Whoopie: the recipe for American sweets

I petardalso known as Whoopie Pieare delicious sweets fromAmerica made up of two small and soft halves of cocoa cakes round shape stuffed with a marshmallow cremeprepared with egg whites, vanilla extract, sugar and icing sugar, useful to hold them together.

The origin of the whoopie is quite controversial: according to some they come from Maine while, according to others, they were born in Pennsylvania. Finally, another tradition wants them to come from the culinary culture Amish where they were prepared to reuse leftover cake batter. It seems that women put these candies in the children’s lunch box and when they find them, they exclaim in amazement: “Whoopie!”.

Whoopies are a lot ease to prepare them, you just have to pay attention to the size of the cocoa cakes you will make: they must be in even number and of same size otherwise they will not match perfectly.

Also you’ll want to make them chill well before filling them with the marshmallow creme otherwise they could fall apart.

Follow our process to make whoopies to perfection, and if you love American sweets, also try cupcakes, pancakes and traditional apple pie.

How to make whoopie

To prepare the whoopie, start with the cocoa batter: sift the flour, bitter cocoa and baking powder into a bowl. Mix well using a hand whisk 1 so that the ingredients are perfectly mixed. Put aside.

Take the milk out of the refrigerator so that it is at room temperature when you use it. In another large bowl, put the butter at room temperature and the sugar and work with an electric whisk. 2 until you get a frothy cream.

Add the egg and continue to work the dough with an electric whisk. Mix the cream 3strained lemon juice and vanilla extract.

Add a few tablespoons of cocoa-mixed flour to the butter and cream mixture 4alternating a few tablespoons of milk. Mix well with a hand whisk so that no lumps form.

When the dough is ready, form the cakes directly on a baking sheet using a spoon 5 o con a pocket bag.

Bake for about 11 minutes at 180°C and let the cakes rest 6. They must be cold before being stuffed to prevent them from falling apart.

While the cupcakes are cooling, prepare the marshmallow cream: in a saucepan, dissolve the caster sugar with the water and, when it comes to a boil, cook for about 5 minutes over medium heat. Meanwhile, in another bowl, mix the egg whites with the salt and, when the sugar and water syrup is ready, add it little by little, continuing to work with the whisk 7. When everything is cooled, add the vanilla extract and icing sugar.

Transfer the marshmallow creme to a piping bag and spread it on the flat side of a tart 8.

Cover the pancake with the other flat half of another pancake 9.

Your whoopies are ready to serve and enjoy ten.

Tips and variations

If you want to make whoopie pies for a birthday party, you can color the cupcakes using a food coloring: then add the flour without the bitter cocoa and divide the dough into two equal parts, to color with two different food colorings.

To fill the whoopie you can use buttercream or a Cream cheese made with cream cheese, ricotta and icing sugar.

storage

The whoopies will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 7 days. Before serving, leave them at room temperature for about half an hour.