Whoopie Pies!

I am begining to suspect that the demons of technology are trying to hold a sister back when it comes to this food blog thing. First, my camera broke a few weeks ago making it impossible to take pics of my lovely creations. And then on Friday (irony of ironies, right after I got home with my new external hard drive for backing things up) my sweet little Mac-y-poo went to sleep and would not wake up. So, she's in the shop. But you know what, I'm food blogging come hell or high water! It's most important that I blog about this weekend's events because I had a Whoopie Party! Are you like "What the heck's a whoopie party?" That's cool, I'll tell you. It's a party with good people, good conversation, the grill going, and this yummy confection called the Whoopie Pie. See image (which I took with the camera on my Blackberry) below:

Imagine chocolate cake, baked in little blobs so they're kind of like cookies, with vanilla cream frosting sandwiched between them. It's like an Oreo cookie cake, or something. I also made a version of the filling with a couple tablespoons of Nutella (hazelnut chocolate spread, nectar of the Gods) replacing some of the butter and they were A-mazing.

So the reason that this party was important really has nothing to do with Whoopie Pies. I could have made anything and the effect probably would've been the same. What is important is that it was the first large gathering I've had since I became single and got a house all to myself. It's something I knew I wanted to do almost immediately, something that's been in my heart for a long time, really, that I just couldn't do under my previous circumstances. Truly, it's got everything in the world to do with the purpose of this blog and the importance of food and cooking in my life. I wanted to open my home to my friends - some old, some I've only just met - give them a place to have a nice time and some good food to gather around. And it worked! We were successful. With the help of my awesome friend Lori, I was actually ready when people started showing up. Everyone loved the Whoopie Pies and I had enough to share with friends who couldn't come to the party and with my co-workers. I used a recipe from Epicurious.com (which I seem to have left off of the links list, I'll add it shortly). Also, it had been my intention to make a gluten-free vegan version for two friends with dietary restrictions but poor time management made that impossible. I will be sure to update this post with that recipe after I make them (it just feels wrong not to make them, you know?). So here's the recipe I used, with added commentary:

Classic Whoopie Pie Recipe (from Epicurious.com)

Ingredients:
For cakes:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup well-shaken buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg

For filling:

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups confectioners sugar
• 2 cups marshmallow cream such as Marshmallow Fluff
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation:

Make cakes:
Preheat oven to 350°F.

Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a bowl until combined. Stir together buttermilk and vanilla in a small bowl.

Beat together butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes in a standing mixer or 5 minutes with a handheld, then add egg, beating until combined well. Reduce speed to low and alternately mix in flour mixture and buttermilk in batches, beginning and ending with flour, scraping down side of bowl occasionally, and mixing until smooth.

Spoon 1/4-cup mounds of batter about 2 inches apart onto 2 buttered large baking sheets. Bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until tops are puffed and cakes spring back when touched, 11 to 13 minutes. Transfer with a metal spatula to a rack to cool completely*.

*Seriously, let them cool completely. If they're too warm, the filling gets all melty and the sandwiches don't stick together. In fact, stick 'em in the fridge after they're filled to keep this from happening.

Make filling:
Beat together butter, confectioners sugar, marshmallow, and vanilla in a bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. To make Kelly's Nutella version, replace about 2 tablespoons of the butter with 2 tablespoons of Nutella. Holy freakin' hazelnuts, it's so so good.

Assemble pies:
Spread a rounded tablespoon filling on flat sides of half of cakes and top with remaining cakes.

Cooks' notes:

• Cakes can be made 3 days ahead and kept, layered between sheets of wax paper, in an airtight container at room temperature.
  

• Filling can be made 4 hours ahead and kept, covered, at room temperature.

Whoopie!!!!