These aren’t the most delicate of cakes. Boulder-like in appearance, they are intimidatingly inconvenient to eat without getting jam in your ear and crumbs down your top. I mean, sticky fruity goo lodging uncomfortably in your oral crevices is a complete nightmare.
Lumpy and slightly misshapen, these whoopie pies are a deceptive ugly duckling, transforming into a soft spongy swan the moment you first bite into them. If you can manage to get your mouth around them that is. Unintentionally enormous, they demand a tactical approach to avoid whoopie-on-face syndrome. Slightly overestimating the size of an unshelled walnut (which I think is an ambiguous size reference anyway…) they grew from dainty little morsels to saucer-sized rocks faster than you could say whoopie.
Shouting out “Whoopie!” at the excitement of seeing these marshmallow-filled confections is indeed where the name for these un-pie-like pies originated. According to food historians, whoopie pies are believed to have been baked by Amish women for the farmers’ lunchboxes, where upon opening and discovering the sweet surprise, they would down spades and pitchforks, leap onto a nearby hay bale, and exclaim a “Whoopie!” of joy at the sight. Sort of like a scene from Oklahoma. Without the singing. Ok, ok, I made up the hay bale bit. And the spades and pitchforks. But they were exuberant and grateful and that’s what matters. I’ll be damned if you don’t shout out “Whoopie!” after a bite of one of these goodies.
Raspberry and Coconut Whoopie Pies
From Short and Sweet by Dan Lepard
Makes 5 (says the recipe, but we definitely made more, and they were BIG! I feel like maybe I got the numbers for this wrong somewhere along the way…)
Ingredients
For the cakes
- 100g unsalted butter
- 1 large egg
- 150g caster sugar
- 125g soured cream
- 50ml milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 275g plain flour
- ¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 100g desiccated coconut
For the marshmallow filling
- 100g white marshmallows
- 25ml milk
- 125g very soft unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp raspberry jam
Line a baking tray with non-stick paper and heat the oven to 180°C.
Melt the butter in a saucepan and then set aside. In a mixing bowl, beat the egg until light and fluffy using an electric whisk, then gradually beat in the sugar, a third at a time, until thick and glossy. Beat in the melted butter, sour cream, half the milk and vanilla. Sift the flour and bicarb into the mixture and beat until smooth. Add in the desiccated coconut and the other half of the milk and mix until smooth.
Pipe or spoon balls of the mixture, the size of an unshelled walnut (…), onto the baking tray, spaced 3-4 cm apart. Sprinkle over a little extra coconut and then bake for about 13-14 minutes until almost evenly golden on top. Allow to cool slightly then transfer to a wire rack to cool and bake the remaining mixture.
Heat the marshmallow and milk in a saucepan over a low heat. When half melted, take off the heat, beat with a hand whisk until smooth then leave to cool. Beat the butter until creamy then gradually beat this into the marshmallow mixture until whipped and smooth. Mix in the raspberry jam. Sandwich two ‘cakes’ together with the marshmallow filling, then dust the cakes with icing sugar.