Strawberry and Blackberry Whoopie

Published article Friday 1st August featuring myself as in the August/September issue of “Xcite” C.ex Group Magazine presenting my “Strawberry and Blackberry Whoopie” is displayed below with story and recipe.

The Whoopie pie is an American baked good that could be regarded as a cookie, pie or cake and is made up of two round shaped individual baked pieces of cake sandwiched with a sweet creamy filling or frosting. According to Amish legend it has been common for a long time to find roadside farm stalls offering these delights. The Amish have provided food for these stalls using customarily family recipes handed down through generations. The Whoopie pies were considered a special treat as they were initially made from leftover batter, when children found these treats in their lunch bags they would shout “Whoopie!”

Ingredients make 65 petit, 30 small or 15 large Whoopie

125 g butter soft

½ tsp vanilla sugar

165 g caster sugar

1 egg (50g)

310 g self raising flour

75 g milk

75 g strawberry coulis

2 drops red colour

Method

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Beat butter, vanilla sugar and caster sugar with an electric mixer until light and creamy. Add egg and mix evenly. Mix in the milk, strawberry coulis and flour until evenly combined. Cover baking tray with baking paper, pipe or spoon mixture making even sized round shapes. Whoopie batter weight is 6 g for petit 3.5 cm, 12 g for small 5 cm and 24 g for 8 cm. Bake for approx 10 minutes until golden and firm. Allow cooling before assembling the pies.

Note: Strawberry coulis is 50 g strawberries and 25 g caster sugar boiled and blended to a sauce. Strawberry jam may also be used as an alternative.

Blackberry buttercream

Ingredients

125 g butter

70 g icing sugar

50 g blackberries coulis or jam

Method

Beat the soft butter with an electrical mixer to a smooth consistency and blend in the icing sugar. Whisk mixture until airy and silky. Add blueberries and whisk for further 3 minutes. Turn a Whoopie disk upside down and pipe a ring of blackberry buttercream on it. Place another Whoopie disk on the buttercream. Transfer the finished covered Whoopi’s to the fridge for approx. 30 minutes before serving.