So far I have managed to resist the urge to make Whoopie Pies.
Partly, because they are a bit fashionable but also because a lot of the recipes didn’t make sense to me.
Then I saw Mowie’s recipe for red velvet Whoopies with orange buttercream.
Here are the factors that led to me making them:
- I’ve always been a bit intrigued by the American’s love of red velvet cake
- I didn’t know what made red velvet cake red…or velvet
- The recipe made sense
- It only uses 1 egg
- I only had 1 egg
- Mowie manages to make all food look beautiful, I like beautiful food
- I thought they looked good for putting in packed lunches
- It uses buttermilk which I’d read can be replaced with plain yoghurt
- I still have a shedload of Greek Yoghurt
- I was stuck in the house on a rainy day with 3 dogs for company
- I wanted to make something nice for a friend who was having a bad day
- I like cake
I started on my Whoopie based mission, but then had a moment when I couldn’t remember whether baking soda was baking powder or bicarbonate of soda. So in a flash of inspiration I remembered Mowie had just been on Twitter to I twittered him the question.
Luckily he was still online and continued to give me a few tips and confidence about how much ‘red’ to put in. He even confirmed, from a Twitpic that I posted that the mixture looked just how it should.
How fabulous!
I loved having the baker himself on hand to give me help as I was baking. Thanks Mowie.
Oh and by the way, the red is from 1 whole teaspoon of red food colouring paste and I guess the velvet is that they are flavoured with cocoa. I filled mine with a buttercream made with half butter and half Philly cream cheese and I added fresh vanilla bean seeds.
The Whoopie Pies have gone down very well with everyone and fascinated the kids (and teachers) at George’s school when he turned up with them in his lunch bag.
Yay for Whoopie Pies and Live Twitter help!
Here is Mowie’s original recipe: Red Velvet Whoopie Pies.
Jodie Nicholson
September 30, 2010
I came here via your pic on Flickr, so I could see the story about making those delicious-looking Whoopie Pies….then saw your pic with the Twitter feed and laughed because I’m in it..and it’s the tweet about me being a moron. Ha!
thingswemake
September 30, 2010
I thought it might make you laugh!
David
September 30, 2010
These are gorgeous, I take the tops off and eat those then devour the bottom with the cream against my tongue 😀
fattydumpling
September 30, 2010
Toohoo…I just had to laugh at this title. Making whoopies… These things look so absolutely soft and delicious–yum. Wow, they’re big too!
thingswemake
September 30, 2010
Thanks! I put that picture in of my boy eating one to show the size of them. They are quite a mouthful!
heather
September 30, 2010
pitch perfect whoopies! always best when they span the width your hand!
cheers,
*heather*
thingswemake
September 30, 2010
Thanks Heather. They sure are hearty!
Big Boys Oven
October 1, 2010
one word , gorgeous!
thingswemake
October 1, 2010
Thank you so much for the lovely comment!
Pretty. Good. Food.
October 1, 2010
These look great! Beautiful photos 🙂 Can’t wait to give this a try. I’ve yet to make red velvet whoopie pies 🙂
Teresa
October 2, 2010
“Red velvet” cakes are red because traditionally beetroot was used (in a similar manner to carrot), and acidic conditions (through the use of buttermilk) cause a chemical reaction to take place with the chocolate, enhancing the red colour.
I’ve been googling recipes the past few days, so think I may just have to make this!
thingswemake
October 2, 2010
Oh! Thanks for that info. Best of luck with your pies!