Whoopie Pies

          mini whoopie pie tops a marshmallow and chocolate cupcake

Off the shelf

baking book reviews

This weeks off the shelf is loads of fun & it's not cupcakes; it's Whoopie Pies by Sarah Billingsley and Amy Treadwell.

This super cute 120 page padded cover hard back book is packed full of whoopie pie recipes & fillings. What is a Whoopie Pie (also known as Gobs)? They're a cross between a cake and a biscuit (cookie), soft textured with a creamy frosting type filling.

As for the name 'Whoopie Pies' according to Wikipedia; Amish women would bake these (known as hucklebucks at the time) and put them in farmers' lunchboxes. When farmers would find these treats in their lunch, they would shout "Whoopie!" 

For those outside the US there is a few points I should mention first. Many of the recipes use half butter/half Crisco. Crisco is a vegetable shortening common in the US (copha is not a suitable substitute). However, you can successfully use all butter in the recipes or buy Crisco online in Australia from USA foods; available in three sizes, plus sticks and butter flavoured. 

marshmallow spreads... 'Fluff' and 'Jet-Puffed'

Most of the fillings are buttercream based, though the traditional marshmallow fluff filling is included too. 'Fluff' or 'Jet-Puffed' marshmallow are difficult to obtain in Australia but if your curious to try it out Jet-Puffed marshmallow spread & Crisco vegetable shortening both are available online in Australia from USA foods. 

Ahhhh, the publishers of this book have gone a little far with the "cute factor" by listing the ingredients in smallish pink font, it can demand some "squinting" or least popping on your glasses. 

Now on to what I love about this book!! The cake and fillings recipes (listed below) are mix and match, giving you lots of opportunity to experiment with flavour combinations, plus the authors give other suggestions such as jam, cream, fresh fruits, glazes and sprinkles. How about Classic Chocolate Whoopie paired with strawberries & cream, mint buttercream or chocolate ganache? Good to see a couple of vegan & gluten free recipes are included too.

So far I've baked the classic chocolate whoopie, vanilla whoopie and the pumpkin whoopie... all tasted great with the pumpkin just beating out the chocolate as our favourite. We tried four fillings from the book; salted caramel, strawberry buttercream, coconut cream, classic cream cheese and I also made a plain melted white marshmallow filling. The coconut cream & classic cream cheese were Marks favourite & I love the salted caramel. 

Kids will find the mix and match fillings and decorating the whoopies fun, adults will love the tiramisu, matcha and ganache flavours to name a few. They're something different to bake for your next function; bake them large, medium or mini, piped or plopped onto the trays  they are delicious. Can't wait to try the carrot cake whoopie's and step son Daniel wants to try lemon with a flavoured cream cheese filling.  

Recommended because of the novelty factor, the multitude of possible flavour combinations & they are loads of fun for kids and those young at heart. 

I piped the whoopie batter into small rounds & baked for 5 minutes to create mini sized whoopie cupcake toppers, filled with melted white marshmallow. 

The cake recipes:

• Classic chocolate whoopie 
• Red velvet whoopie 
• Vanilla whoopie 
• Mocha whoopie 
• Marbled whoopie 
• Chocolate chip whoopie 
• Lemon whoopie 
• Gingerbread whoopie 
• Peanut butter whoopie 
• Banana whoopie 
• Pistachio-cardamom whoopie 
• Graham cracker whoopie 
• Oatmeal whoopie 
• Pumpkin whoopie 
• Carrot cake whoopie 
• Vegan chocolate whoopie 
• Vegan vanilla whoopie 
• Gluten-free chocolate whoopie 
• Gluten-free vanilla whoopie 
• Whoopie cake 
• Jalapeno cornbread whoopie 

Recipes for fillings: 

• Classic marshmallow 
• Chocolate buttercream 
• Classic cream cheese 
• Classic buttercream 
• Chocolate ganache 
• Whipped chocolate ganache 
• Mint buttercream 
• Honey buttercream 
• Rosewater buttercream 
• Salty peanut butter 
• Coconut cream 
• Malted buttercream 
• Salted caramel 
• Candied ginger 
• Dulce de leche 
• Maple 
• Maple-bacon 
• Root beer 
• Orange cream cheese 
• Lemon mascarpone 
• Tiramisu cream 
• Strawberry buttercream 
• Peachy marshmallow cream 
• Banana 
• Matcha buttercream 
• Vegan chocolate "butter" cream 
• Vegan vanilla "butter" cream 
• Bacon-chive goat cheese 
• Chocolate glaze  

 See Whoopie Pies made by the authors themselves in this short video

Thank you to Jennifer for pointing out that 'Solite' a vegetable shortening available in Australia from cake decorating stores can substitute for Crisco if desired. 

Happy Baking :) 

You might also be interested in a recipe for...

           Raspberry Marshmallow