Growing up in South Central Pennsylvania, I've had my fair share of whoopie pies. Traditionally an Amish dessert, you can now find them sold throughout the United States. Sometimes called a gob, both Pennsylvania and Maine stake claims to having made the first whoopie pies (obviously I'm partial to Pennsylvania, so I'll say we made them first).
My love affair with root beer whoopie pies began last year at a craft show held in Harrisburg, PA. A woman set up a fabulous booth of assorted whoopie pies, breads and cookies. I've had about every flavor of whoopie pie you can imagine but I was intrigued by the idea of a root beer float whoopie. I also bought the less unusual flavors such as red velvet, pumpkin and chocolate peanut butter. Surprisingly, out of all of the whoopie pies I sampled that day, the root beer float was by far the best. I could almost taste the fizz of the root beer inside the filling.
I found this recipe for a very similar whoopie pie a few months ago. It seemed like the perfect choice for my first post. The cakes are perfectly moist and the filling is light, creamy and delicious. I only wish it had a little more root beer flavor. Next time I might try using root beer extract rather than the root beer flavoring. I'm pretty impressed with myself for perfecting my first Swiss Meringue Buttercream. So much so, that I might never make a traditional buttercream again!
Recipe follows after the jump!
adapted from: Take a Megabite
makes 24 whoopie pies
For the Vanilla Bean Cakes:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 stick butter (8T), at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 T milk
1 t baking soda
1 t white vinegar
1 1/2 T vanilla bean paste or the seeds from 1 vanilla bean
1 tsp. vanilla extract
A roundup of most the main ingredients.
Directions:
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, and both sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and buttermilk and beat until combined. The mixture will look curdled at this point, but that's perfectly fine. It will smooth out in the next step.
In a measuring cup, combine the milk, baking soda, and vinegar. The mixture will foam and thicken. Add the milk mixture to the batter along with the flour mixture and beat on low until just combined. Add the vanilla bean paste and vanilla extract and beat on medium for about 2 minutes or until completely combined.
Using a small cookie scoop, drop 1 tablespoon of batter onto the prepared one of the prepared baking sheets and repeat, spacing them at least 2 inches apart. Bake one sheet at a time for 9-10 minutes or until the edges of the cakes begin to brown. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before filling.
For the Root Beer Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
5 large egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 1 tbs slices
2 drams root beer flavoring (sold in 1 dram bottles, so you will need 2 bottles)
1/4 lb. root beer barrel candies, finely ground in a food processor (will amount to about 1/2 cup when ground)
Directions:
Whisk the egg whites and sugar together in the bowl of your stand mixer or another bowl that’s heat proof. Place bowl over a pot of simmering water (double-boiler style) and whisk constantly until sugar is dissolved. It takes about 5 minutes. You can test whether the sugar is dissolved by sticking your finger in the mixture and seeing if it’s grainy or not. When it’s no longer grainy remove from the double boiler.
Beat on high speed using your stand mixer or an electric hand mixer for 10-15 minutes, or until the egg white mixture has turned into meringue and has increased in volume and is marshmallowy and glossy. The bottom of the bowl should be room temperature by this time.
At this point start adding the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time. Wait until the butter is incorporated before adding more. If it helps, count to 15 between adding the butter.
Once all the butter is added, add the root beer flavoring. If the mixture gets runny at this point put the bowl in the fridge for 10-15 minutes. Remove it from the fridge and begin whipping again. It will thicken up. If it gets curdled-looking, just keep whipping and it will smooth out.
Add the ground root beer candies to taste.
For tips on perfecting a swiss meringue buttercream, check this out: Whisk Kid
To Assemble:
Match the vanilla whoopie cakes up by size. Fill your piping bag and pipe the frosting onto the flat side of half of the whoopie pies. Top with another cake and press together. To keep the pies fresh for up to 3 days, wrap each whoopie pie individually in saran wrap.
What's your favorite whoopie pie?
