The Color Purple

The Whoopie Pie trend is just taking off - and already I'm declaring a new one: Specialty-Shaped Whoopies in Colors Not Appearing in Nature.

My dear friend Sandy was having a birthday get-together this weekend, and I STILL had some buttermilk in the fridge so you know what that means: Whoopie Pies!

I was so happy with the cheery pink of my Valentine's Day Whoopie Hearts, that I thought I'd tint this batch Sandy's favorite color: purple.

My goal was a rich, amethyst shade like the gorgeous boxes used by Voges Haute Chocolat

I don't think I was entirely successful. Maybe I needed more food coloring, or maybe baked goods just aren't supposed to be purple.

First I piped out round cookies:


Then I got fancy and made S-shapes:

Then I really went for broke and spelled out "Happy Birthday Sandy"

Cute, no? For the final presentation I put the "S" pies around the greeting as a border - very festive!


I thought I was late to the Whoopie Pie party - but none of the other guests had ever had or heard of them, so I was happy to give them a sweet education.

Notes:

• When you pipe out a letter or shape - pipe its mirror image right next to it on the pan
• If you wanted to make a more precise shape - print out a template on paper and slip it under parchment paper and use it as a guide. Martha Stewart wasn't going to be at the party judging my efforts, so I just free-styled it.
• I used the Light Whipped Ganache from Rose Levy Berenbaum's The Cake Bible as filling. It's tasty and easy, but I think I like Nick Malgieri's version from Perfect Cakes that calls for butter and corn syrup in addition to the cream and chocolate a little better. Rose's is a little dryer and the cookies don't stick as well.
  

Whoopie! It's Valentine's Day

And the hearts just keep on coming!


I had some leftover heavy cream from some insanely good mushroom pasta I made last night, and leftover buttermilk from something else so I did what any reasonable person would do - I made Whoopie Pies!

And not just any Whoopie Pies, I made GIANT pink heart-shaped whoopies - cuteness!



To get the cookies the right shape, I made a paper template and traced the shape onto my Silpat with an edible marker, then I piped the cookie-cake batter onto the pan.

The filling is Nick Malgieri's ganache from Perfect Cakes, which I just got from the library. I'm a big fan of his How to Bake.

The chocolate piped on the top is these awesome Ghirardelli chips.


They melt smooth and thin so you don't have to add shortening, oil, or Paramount Crystals to make the chocolate drizzleable.

I hope your Valentine's Day is sweet!

Hearty Hot Cakes

The Starr Fellas got a special Valentine's Day treat this morning - pancakes stamped with love :)

First mix up your pancake batter. I sifted the mix to get out any lumps. Remove about 3/4 of a cup and thin it out with water. Add some food coloring to make a pretty pink. Pour it into a squeeze bottle (I snipped a bit more off the tip of the bottle to make it a little easier)

Draw a heart with the tinted batter in the hot pan.


Once the hearts begin to bubble, drop plain batter over to make the pancake


When the plain batter starts to bubble, flip 'em over and....


Viola! A sweet valentine breakfast treat!

I started to get a little fancy...


And I liked the border technique




Once I get REALLY good, I'll submit a photo to The Pancake Project, check out these amazing creations:

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