Jim Hillibish| The Repository
So you’re in the South buying groceries, and there it is in cellophane, the ubiquitous whoopie pie, beside every cash register.
And you’re in a fine pastry shop in Paris and you spot them. “I’ll have that whoopie pie.”
“Silly American, you mean a macaron.”
Call it what you like. Whoopie pies bring smiles to our faces and 365 calories to our happy stomachs. They are the perfect binge food, substantial and sweet. Two will lift you on a sugar high lasting all afternoon.
When I lived in Virginia, my favorite lunch was two whoopie pies and a Yoo-Hoo, a bottled, 200-calorie chocolate drink. My body got accustomed to this nirvana and began demanding it at odd hours. I still get the urge.
Maybe this is why so many Southerners are overweight. You get hooked, and in a few years of whoopies, so what if you cannot see your shoes.
The whoopie pie is a beautiful confection, two thick pillows of soft, chocolate cookie caressing a center glob of creamy white frosting akin to Marshmallow Fluff. It’s an Oreo on steroids.
You need to know the etiquette. If you just take a big bite, your frosting will squish out the other side. No, control yourself and take little nibbles around the edges, licking the “creme” before it falls. Unlike Oreos, it’s a felony to dismember the cookie and lick the filling. Be patient.
It’s OK to have whoopie pie on your lips, hands and clothes, so don’t worry — enjoy.
Allegedly, although Southerners cringe at this, the Pennsylvania Amish invented the whoopie pie 150 years past. Find them in the Amish country of Holmes County. The Amish Door in Wilmot is marketing them worldwide.
Of course, the Maine fishermen weigh in here with their ownership claim and their name, the Gob. Maine cooks insist they were weaned on whoopie pies. They build them as big as hamburgers.
You will find whoopie pies in Amish bakeries and definitely at their farm homes. The legend goes that wives would put these “hucklebucks” in the farmers’ lunch boxes. They’d find them and yell “whoopee.” OK, that’s a stretch.
The Amish are vastly inventive cooks. They’ve experimented on hucklebucks and come up with new flavors — oatmeal, pumpkin, peanut butter, spice.
The whoopie can take many turns. They’re not all big fat Oreos. Harrods of London sells gorgeously decorated whoopies at about $5 each.
Flavors are being created as we speak. Still, there is a standard that must be met: Cake slightly dry, cream inside screaming with sweetness and, of course, agonizingly sticky.
Aficionados call whoopies “edible nostalgia.” “Iconic” is another popular description. That’s overused. Just pop a Yoo-Hoo and say, “Whoopie time.”
MORE WHOOPIE
Amish Door on Route 62 at Wilmot, Ohio, makes and markets Whoopie pies at $8.99 for a half dozen. Go to:
Whoopie fans are organized. Go to the World of Whoopie Pies at: www.whoopiepies.org
Whoopie eaters are anticipating a bible in the works. “Whoopie Pies” by Sarah Billingsley and Amy Treadwell, $16.95, is close to release. Amazon.com is taking advance orders at $11.43.
SNACK CAKE NOMENCLATURE
Moon pies often are confused with whoopie pies. Moonies are two thin cookies coated with chocolate with a thin creme filling. Some marked whoopies actually are Moonies.
Scooter pies and Mallow bars are sililar to moon pies but closer to candy.
Hostess HoHos, the rolled tubular snack, is from San Francisco and feature “creme-filled chocolate cakes elegantly enrobed in delectable confectionary coating.”
Devil Dogs, namesake of the U.S. Marine Corps, are similar to whoopies but are elongated in what look like hot-dog buns of chocolate cake.
OTHER NAMES FOR WHOOPIE PIES
Macaron
Gob
Black and white
Bob
Big fat Oreo
BFO
Hucklebuck
Toot sweet cake
Glorified devil dog
Scooter pie
Cake de creme
Choco-burger
AMISH-STYLE WHOOPIE PIE
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1 cup firmly-packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup milk
Whoopie Pie Filling (see below)
Grease two large baking sheets. Cream shortening, sugar, and egg. In another bowl, combine cocoa, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Stir the vanilla extract into the milk. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Add milk and beat until smooth.
Drop 1/4 cup batter onto the baking sheet for each cookie. Spread into a four-inch circle. Bake 15 minutes or until they are firm. Cool on a wire rack.
Spread the flat side of a cookie with a big glob of frosting. Top with another cookie an press to spread the glory.
Whoopie pies should be individually wrapped in plastic for an authentic effect.
Makes 9 Whoopie pies.
Whoopie Pie Filling (or Marshmallow Fluff):
3 egg whites, room temperature
2 cups light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sifted powdered (confectioner's) sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Mix egg whites, corn syrup, and salt. Use an electric mixer on high for five minutes.
Turn to low speed and mix in powdered sugar and mix. Add vanilla. Use immediately or refrigerate for up to three weeks.
