Boston Cream Pie Whoopies
Boston Cream Whoopie Pies ~ This is my new favorite Boston Cream Pie recipe. Want to know the secret to making a great tasting and perfectly shaped whoopie pie? Keep reading to find the secret to whoopie goodness-and uh, to clarify, I’m talking about how to make whoopie pies.
Let me start by saying, I know maraschino cherries are not traditional on any Boston Cream Pie recipe, but these whoopie pies were begging for a cute accessory. Extraneous? That depends on your taste.
If you are a regular reader of BR you know I just recently made Salted Caramel and Chocolate Stout Whoopie Pies. The recipe for the whoopie cakes took me a few runs to nail down, so when I finally turned out a batch of delicious whoopie cakes with perfect round domes – I was ecstatic.
Fast forward a few days to when I took the vanilla whoopie cakes out of the oven-I was so disappointed. While they tasted great, the vanilla whoopie cakes lacked all the height and the round dome of the stout ones. Eighty whoopie cakes later, I should have called it a day. But determination over ruled laziness and I headed to the store to buy my hypothesized secret ingredient for round two.
Most of you know-for those of you who don’t, let me say I have no formal training in baking and most of what I discover and create is through learning from trial and error and process of elimination.
So here’s what I discovered . . . . the secret ingredient to perfectly shaped whoopie cakes: carbonation.
Keeping all appropriate ingredients proportional to my chocolate stout whoopie cakes, I realized the key difference was the beer. To be more exact, my thought process went with the idea that it was the carbonation in the beer that gave the batter the extra air to create the round dome. Putting that to the test I went and bought vanilla cream soda and plain carbonated water. After three rounds of testing I can confidently report that all those bubbles will definitely leave you with some nice round whoopie cake domes.
See the difference in the picture on the left? It’s has twice the height. Now for the more important question – taste. I can tell you there are no noticeable taste differences and only a minor difference in texture. That said if you don’t want like the idea of soda in your batter, you can use carbonated water. If neither appeals to you or neither is handy you can replace the one-third cup of soda or carbonated water with milk (that’s in addition to the milk already in the recipe) and still have an equally tasty whoopie cake albeit and little more vertically challenged one.
A few notes:
- The whoopie cakes can be made two days in advance and kept tightly covered at room temperature. If the whoopie cakes are stacked for storage, be sure to place parchment paper between each layer.
- The pastry cream can be made 3 days in advance.
- Fully assembled whoopies are best eaten the day of.
- * The one-third cup of soda or carbonated water can be replaced with milk (that’s in addition to the milk already in the recipe). Keep in mind the whoopie cakes will still taste great, but will just be flatter.
Boston Cream Whoopie Pies
Makes 20-24 1 ½ inch Whoopie Pies
Preparation: Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line bake sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.
Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1tablespoon baking powder
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 1 egg
- ½ cup vanilla cream soda or plain carbonated water*
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup milk
Instructions:
- Place baking soda in the sour cream and whisk to combine; set aside. Sift together flour and baking powder; set aside. In another bowl combine egg, soda and vanilla; set aside.
- Place sugar and butter in a bowl fitted with a paddle attachment and cream until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla cream soda and mix to combine. (Mixture may look curdled at this point, but keep moving ahead; as the batter will be fine once the remaining ingredients are added).
- Add milk to sour cream mixture and mix to combine. Starting with the flour mixture and ending with the milk and sour cream mixture, add mixtures to the batter in 3 additions. Mix until just combined after each addition.
- Place finished batter in a pastry bag with fitted with a round tip and pipe 1 ¼ inch drop of batter spaced 1 inch apart. Use the back of a spoon to flatten peaks. Bake one sheet at a time at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Let cakes cool on the bake sheet for 3 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Pastry Cream:
Click here for the recipe.
Chocolate Pouring Sauce:
Click here for the recipe and double it.
Assembly:
Fill pastry bag with pastry cream or using a spoon, place 1 teaspoon of pastry cream on a whoopie cake and place the second whoopie cake on top.
*See post notes
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This is so smart, and the kind if thing I love to do!! I bet they’re scrumptious too!
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Is this the recipe for vanilla whoopie pies? It has cocoa and espresso powder? The picture looks amazing-I can’t wait to make them!
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Naomi replied: — March 30th, 2011 @ 6:44 am
Hi Megan,
Whoops! I was cutting and pasting from my other recipe. I’ve corrected the recipe.
Thanks!
Naomi
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Looks awesome! I know what I will be making this weekend.. between shaping and baking birthday cakes!
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I’ve been wanting to get on the whoopie pie bandwagon and now I have found the recipe to to finally get in gear! Those are so fun looking and I bet they are just as delicious. Btw, I always add a cherry atop my Boston Cream Pie cupcakes. Definitely accessorize!
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So cute. Love the main picture and a very creative play on the traditional dessert :)
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YUM!! And so darn cute :)
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The carbonation definitely makes sense. Batter for things like fried fish is always puffier and tastier with the addition of club soda or beer too. I haven’t had a whoopie pie in ages. They look great, Naomi!
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I am always so impressed with the effort you put into your recipes! They look great, Naomi!
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naomi, these look amazing!
what a creative idea.
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This is a fantastic tip that I will definitely try. My whoopie pies are almost always a flat (but tasty) mess. Thanks for sharing your fizzy secret!
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Naomi ~ every single time i come here, i’m blown away by your talent! and to think you have no training is just beyond my comprehension!!! LOVE!!
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super cute!!!! love them. YUM!
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Those are insanely adorable! I’m whoopie pie crazy right now and I can’t wait to try the carbonated addition. What a great find!
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Don’t let my hubby see these! He’s a Boston cream doughnut addict, so I know he’d demand that I make them and then promptly eat them all before I got any. :)
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Hello! Just found your blog in a search for whoopie pies. Looooove the recipe. How big are these once baked? They look mini when piped out.
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Naomi replied: — March 30th, 2011 @ 11:37 pm
Hi Cakestory- They turn out to be 11/2 inches in diameter. You can certainly make them bigger. I just like to make them smaller.
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OMG… amazing, like always. I adore the cherry on top. I don’t think they’re extraneous at all. Cute food is awesome… you eat with your eyes first!
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Wow, that’s amazing the difference the carbonation makes. I’m always impressed by your creative thinking.
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I love it when dessert gets accessorized! So cute… and delicious, too!
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Smart thinking on the carbonation! The cherry on top is adorable!!
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Oh, those are DARLING!
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These are totally cute! Love!!
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Absolutely giddy here over how adorable these are. And boston cream pie-cake is one of my favorite cakes (and doughnut flavors). Just genius!
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These are insanely cute. Its such a wonderful idea. Thank you for the recipe tips
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These are gorgeous!!! Love :-)
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Thanks for sharing your secret tip!
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These are amazing! And Beautiful. Such a great job.
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I have a pretty strong love for whoopie pies. And this recipe hits all the right spots
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Naomi, you are one clever girl! I just admire you & your work is wonderful. I love your photos.
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Naomi – thanks for the tip. I’m going to have to try that one out. Your whoopie pies are just beautiful, BTW.
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These turned out just perfect, Naomi! So adorable.
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