Recipes: Valentine's Day Whoopie Pie

• Prep Time:20 minutes
• Cook Time:25 minutes

 

Tagged:
baking, dessert, dexter, jim bailey, maine, sweetie pies, valentine's day, whoopie pie, yankee chef,

A Valentine's Day Whoopie Pie is a rare treat. Thank you to Sweetie Pies of Dexter, Maine for creating a Valentine's Day Whoopie Pie just for The Yankee Chef, and by way of him, for The Food Channel.

Heather, the owner of Sweetie Pie's, was named 2016 Best New Baker by The Yankee Chef's contest, as well as the winner of his inaugural category, Best Yankee Whoopie Pie of 2016. Although lengthy looking, this recipe has been declared the best of the best when it comes to a red velvet Whoopie pie--it's no wonder she is known for having the best Whoopie Pies in New England.

 

Foodie Byte

Ingredients

Filling:
1 cup sliced, fresh strawberries
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
4 cups powdered sugar
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter or margarine, room temperature
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch of salt
For the cake:
1/4 cup butter or margarine, room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons red icing gel*
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup Dutch processed baking cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon each baking soda and baking powder
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup hot water

Preparation

In a medium saucepan, bring strawberries, water and sugar to a boil over medium low heat.
Reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes.
Remove from heat, transfer to a blender and puree on high until as smooth as possible.
Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate until chilled.
For the Cake:
Preheat oven to 350-degrees F.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or grease liberally with nonstick cooking spray.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add butter, shortening, sugar, egg, icing gel and vanilla, mixing until light and fluffy; set aside.
In a separate bowl, mix flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda, baking powder.
On low speed, beat in sour cream, buttermilk and hot water, scraping down sides as needed.
Slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture, mixing just until smooth. DO NOT OVER MIX!
Using an ice cream scoop, dollop batter onto parchment-lined cookie sheet, 2-3 inches apart.
Bake 10-12 minutes, or until springy to the touch.
Remove from oven, cool slightly before transferring to a rack to completely cool.
Meanwhile, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth.
Slowly add powdered sugar, flour and salt until well incorporated.
Fold in 1/3-1/2-cup chilled strawberry mixture until as thick or as thin as desired for filling.
Freeze leftover syrup, as it can be used for frosting, milkshakes and much more!
Scoop desired amount of filling onto one cake and top with another.

source FoodChannel http://ift.tt/1X1jIri