine, it seemed almost mandatory to make these whoopie pies and share them! For me, this is the epitome of comfort food, even if they have enough sugar to put down a toddler with an aggressive sweet tooth. Whoopie Pies never cease to bring me back home. I even made them Valentine's Day themed, which is completely optional, but who doesn't want to use heart sprinkles?!
Yield: about 15 Whoopie Pies
cake ingredients
Sugar--9 oz, or 1 1/4 cup
Flour--6 oz, or 1 cup + 1 TBL
Cocoa Powder--2 oz, or 1/4 cup + 1 TBL
Baking Powder--.125 oz, or 1 1/4 tsp
Baking Soda--.125 oz, or 1 tsp
Salt--.0625 oz, or 1/2 tsp
Corn Syrup--1.25 oz, or 2 TBL
Milk--4.5 oz, or 2/3 cup
Eggs--6 oz, or 3
Vanilla--.25 oz, or 1 1/4 tsp
Butter (softened)--6 oz, or 12 TBL (1 1/2 sticks)
cake process
Preheat your oven to 350 F.
Sift together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Combine corn syrup, milk, eggs and vanilla in a bowl and mix.
*Note: you can also do this recipe without a mixer! Using both a whisk for the wet ingredients and a rubber spatula for incorporating the dry into it, makes this recipe one that does not require a mixer!
Place your butter in the bowl of your mixer with the paddle attachment.
Add the dry ingredients and half of the wet ingredients to the butter.
Mix.
Once this is all combined, slowly add the rest of the wet mixture.
Once that is all combined, you are ready to go!
Spray a muffin pan with nonstick spray.
Scoop about 2 tablespoons of the chocolate batter into each cup.
Bake for 30 minutes, until the tops of your whoopie pies are spongy, or a toothpick comes out clean.
Transfer to a cooling rack, and when the pan is cool enough to touch, take each cake out of the pan.
buttercream ingredients
Butter (room temperature)--8 oz, or 2 sticks
Confectioner's (Powdered) Sugar--16 oz, or 4 cups
Heavy Cream--1.6 oz or 1/4 cup
Vanilla Extract--4.5 g, or 1 tsp
Sprinkles--1 jar (optional!)
buttercream process
Put the butter in the bowl of your mixer with the paddle attachment.
Cream until very, very smooth and light.
Slowly add in the confectioners sugar and mix together until combined.
Add the heavy cream and the vanilla.
Turn the mixer on medium and cream all of this together until it is smooth.
If you feel as though more sugar or cream are needed, add the sugar about 1/4 cup at a time, and the cream about 1 tablespoon at a time.
Assembly
I prefer to use a piping bag when putting the frosting in-between the two layers of cake. You can use as much, or as little, as you like! Simply pipe or spread about 3 tablespoons of buttercream on one of the pieces of cake, then gently press the second half on top of that. You can either leave them like this or roll them in sprinkles!
Bon Appétit!