Whoopie Pies

Fancy some chocolately goodness? How about a bite-sized cake made up of two halves filled with a buttery oozing filling? If that sounds good to you, then I'd like to introduce you to the Whoopie Pie. (I first came across these little beauties on Donal Skehan's Good Mood Food Blog). Originally made as a dessert for the working men of New England, they can be a rather fantastic little dessert or party snack. The cakes bake with a lovely soft crusty and are deliciously sweet and rich.

Preheat your oven to 180 Celsuius and line some baking trays. For the cakes you will need the following ingredients. This will make about 16 cakes.

120g butter
190g sugar
2 eggs, beaten
270g plain flour
5 tablespoons cocoa powder (good quality!)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
250ml of milk (or buttermilk for extra richness)

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. In another bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients. Slowly add the eggs, vanilla extract and some of the dry ingredients to the eggs in order to bring the mixture together. Continue to add the flour along with the milk. The end result whould be a thick, rich batter, which has a smooth creamy texture.

Place nice rounded spoonfuls of the mixture (think small dessertspoon) on the baking trays, making sure to leave plenty of room between, as these little bad boys will expand in the oven. Bake in the oven for 15 mins, or until springy to touch. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tray. Transfer carefully to a wire rack to cool fully.

While the cakes are cooling, it's time to make the buttery filling. It's pretty easy - just mix the following ingredients together until smooth.

250g icing sugar
170g butter
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Once the cakes are cool, select two evenly sized halves, and sandwich together with a generous dollop of the filling. I didn't use too much in mine, as I don't want it to ooze all the way out. However, feel free to layer in as much filling as you want! Finally, the best part - enjoy!