Christmas Dessert: Whoopie Pies

I don't know if Tom would have ever asked me out (way back in high school) if it hadn't been for my mom. She won him over with her whoopie pies. I make her recipe at least once a year (to make sure Tom sticks around) but lately haven't been happy with the cake portion. They just weren't chocolaty enough for us, especially once I perfected my recipe for chocolate cakes.

My dad asked me to make whoopie pies for Christmas dessert so I decided to test out a new cake recipe. I headed over to epicurious.com and made a few changes to the recipe I found there. Epicicurious said the cakes are better on the second day and I have to agree with them. They immediately reminded me of Drake's Devil Dogs, only better.

I discovered how much easier (and cleaner) it is to fill a piping bag just by putting it in a tall glass. Why didn't I think of this sooner?!

Whoopie Pies

Adapted from Epicurious

Cakes

2 cups AP flour

2/3 cups Hershey's special dark cocoa powder (or Dutch-process)

1 teaspoon espresso powder

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla 

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1 egg

Filling

2 egg whites (use powdered egg whites with warm water)

1/2 cup Crisco

2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cakes:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

1. In a non-mixer bowl whisk flour, cocoa, espresso powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix buttermilk and vanilla together in a separate bowl/measuring cup.

2. Beat butter and brown sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until combined. Turn the mixer onto low. Add flour and buttermilk alternating between the two, and starting and ending with the flour mixture. Scrape the sides of the bowl before adding each. Mix until well combined. 

3. Scoop batter onto baking sheet (use 1-2 tablespoons of batter per cake). Bake 11-13 minutes. Tops should pop up if slightly pressed at the end of baking. Cool completely on wire rack before frosting

Filling:

Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add shortening, vanilla, and sugar until light and fluffy. Add to piping bag and frost cakes. Allow frosting to harden a few minutes before placing cake on top (otherwise cakes may slide). Store in an air tight container.