Chocolate Buttermilk Whoopie Pies with Raspberry Marshmallow filling

Whoopie pies are an American baked good item that have seen a huge surge in popularity recently, even here in Canada. A certain coffee chain sells miniature red velvet ones (for a not so miniature price) and strangely sell the same ones in their Canadian stores as they do in their Edinburgh stores. 

I've tried making these a couple of times with limited success. Often the cake bit is too large and can get sticky after a few hours. This particular recipe is adapted from the Wilton baking site - since I bought their specialty pan to make these (yes, I do have a weakness for baking pans (and shoes of course)) - however, I adapted to using my favourite 'dump' method, probably just because it's easier and doesn't use butter. Here is the Wilton recipe. 

This cake recipe is very nice, it's a light and tender chocolate cake. The tenderness is mainly due to the buttermilk.

The filling I used here is a marshmallow filling that I added a raspberry syrup to along with some red food colouring. I keep forgetting that adding red food colouring often results in something that looks too much like Pepto!. Anyway, tastes good.

One additional note. I halved the cake parts, I felt that sandwiching two of the cake disks together created something just too big. We'll see if the kids agree.

Here is my adaptation:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened canola oil
  
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk

Makes:

12 whoopie pies (24 cakes total)

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray Whoopie Pie Pan with nonstick cooking spray.
• Sift flour and cocoa together (because cocoa can be clumpy) into the bowl of a stand mixer, add remaining dry ingredients.
• In a 2-cup measuring jug, add the buttermilk, 1/2 cup canola, the egg and the vanilla extract
• "Dump" the wet into the dry and mix on med low just until everything is well mixed - you are not trying to incorpoaret too much air into this cake batter. 
• Spoon 2 tablespoons of batter into each cavity; spread batter to the edges. Cavity should be about 2/3 full.
• Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the top of the cake springs back when touched. Allow cakes to cool in pan 8 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely before filling. To assemble pies spread or pipe filling on one cake (half) and sandwich with another cake (or cake half)

Filling

Ingredients:

• 6 tablespoons butter, softened (this is 85 grams)
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar , sifted
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 jar (about 7 ounces) marshmallow creme(I use Fluff brand) - you can find this in the grocery store near the ice cream and chocolate sauce type items.
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extractor 1 tablespoon raspberry syrup
• Food colouring as desired

Makes:

About 2 1/2 cups of filling, enough to fill 12 whoopie pies.

Instructions:

• In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter until fairly soft and creamy. Add sugar and salt and mix well. 
• Add marshmallow crème and vanilla mixing on low just till blended. This stuff is not easy to get out of the jar.
• Use immediately to fill whoopie pies or refrigerate covered up to 1 week. Bring back to room temperature and lightly beat before using.
• For ease in filling, spoon into a disposable piping bag (or a zippy freezer bag) cut off the point of the bag and pipe. No decorating tip needed.