Monday, October 11, 2010

This week on Oh So Sinfully Delicious, we decided to make the ubiquitous whoopie pie, a baked goodie that has made an appearance on every die hard food blogger. So for those who have not heard of the whoopie pie, what exactly is it? A cookie? Cake? Some sorta pie? Well we aren't sure, but what we do know for sure is that they are seriously good. The recipe below was taken from the super cute blog, Bakerella. Bakerella got this particular recipe from the cookbook, Whoopie Pies: Dozens of Mix 'em, Match 'em, Eat 'em Up Recipes, by Sarah Bilingley and Amy Treadwell. For the filling we used a cream cheese filling taken from Cookstr (It's basically the same from our Pumpkin cake). Any changes we've made to the recipe are written in italics. Happy Baking!


Classic Chocolate Whoopie


1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening (we did not have any veggie shortening on hand so we just doubled the amount of butter to 8 tablespoons)
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. (Wax paper is just as effective)

3. In a bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.

4. In another bowl, beat butter, shortening (if you are using it), and sugar with a mixer on low until just combined. Increase speed to medium and beat for about 3 minutes. The good old wooden spoon was our mixer, it's retro but it works!

5. Add half of the flour mixer and half of the milk and beat on low until incorporated. Repeat with remaining flour and milk and beat until combined.

6. Using a tablespoon, drop batter on baking sheet two inches apart. Bake for about 10 minutes each or until pies spring back when pressed gently. Ours took less than 10 minutes. Keep an eye on them after 5.

7. Remove from oven and cool for about five minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.

1 Tablespoon of batter should make about 48 two-inch cakes of 24 pies.

2 Tablespoons of batter should make about 30 four-inch cakes of 15 pies.



Cream Cheese Filling*

3 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Sift the confectioners' sugar into a medium bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until it is completely smooth, with no visible lumps. Add the cream cheese and beat until combined. (Once again, totally do-able without a mixer)

Add the confectioners' sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth. Be careful not to overbeat the filing, or it will lose structure.

*We halved the recipe

Dolce de Leche filling
Assemble the Whoopie Pies (Directions taken from Cookstr):

1. Turn half of the cooked cookies upside down (flat side facing up.)

2. Use an ice cream scoop or a tablespoon to drop a large dollop of filling onto the flat side of the cookie. Place another cookie, flat side down, on top of the filling. Press down slightly so that the filling spreads to the edges of the cookie. Repeat until all the cookies are used. Put the whoopie pies in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to firm up before serving.

3. The whoopie pies will keep for up to 3 days, on a parchment-lined baking sheet covered with plastic wrap, in the fridge.

Ann's Thoughts

Now I have to admit, that for a girl who loves to bake, I've never heard about whoopie pies. It was Ana who introduced me to these treats. American in origin, they seem to be gaining more popularity, and according to Ana, these are supposedly the new cupcakes. So which is better, cupcakes or whoopie pies? At first I had agreed with Ana that whoopie pies are better, but it's really hard to decide because they are so different that you really can't compare the two. What's cool about whoopie pies is that they have this cake-like texture that are shaped into cookies, I can think of tons of different whoopie pies to make, like an espresso version with a mocha filling, a cookie dough one with a vanilla cream filling, or what about a banana with a chocolate chip filling? I could go on with this but I'll let you guys try the classic chocolate version and let your imaginations create new possible flavours and whoopie pie combinations.

Ana's Thoughts

Two little chocolate cakes filled with cream cheese filling = Whoopie Pies.

Whoopie Pies =100% Yumminess. That's a fact (just look at the pictures. haha).

When you are craving for chocolate cake and can not or do not want to wait for 2 hours just make whoopie pies instead. The whole process, from sifting the flour to filling the whoopies, took 45-50 min. The whoopies themselves took less than 10 min. to bake.

It was so fast and so simple and the result was so sinfully delicious! =) The cakes are so light and airy it melts in your mouth. The bitterness of the cocoa contrasts perfectly with the sweetness of the cream cheese filling. Yum yum! There are two left in the fridge and I am using all my self-control to not eat them all and leave them for my housemate. E., hurry up or you won't get to taste them! ;)

Bake on people!
'Til next week. ;)
Our little Whoopie Monster! Watch out, he may cause addiction!
Receita em Português:

1 2/3 xíc. de farinha
2/3 xíc. cacau em pó, sem adição de açúcar
1 1/2 colher (chá) de bicarbonato de sódio
1/2 colher (chá) de sal
4 colheres (sopa) de manteiga sem sal, temperatura ambiente ( 57g)
4 colheres (sopa) de gordura vegetal (57g) (pode ser substituída por manteiga)
1 xíc. de açúcar mascavo, aperte na xícara antes de medir
1 ovo
1 colher (chá) de baunilha
1 xíc. de leite

Modo de preparo

1. Pré aqueça o forno a 190ºC. Forre uma assadeira de beiradas baixas com papel manteiga.
2. Peneire a farinha, o cacau, bicarbonato e o sal.
3. Numa outra tigela, bata a manteiga, gordura vegetal e o açúcar em velocidade baixa até combinar. Aumente a velocidade para média e bata por mais 3 minutos. Adicione o ovo e a baunilha e bata por mais 2 minutos.
4. Acrescente metade da mistura de farinha e metade do leite e bata em velocidade baixa até ficar homogêneo. Repita o processo.
5. Com uma colher de sopa faça bolinhas e coloque na forma, deixando um espaço entre elas. Leve para assar por 10 minutos ou até que pressionados, não afundem. Os nossos bolinhos assaram em menos de 10 minutos. Fique de olho após 5 minutos.
6. Retire do forno e deixe descansar na forma por 5 minutos e deixe esfriar por completo em uma grade.

Recheio:

Usamos o mesmo recheio do bolo de abóboras.



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