[Judy]

Now, all you folk in Pennsylvania and Maine have probably grown up with these sweet treats (also known as 'gobs'), and lots of you in other parts of the US probably know about them too, but here in the Antipodes we can be kind of late adopters of certain things.

I've just discovered Whoopie Pies and aren't they fantastic?! Kind of a cross between a soft biscuit ... er, cookie .... and a slice of cake, with the icing/frosting on the inside. So far we've tried the traditional flavour - chocolate with marshmallow filling. They were .... okay. But the ones that really have us all excited are Carrot Cake with Honeyed Cream Cheese filling. They are superb!

I'm keen to try some Gingerbread ones, and I found a recipe for Spiced Pistachio ones with Rosewater filling.

There's a bit of history and a photo on Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whoopie_pie and plenty of recipes online
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[KYHeirloomer]

Judy, could you check that link, please. All I get is a message saying there's no such article at Wikipedia.

[sweetbabyjames]

Having lived in NH, and practically survived on Whoopie Pies for several years there, I think I can consider myself something of a connoisseur. Though NH makes okay WPs, the absolute best, and what I think of as the quintessential WP, comes from Maine.

Then there was a Whoopie Pie explosion across the US but what's become popularly known as a Whoopie Pie in other states isn't the same. I'm amazed and continually disappointed at how much they can vary. What I've come to think of since as the "standard" WP is a dense cookie-cake hybrid with frosting or marshmallow filling, both usually overly sweet and underly satisfying.

The original, if you don't mind me saying, is something in a class of its own. The cake part is more like a cross between a pancake and a cocoa-rich chocolate cake. It's fairly dry and very dark. The filling is a plain, light, probably veg shortening atrocity that even feels slightly chalky but complements the cake *to perfection*. The whole thing is a strangely dry, velvety, cocoa-y experience that takes a solid 16 ounces of milk to get through. There's one market two towns away from me now that sells real Whoopie Pies from Maine and I no longer bother with anything else.

I wish I could send you one. Do you think it would be allowed? (Do they have Whoopie Pie sniffers at the border?)

[Judy]

SBJ, thanks so much for an insider's view. We found the 'original-recipe' WPs that I baked too sweet, whereas the Carrot Cake ones were perfect. I've looked at a lot of recipes that call for veg shortening, which isn't an ingredient that is easy to get here ... or at least, I've never gone looking for it.

I wish you could send me one, but if those border dogs are beagles, they'll have it sniffed out and eaten in no time!

KYH, sorry about the link, I left a strategic comma at the end, but have now edited it out.
_________________
Doing what you like is freedom
Liking what you do is happiness

www.cupcakerecipebook.com.au

[RussNH]

I and my wife and 4 kids went camping two weeks ago at Pawtuckaway state park in NH. It was hot as blazes but thankfully we lived in the water all week. Great, great fun. Anyway, on the last full day of our time we had a "dessert" lunch. I never, ever, ever do this. But once in a millennium isn't bad. I chose to have a chocolate whoopie pie. It was huge and awesome. I almost went into a sugar induced coma on the spot!

[Griffin]

Phew! I'm so glad you explained... there I was thinking, I haven't seen Whoopi Goldberg for a while... YIKES!!! Is this why???!!!!

I am relieved that she has not been made into pie... and so most likely is she!
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