Easter Whoopies

In time for Easter this weekend I thought it would be fitting to post these Easter Whoopie Pies. Something fun to make with the kids or gorgeous enough to even bake and give as Easter treats instead of the usual eggs…

I love the texture of whoopie pies, kind of inbetween cupcake and cookie, a little spongy but with a little chew! YUM!! These ones have a lemon cream cheese filling and a choc ganache icing ( for the nest!) but make your own flavours if you like. So many combination to be made… I put Cadbury’s egg’s on top and some lemon rind to make the nest. And thanks to Deirdre Rooney for the lovely pics! (you can see its not one of the dodgy’s from my iphone!)

Let us know how your whoopies turn out…and Happy Easter!

x Amelia.

So here is the whoopie recipe I used, its taken from Sophie Gray’s “Lets Make Whoopie’s”…

140 gms plain flour
40 gms cocoa powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
70 mls buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsps espresso
80 gms butter, softened
140 gms brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten

For the sponge whoopies, preheat the oven to 200C. Line two baking trays with baking paper. Sift the flour, cocoa powder and bicarb soda into a bowl. Mix together the buttermilk, vanilla and coffee. Set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar in an electric mixer until pale. Gradually add the egg, scraping down the sides of your bowl after each addition. With the mixer on low, pour in buttermilk mixture. Fold the flour mixture through with a large metal spoon, being careful not to over-mix.
Place mixture in a piping bag fitted with a plain 1cm tip, and pipe eight even mounds of mixture onto each baking tray, giving them plenty of space. Bake for 9 minutes – they will still be very soft to the touch, so cool on oven trays completely.

My cream cheese filling recipe is:

90g butter, softened

175g icing sugar

10 mL milk

150g cream cheese, softened

1 tablespoon lemon rind, finely grated

To make the icing, beat the butter, icing sugar and milk together with an electric mixer. Continue to beat until all you have a thick but smooth and creamy mixture. Add the cream cheese and beat until incorporated.

Chocolate Ganache for the top:
125ml Double cream
60g dark chocolate
60g milk chocolate

To make the icing, break the chocolate into a heatproof bowl and place over a saucepan of simmering water. Add cream and allow to melt together. Remove from the heat and stir through until well combined. The mixture should look smooth and shiny.
Leave to cool and thicken. Sometimes on cooling the texture of the chocolate can become a little lumpy. If this occurs simply add 1-2 teaspoons of milk and stir through.

ps… the red velvet whoppies from Sophie’s book are also delicious! I got a bit carried away with colours and cute toppers..! The possibilities are endless…