WICKED WHOOPIES
GARDINER, MAINE

Amy Bouchard's success story is a lot like Mama's, except that while Mama was going door to door with her Bag Lady lunches, Amy was making whoopie. Whoopie pies are Amy's specialty, a recipe of her grandma's that she makes with an especially light touch. She makes the pies by sandwiching round pillows of rich chocolate cake with sweet and fluffy marshmallow crème filling. When Amy's brother suggested that she start selling the pies, she thought he was crazy, but she gave it a shot.

The first year Amy went door to door, carrying her baby girl in one arm and a basket of whoopie pies in the other. Over time, her home business picked up until it outgrew her home. Now she has made over a million dollars, and her bakery turns out 7,000 whoopie pies every day!

The recipe is the same as always, and Amy's husband, brother, mother-in-law, son, and daughter all pitch in, so the whoopie pies are still as homey, sweet, and lovingly made as ever. Amy makes 20 different pies, including maple, strawberry, pumpkin, and chocolate chip, and she uses different flavors of filling. She also guarantees that there are 10 smiles in every whoopie pie.

We had to agree that those pies were wicked good, as Mainers like to say. Then Amy presented us with her jumbo five-pound whoopie pie. We figured there were about 100 smiles in that pie?it was almost big enough to share!

Mini Whoopie Pies

There's only one reason to make whoopie pies miniature?so you can eat more of them. We love to take these cream-filled, cakey sandwiches along on picnics.

Chocolate Cakes:
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup vegetable shortening
1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk

Filling:
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup confectioners' (powdered) sugar
2 cups marshmallow crème
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 2 largebaking sheets; set aside.

2. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the shortening and granulated sugar. Beat in the eggs and the 2 teaspoons vanilla. Alternately add the flour mixture and milk, beating until fully combined.

3. Drop dough by tablespoons 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until darker around the edges and firm to the touch. Transfer cakes to a wire rack to cool completely.

4. For the filling, beat together the butter and confectioners' sugar. Beat in the marshmallow crème and the 1 teaspoon vanilla until smooth. Spoon about 1 tablespoon filling onto the bottom of a cake. Press the bottom of a second cake against filling to make a sandwich. Repeat with remaining cakes and filling. To store, layer whoopie pies between sheets of waxed paper in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 2 days.

makes about 24 pies

Copyright © 2007 by Jamie Deen and Bobby Deen. All rights reserved.