Whoopie pies tend to show up more frequently on food blogs and in magazines this time of year because, for some reason, pumpkin ones are a popular variation. If you're not familiar with the whoopie pie or just want to know more about where they came from, read on...
Whoopie pies are made from two flat-ish mounds of cake, about the size of a hamburger, with whipped frosting in between. They are most commonly found in New England and Pennsylvania.
Some people say they were first made by the Amish as a way to use up extra cake batter, and they are sold all over Pennsylvania Dutch country at bakeries and roadside stands (they are sometimes called "gobs"). We've read that whoopie pies were first sold commercially by a company in Boston. As for the name, it's no mystery: kids yelled "Whoopie!" when they spotted one.
The filling can be any number of things, but it should be stiff enough that the two cake halves don't collapse on each other. Many recipes call for shortening or marshmallow fluff in the frosting. Traditional whoopie pies are chocolate with a white filling, but we do start seeing a bunch of pumpkin cakes and pumpkin fillings this time of year.
Check out these recipes:
- Whoopie Pies, from Gourmet
- Pumpkin Whoopie Pies, from Rachael Ray magazine
- Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling, from Martha Stewart
- Red Velvet Whoopie Pies, from Food Buzz
And this article from Serious Eats claims whoopie pies will replace cupcakes as the handheld dessert of choice: Forget Cupcakes: Whoopie Pies are Gonna Be Big
Related: Recipe: Dark Chocolate Cake
(Flickr member beebrisk, licensed under Creative Commons)
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Oh, my! Whoopie Pies were one of the first things I ever learned to bake, back in the (gasp!) sixties! I have three brothers, so an entire batch never lasted long. I seem to remember, though, that my Mom's filling recipe consisted of a goodly amount of Crisco or something that was then whipped with other ingredients. Healthy City! They were damn good, though.
I'm originally from Western PA and now live in New England and was so confused that what I grew to love as a kid as Gobs could be called Whoopie Pies. They are still Gobs to me! And yes, my Mom also had a ridiculous amount of Crisco. We used to die the frosting in the middle red and green to make them festive xmas cookies. I love them best out of the fridge. A company in Maine makes chocolated dipped whoopies and a cake sized one - wickedwhoopies.com or something.
You can find them, individually wrapped in plastic wrap, in general stores on leafy New Hampshire highways. You can also find them at every Italian bakery in Boston's historic north end. My mom (who lives in NH) makes them with two types of filling: one with butter and one with Crisco (the color is better). Sadly, the crappy ones you can find at western (where I live) supermarkets are just pale imitations of the real deal.
I just tried them for the first time earlier this week. I bought them from a baker who sells them on etsy! They're pretty tasty!
For those in Chicago, Fox & Obel often has these in both chocolate and red velvet. I think they call them "fat boys" rather than whoopie pies, though. They're at the bakery counter.