P
American
Whoopie Pie
Two soft, round, dome-shaped chocolate cake discs (approximately 8cm diameter, 2cm thick) sandwiching a thick layer of marshmallow cream filling (a cooked or whipped mixture of marshmallow fluff, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla). The cake should be moist, soft, and deeply chocolatey — more cake than cookie in texture. The filling should be fluffy, sweet, and white — the contrast between the dark cake and the white cream is the visual signature.
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I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
For the cake rounds
280 g
plain flour
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
75 g
cocoa powder
unsweetened
Your own market
1 tsp
bicarbonate of soda
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 tsp
fine salt
Your own market
200 g
caster sugar
Your own market
120 ml
neutral oil
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2
eggs
Your own market
240 ml
buttermilk
Your own market
1 tsp
vanilla extract
Your own market
For the marshmallow filling
115 g
unsalted butter
at room temperature
Your own market
200 g
marshmallow fluff
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
120 g
icing sugar
sifted
Your own market
1 tsp
vanilla extract
Your own market
II
The Method
1
Heat the oven to 175°C. Line two sheet pans with baking paper. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda, and salt in a bowl.
2
In a second bowl, whisk the sugar, oil, and eggs until combined. Add the buttermilk and vanilla extract and whisk again. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet until no streaks of flour remain — the batter will be thick.
3
Scoop the batter onto the prepared pans in level rounds of approximately 8 cm diameter and 2 cm thickness, spacing them well apart. Bake at 175°C for 10–12 minutes. This is the step on which the dish lives or dies: the rounds must emerge soft to the touch — a finger pressed gently into the centre should meet only the lightest resistance. An overbaked round will harden on cooling and the cake-like character that defines the format is lost.
4
Transfer the rounds to a wire rack. Allow them to cool completely before filling — warm cake melts the filling and the sandwich collapses.
5
Beat the butter and marshmallow fluff together until light and noticeably increased in volume. Add the sifted icing sugar and vanilla extract and beat again until the mixture is fully white and fluffy — it should hold a soft peak and feel airy on the spatula.
6
Match the rounds into pairs of equal size. Spread or pipe a generous, thick layer of filling onto the flat side of one round of each pair and press the second round on top, flat side down. The white filling should be visible at the perimeter — this dark-and-white contrast is the visual signature of the finished piece.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Dutch-process cocoa of high fat content; cultured buttermilk; hand-beaten marshmallow fluff made from scratch with cooked sugar syrup and gelatine; best-quality unsalted butter.
02
Estate — Good natural cocoa powder; full-fat shop buttermilk; branded marshmallow fluff beaten with quality butter; pure vanilla extract.
03
Market — Standard supermarket cocoa; buttermilk from a carton; marshmallow fluff from a jar; unsalted block butter; vanilla extract.
04
House — Any unsweetened cocoa available; acidulated milk in place of buttermilk (1 tbsp lemon juice per 240 ml milk, rested 5 minutes); jarred marshmallow fluff beaten with margarine.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Touch. A finger pressed gently onto the centre of a baked round meets only the lightest resistance — the surface yields softly without springing back hard.
◇Sight. The filled sandwich shows a clean, thick band of white filling at the perimeter — the contrast between dark cake and white cream is fully visible.
◇Sight. The beaten filling holds a soft peak and is uniformly white, with no yellow streaks of unincorporated butter remaining.
◇Where it lives or dies. The cake rounds must come from the oven soft to the touch — an overbaked round hardens on cooling and forfeits the moist, cake-like texture that separates a whoopie pie from a cookie.
Pillar V
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Buffalo Trace Distillery · Kentucky Bourbon Country
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Whisky
From British Columbia
Nothing from British Columbia holds against this yet.
Without alcohol
No pour without alcohol holds against this yet.
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The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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