Made up of two cookie-like chocolate cakes stuffed to the gills with fluffy marshmallow filling, the whoopie pie is a sweet indulgence.
For the cake component, we drew inspiration from devil’s food cake, creaming butter with sugar, adding eggs and buttermilk for tenderness, and using all-purpose flour and baking soda for the right amount of structure.
For the chocolate flavor, we preferred the darker color and flavor that Dutch-processed cocoa provided. One-half cup of cocoa delivered a balanced flavor, especially when boosted with a splash of vanilla extract.
We tried replacing some of the granulated sugar with brown sugar, and found that it deepened flavor and added moisture. In fact, we liked the results so much we wound up using all brown sugar.
Using a 1/3-cup dry measuring cup, we portioned the batter onto two baking sheets to give the cakes plenty of room to spread. For the filling, we eschewed the traditional sugar and lard in favor of marshmallow creme, which we enriched with butter for a mixture that was fluffy yet firm. Don’t be tempted to bake all the cakes on one baking sheet; the batter needs room to spread while it bakes.
WHOOPIE PIES
Makes: 6 sandwich cookies
Start to finish: 1 hour
Cakes
2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (1 1/2 ounces) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed (7 ounces) light brown sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
Filling
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) confectioners’ sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups marshmallow creme
For the cakes
For the filling
Nutrition information per serving: 923 calories; 364 calories from fat; 41 g fat (25 g saturated; 2 g trans fats); 141 mg cholesterol; 555 mg sodium; 131 g carbohydrate; 2 g fiber; 81 g sugar; 9 g protein.
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