Big Whoop!

This may shock anyone from the Northeast - but I'd never even heard of a Whoopie Pie until I was almost 30. I had one at a company potluck and immediately asked my colleague for the recipe, which she kindly have me - and which I filed away and never made.

Now, my colleagues at Chronicle Books are coming out with a fabulous new cookbook dedicated to these wonderful little treats. Whoopie Pies has dozens of recipes for cookie-cakes and fillings that you can mix and match in any way you like - there's even savory pies for your next cocktail party!

There's been so much talk about Whoopie Pies over the last few months that I knew I'd be making some sooner or later - and today was the sooner.

I had some leftover coffee buttercream from the cupcakes I'd made for the Help for Haiti Bakesale, and just enough of everything else to make a batch of cakey-cookies and some vanilla frosting to fill some of 'em for the boy (the child doesn't like coffee buttercream- further evidence he was switched a birth)

Max and his pal Marco helped me spoon out the batter


They baked up like little dreams - I filled some with the coffee buttercream, some with the vanilla meringue buttercream, and rolled some of the coffee ones in a mix of almonds and toffee bits.
They taste - awesome! The cookie-cakes are not too sweet, and have a wonderful texture. And unlike their trendy cousin the cupcake, you get a perfect cake to frosting ratio in every easy-to-eat bite.

I did learn a few things:

• The recipe calls for sifting the dry ingredients. I skipped that step, but shouldn't have - there were a few little clumps of flour in the cookies.
• You can spoon out the batter onto the pan, or use a pastry bag. When I make these again I'll either use a pastry bag or flatten the batter a big so the baked cakey-cookies are a little shorter and easier to eat without stretching your mouth.
• I'm usually not a huge fan of powdered sugar-based frostings, so I made a 1/2 batch of Italian Meringue Buttercream from A Field Guide to Cupcakes, which was tasty - but too soft, it squishes out the side when you bit in a little more than I'd like. Rose Levy Berenbaum's version in The Cake Bible is a firmer (if I remember right, I haven't made it for a while) and ganches, and egg yolk-or cream-cheese based frostings would work much better.

Here's Sarah Billingsley and Amy Treadwell's recipe for Mocha Whoopie Pies from their upcoming book: Whoopie Pies Dozens of Mix 'em, Match 'em, Eat 'em Up Recipes!

3 tablespoons instant espresso powder (or instant coffee)
2 tablespoons water
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening
1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk


Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a small bowl or cup, mix together the instant espresso powder and water and set aside.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper.

In the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter, shortening, and brown sugar on low speed until just combined. Increase the speed to medium and beat until fluffy and smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat for another 2 minutes.

Add half of the flour mixture and half of the milk and beat on low until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the espresso-water mixture and the remaining flour mixture and milk and beat until completely combined.

Using a spoon, drop about 1 tablespoon of batter onto one of the prepared baking sheets and repeat, spacing them at least 2 inches apart. Bake one sheet at a time for about 10 minutes each, or until the cakes spring back when touched. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the cakes cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely. Fill with buttercream filing (below).

Makes about 48 two-inch cakes.

Classic Buttercream Filling

3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 to 4 tablespoons heavy (whipping) cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

In the work bowl of a stand mixer fitting with the paddle attachment, beat together the confectioners’ sugar with the butter, starting on low and increasing to medium speed, until the mixture is crumbly, about 1 minute. Add the heavy cream, vanilla, and salt and beat on high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes.

Candy Cane Cakepops

I really wanted to make some of the cute character Cakepops from Bakerella's site.
- but time got the better of me, so I opted for a simple chocolate cake + chocolate frosting dipped in chocolate and covered in crushed candy canes. Still very pretty and super tasty.

I mixed it up a bit this time, and used a Italian meringue-based frosting instead of one make with powdered sugar. I like this type of frosting much better (and I was out of powdered sugar and really, really didn't want to go to the store.)

The results were very good from a taste and texture perspective. The Italian frosting is more slick than sticky, so I don't think it would be as good if you were forming the balls into shapes, but for the regular rounds I was happy.

I also used Ghiradelli baking chips instead of candy melts. The Ghiradelli chips are FABULOUS - they melt satiny-smooth and perfect for dipping without having to add Paramont Crystals or shortening, and taste so much better than Candy Melts.



I also had visions of Cakepop Dreidels and a few other ideas that will have to wait until next year. ...

We Come in Peace from Planet Cakepop

Last week was the annual Winterfaire at the boy's school - and as per usual I committed to providing treats for the bake sale.

This year's mascot was a cute little alien - and he's even cuter as a CakePop!

Pumpkin Pops

The Mayor of Pumpkin Town approves of Pumpkin Pops

And why shouldn't he? They are delicious AND adorable! I'd planned to make black cats and ghosts as well, but the week got the better of me. I did make a whole patch of pumpkins for the Boy's class party.


Several moms asked me for the recipe - I may have created a few more CakePop converts!

When Bad Things Happen to Good Cakepops

The 2nd stage of the Carnival of Wonders that is the boy's 10th birthday was the Treats for Class. I'm usually good for some pretty decent class treats, but this year's had to be a show-stopper because it's the last one. Ever. Next year he'll be starting that Carnival of Horrors that is Middle School.

So, of course, the answer is Bakerella's Cupcake Pops - adorable, easy (if time-consuming) to make, easy to transport and serve and definitely a sure-fire way for the kid to win friends and influence people.

Everything was going fine in Cakepopland, and I left the room for a sec. When I came back, the boy was giggling uncontrollably and pointing at this....

Yep, the pop has slid down the stick, leaving the mini M&M perched at the top. I said, "Well, they must have been out of the fridge too long, let's pop 'em back in."


So we did, and 10 minutes later....


Yep, TWO had slid down and leaving their M&M toppers balancing like Pillippe Petit atop yon dizzy heights. I thought Max was going to bust a gut!

Luckily, I've rescued far worse mishaps than thus (do I have to remind you about the Tempest in a Teacup?) and was able to save them with a little bit of Candy Melt and a little bit of love.

Le Petite Gateau

It was the boy's 10th birthday this week, and being what Max calls a "cake mom" I wanted to include a special treat in his lunch. My solution? A "cake" made of Oreos covered in fondant and decorated with the candy melts that keep on giving (I've already used them for Giant Cookie and teacup Cakepops) It's a great way to use up random scraps of fondant (which keep forever in the freezer)

I have to admit this wasn't a wholly original idea - I'd seen it in an American Girl book at the Scholastic Book fair a couple of years ago and had been wanting to dry it ever since.

The best part? It fits right in Max's lunch container, and because it's fondant and candy melts, it holds up really well.


And yes, the kid got a v. unhealthy lunch of a pizzadilla, Cheez-its and a mini cake for his birthday - you only turn 10 once and you don't have to eat fresh fruits and veggies if you don't want to!

Stick It To 'Em

We had a bakesale to raise money for Habitat for Humanity at work yesterday, so I made a couple of batches of biscotti - its my go-to cookie for these kinds of things: easy & cheap (like me!) and keeps well for many days (maybe not so much like me...)

Because it's been well established that I'm a big show-off AND, I wanted to offer a great presentation that would really bring in the bucks for a fabulous organization, I packaged the cookies in these cute little bags:


The bags are little cello bags I got at the Mrs. Grossman's warehouse sale. I folded over the top a couple of times, and stapled in the center.

Then I cut a piece of pattered scrapbook-type paper into a 3.5" x 3.5"-ish square and folded it in half. I put this little "tent" over the top of the folded bag, and gave it two staples on the side.

The cute cut-out on the top is a Mrs. Grossman's Slice of Life: Homemade Cardstock Sticker. When I worked at Mrs. Grossman's, I learned that if you put a little baby powder on the back of a sticker - it takes away the stick and you can pop them off the edge - fun!

This is a short video that show other ways you can use this powdering technique for stickers: