Saturday, May 15, 2010

The Whoopie Pies that Killed "Pierre"


Well, not really. This was the batch of cookies.. or um .. cakes.. that made the mixer rattle.... and um...ultimately revealed that it was defective. It wasn't like I was making bread.. like 5 loaves of it or 6 dozen cookies (my mixer was supposed to be able to handle 4 loaves of bread or 5 dozen cookies..,) so that the mixer would just overheat and die in those cases... I was mixing cake batter.... a very small portion too. I only used half an egg... yep.. small. I dream one day, KitchenAid would think about the bakers who bake tiny portions... who only need a 1 to 1.5 quart mixer for small batches of cookies.. cakes... and frosting...wouldn't that be perfect for me????

I read a lot of blogs and news about food. One thing that people seem to agree on is that... Whoopie Pies are going to be the next "it" dessert. (I beg to differ.) First it was the Cupcakes.. then Yogurt?.. then Macarons... now.. Whoopie Pies. I mean, I've seen it on the menus at some bakeries and bake shops close by, but have never dared to try it. Maybe I should have before I tried to make it myself. This was adapted from the NY Times recipe, surely a recipe posted on that paper should be "the real deal" right? Well, maybe it was the fact that my mixer was dying... during the last steps of making this.. or that I didn't know whoopie pies are supposed to taste like.. but whoopie pies.. just.. aren't that great! They're bland, a tad dense, nice soft/silky texture outside, but kind of dry. I think I can follow recipes pretty well, but this one.. just doesn't cut it. It looks cute.. kind of sloppy, but very home made. I guess that's why they've been selling those whoopie pie pans at Williams Sonoma and Sur La Table.. just so people can achieve that perfect round "pie" shape and size (I've also seen it piped.) I prefer cupcakes. You want a whoopie pie.. my way?... Take a cupcake... slice it horizontally... put filling in the middle and eat it. I think I'd enjoy that more. I love spongy/airy/light things.. maybe that's why I love cake more than this. haha

I think it's supposed to taste like a cake..or a fake oreo...? I can kind of see that. I think if my batter wasn't so tall and mounded, it would taste pretty good. (I thought they would spread out a bit more.) The batter was much thicker than a regular cake batter. I should have rapped the pan on the ground a few times. The traditional filling is similar to marshmallow fluff, which I'm sure would be delicious, but I only had cream cheese frosting that I made a few days back. I've had a few pies. I did end up filling a bunch of them, and threw them into the freezer. I read somewhere that people enjoyed eating them frozen. It's kind of like eating one of those ice cream sandwich bars .. you know the one with the chocolate cookie/cake thing.. but just times that cookie by 6 or 7.... If I wanted to eat a good sandwich.. I'd opt for two cookies... and ice cream in the middle.. or frosting would be good too... or well, I think I'd like my macarons more because the flavors really pop in those! Maybe that is a West Coast thing... these whoopie pies are an East Coast dessert. Worth the hype? Sure! Things that are sweet, portable, packable, and easy to make are always going to be hyped up to a certain degree. I might try another recipe.. or cheat and do the cake mix version (too much sugar :-/ !) I also want to try the pumpkin whoopie pies next... those look pretty tasty!

Recipe: Chocolate Whoopie Pie - NYTimes.com



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