If you said to me "What is a Whoopie Pie" I would say, silently to myself "really?" in an incredulous tone, and then out loud I would say "It is whipped sugary perfection sandwiched between two decadent layers of chocolate cake. It is portable soul food. It will cheer you up no matter what your day was like." And then I would invite you over and make you a batch of them.
Growing up in Maine, and with the excellent baker of a mom that I am lucky to have, I ate lots and lots of the very best whoopie pies. Here I will share with you her recipe. I don't know where she got it from originally but after making them for the last 30+ years she has perfected even the nearly perfect recipe with which she started. Here it is in it's fully modified glory:
For the cake:
1/2 c. shortening (embrace the shortening, it's worth it for this recipe)
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 1/4 c. flour
1/2 c. cocoa (I find the dark chocolate kind is most decadent)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 c. sour milk (add 1 tsp vinegar to your milk and let sit a minute or so)
1 tsp. vanilla
When I took the recipe from my mother, I wrote down "beat and bake at 325" - my how helpful! What I found actually works is to cream together the shortening and sugar, then add eggs and beat until fluffy-ish. I'm exceedingly lazy with baking and don't like using multiple bowls, however, I will make the exception on this recipe. In a separate bowl, mix together all of your dry ingredients. Dump them into the main mixing bowl and add the milk and vanilla. You can alternate dry with wet here but like I said, I'm lazy so I do it all at once. Beat this mixture until fully blended and there are (almost) no lumps left. You should have batter that is like a cake batter on steroids - it should be slightly firm so that will stay mounded up when you put it on a cookie sheet.
Next you bake - I bake on a Silpat but parchment works well too, or just use a lot of cooking spray on your cookie sheet. I use my small cookie scoop to make the cakes and over fill it for each one. My mom prefers a larger scoop. You choose what works for you. A regular spoon will do the trick too. Pop them in the oven for 12 min. on 325. Check them with a toothpick - if it comes out clean they are done.
While those are cooling, mix your filling. There are so many kinds of filling but this is our favorite.
Filling:
1/4 c. soft unsalted butter
1/2 c. shortening
2 c. confectioner's sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
milk
I can't give you an exact amount on the milk. Sorry. Cream the butter and shortening and add the vanilla. Then mix in your confectioner's sugar and you will have a lumpy mess. Don't give up. Add milk just a splash at a time and before you know it you will have a creamy delicious concoction. When you get to that point, turn your mixer up to high and let it go for about 2 minutes and it will whip your concoction up into a light fluffy filling that you will want to eat all by itself.
And then the real magic happens. Pair up your cakes and spread some of that heavenly filling on the bottom and stick on the top. Eat the first one for quality control. Then finish the rest. I recommend wrapping them in individual plastic bags because the cakes become very...non-dry...after a short time and will stick to anything they touch. (I loathe the word "moist", if you are wondering what that was about.)
Why are you still reading? Go make them!
