Whoopie Pies!

Mini Whoopie Pies

"A whoopie pie's a wondrous thing,

like newborn pups or early spring.

It fills the mouth with rapture sweet,

This yummy chocolate sandwich treat."

                                                                      -  Anonymous

I recently got a Babycakes Whoopie Pie maker  . . . for FREE!  So, I had to try it. Since I had all the ingredients already at home, I decided to make the classic devil's food with vanilla filling.

The whoopie pie maker is kind of along the lines of a George Foreman grill, or one of those sandwich makers. You just plug it in, wait for it to heat up, pour in your batter, close the lid, and 2 minutes later you have 12 little baby whoopie pie halves! It took 3 batches befoe I got decent looking ones, which was an acceptable amount of learning tiome. I didn't waste too much batter. Although the instruction booklet and the instruction on their website don't agree (one said use a teaspoon of batter - the other said one tablespoon) I found neither measurement to be correct. One teaspoon gave tiny little rounds that didn't even fill the cavity, and a tablespoon made slightly bigger rounds that still didn't fill the cavity. I finally put the batter into a large piping bag and just squirted in enough to fill the bottom of each little well. Perfect! They're so cute!

I used the "Creamy Vanilla Filling" recipe from the booklet, but added half of a fresh vanilla bean to it. Yum! There is a big whoopie pie debate going on about what whoopie pies should actually be filled with. A marshmallow-tpye filling or more of a creamy-frosting-y type filling. I chose what I think is actually the traditional, the creamy vanilla. The little booklet included with this maker includes recipies for both, as well as several other fillings like chocolate and cream cheese. It also several recipes for different whoopie pie flavors, such as vanilla, chocolate, red veltet and pumpkin. It evn has directions for converting a box cake mix.

And yes, I know you don't need an official "Whoopie Pie Maker" to bake whoopie pies. You can use a plain old cookie sheet with parchment paper. What I like about the maker, though, is that you get the same size everytime - no trying to match different sized tops and bottoms. I like them to look perfect! And since it makes mini sized pies, it would be no trouble at all to make a few different flavors and not feel too bad about trying more than one.

So, I am very happy with my new gagdet! The Babycakes company also has makers for cupcakes, cake pops, and donuts, which you can check out on their website HERE. I have read mixed reviews on some of them, but I have to say I am happy with the Whhopie Pie maker! These are also sold locally at WalMart and Kohls.



Cupcake Pop

Oreo Truffle Cupcake Pop

Well, by now, thanks to Bakerella and her book, we all know and love cake balls and cake pops! Even Wilton has gotten in on the act with their new book, called Pops! Sweets on a Stick. And I just discovered something really cool - a cupcake shaped mold! Now that makes life a whole lot easier if you want to make the actual cupcake shape! And the molds are very affordable! Check them out at My Little Cupcake Pop.

So this rainy Sunday I tried a batch using the Oreo Truffle recipe. I think you have to make things once to learn what you need to do to make the actually look good the next time you make them. But since it had been so long since my last post, I decided to show you, even though they are not perfect, and my photo is bad. But you get the idea. And the possibilities, both for flavors and designs are endless.

German Chocolate Cupcakes

German Chocolate Cupcakes

I love homemade coconut pecan frosting! Who needs the cake?!? Anyway, I sliced German Chocolate cupcakes in half and sandwiched the first layer of frosting in between. I added the top half and piped a border of my other favorite frosting - Hershey's homemade chocolate frosting - and plopped another nice big spoonful of coconut pecan frosting in the center of that.

For the ones I was taking to work, I layered in plastic cups with a lid. You can see something similar in a previous post, found here.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream

Red Velvet with Cinnamon Buttercream

Straight from the pages of Baked: New Frontiers in Baking comes Red Velvet Cake with Cinnamon Buttercream Icing. Moist tender cake topped with my favorite vanilla boiled buttercream frosting, to which a hint of cinnamon was added. This made a lot of cupcakes! The recipe said it made a triple layer cake, and you can never have too much cake! I added a cinnamon red hot "glued" with melted chocolate to the bottom of a chocolate chip and perched in right on top.

Ginger Carrot Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

Ginger Carrot Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

YUM! Love this frosting! It reminds me of an orange creamsicle. I've been struggling to find a cream cheese frosting that I am perfectly happy with. The flavor of this one is the best so far! It has some orange juice concentrate added to the rest of the ingredients. The frosting sits on top of a ginger carrot cake with fresh carrots and plump raisens.

Cupcake Challenge - Banana Split Cupcakes

Banana Split Cupcakes

I remember summers when I was in junior high - I think I was around 12 or so. Back in the day when you could stay out somewhere until the street lights came on and your parents did't have to worry that you had been abducted, or worse. Old enough that I was trusted to roam the neighborhood and wander down to the "shopping center". I don't think we had "malls" yet. Anyway, during the summer, when it stayed light outside until 8:45 pm or so, my friend Nancy and I would walk towards the shopping center, and stop on one of two corners before we actually got to JJ Newberry's. We stopped at either Carl's Jr. or 31 Flavors, aka Baskin Robbins Ice Cream. At Carl's Jr. we got ice tea and onion rings. At Baskin Robbins we got Banana Splits. Either way, you can't lose! Very fun times, and what I immediately though about when I read that the theme of the Hoosier Homade's Cupcake Challenge this week was Summer Fun! Of my two summertime treats, I thought a banana split cupcake seems way more appealing than a than and onion cupcake. Done deal.

So, I made a moist banana cupcake and filled it with fresh strawberry cream. I have recently discovered a WONDERFUL boiled vanilla bean buttercream frosting, so I piled my filled cupcake high with that, topping it off with chocolate ganache, chopped nuts and a cherry! My co-workers loved me this week . . . .

So wish me luck in the Cupcake Challenge! Its my first one!

Spiced Apple Cupcakes

Spiced Apple Cupcakes

Moist spice cupcakes are filled with cinnamon apples, and are topped with cream cheese frosting and a light dusting of cinnamon sugar. They smelled wonderful while baking, and taste even better.

I also took some pint mason jars, split the cupcakes, layered them with cream cheese frosting, and closed the lid. I think this would be a great way to ship cupcakes to my son in Chicago, my friend in Washington . . . wow - i can send them all over now!

Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding!

Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding

Well, this is true . . . because I don't remember my mama ever making banana pudding! Having said that, THANK YOU Paula Deen . . .this truly is delicious. I have never actually had banana pudding before so I don't really have anything to compare it to. I think I expected the typical pudding texture, but this was a light, fluffy bite of goodness. Although the recipe uses a box of vanilla pudding, the taste is all banana. And one thing I especially like - if you want to make this NOW you don't have to wait for brown-speckled over ripe bananas. Use the bananas at the ripeness stage you like them. Paula's recipe can be found here.

Enjoy!

Root Beer Float Cupcakes

Root Beer Float Cupcakes

Even I am impressed with these! Root Beer cake with boiled vanilla buttercream frosting. Dee-licious! The cake has the most tender crumb I have baked in a long time. A taste of root beer, but not overpowering. I had also made a root beer glaze to drizzle over the top, but that was overpowering, and it went down the sink. But the frosting - WOW - tastes like vanilla pastry cream. I couldn't stop stealing frosting from the bowl! I will definintly be making this frosting again. More work than typical buttercream . . . but so worth it!

Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes - MS Cupcake Club - July 2010

Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream

The goal of the Martha Stewart Cupcake club  is to make and bake all the 175 cupcake recipes in the

Martha Stewart Cupcakes book. Each month, one member of the club is selected to choose the cupcake the rest of the members bake each month. This month's recipe was chosen by Bella Baker. A blogroll of all the members is posted, and you are invited to visit the sites and see all the delicious creations!

The July selection for the MS Cupcake Club is Flourless Chocolate cupcakes. I added a topping/filling of raspberry puree, and topped it with raspberry buttercream, a fresh raspberry, and a chocolate leaf.

These did not crack and sink in the middle as I expected them too. They actually had a nice domed top, which level to flat as they cooled. Most people complaind they DID fall - well, they are supposed to. No telling why mine didn't. They taste wonderful, though!