Wednesday 2 November 2011

It's Autumn, Whoopie!

A new month, a new adventure in the kitchen.

I have never tried making Whoopie Pies before, but thought I'd give these little American treats a whirl. To celebrate Autumn, Halloween and all things pumpkin. I chose a Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days recipe for Pumpkin and Cream Cheese Whoopies.

Perfect for Halloween, Bonfire Night and Autumnal days...

Time to get carving the pumpkin out, getting rid of the seeds (ready to roast with salt and pepper for a snack later!) the flesh got diced, the other bits thrown in the compost and the rest of the pumpkin sat waiting to be transformed into a jack-o-lantern whilst the whoopies were cooking.


After mixing, following a recipe which used oil not butter, I wasn't convinced that the mixture looked right at all. It looked way too flat, way too runny and a bit of a mess. The book states making sure you get 'exact' measurements so the pies fit together once cooked. I must admit, I was rather pessimistic about how they'd come out. But its all about practice and making mistakes isn't it?


The filling is the best bit though. Mascarpone cheese, vanilla and icing sugar whipped into a fluffy and light cream cheese filling. The recipe suggests using the American marshmallow treat 'Fluff' brought by the jar. Being veggie and wanting to sample my first whoopie, I left it out - but I am sure it'd add extra bounce to your whoopie filling if it was kept it. 

After 20 minutes and three batches in the oven, I it seemed I was falsely pessimistic about the outcome. They did in fact rise and they were surprisingly light and fluffy. I'm not get used to the super-fast oven I was using  so they were slightly too browned for my liking, but still, very Autumnal and they went down extremely well with family and friends. 





I'll certainly be getting my whoopie on again soon. I'm thinking Christmas, ginger and calling the filling snow?

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