Fresh Strawberry Swiss Meringue Frosting

...and a lesson in love and life from yours truly

I fully intended to use this post to describe how perfect this Swiss Meringue recipe is, but recent events in my life have lead me to this instead. Once my fingers hit the keyboard, I couldn't stop... so here it is. (If you're solely here for the recipe and not the life lesson, scroll to the bottom)

I learned a valuable lesson in love and life yesterday. Three weeks ago I decided to end my one year long-distance relationship. It was a tough decision, but one that I had been contemplating for a few weeks. Mistakes had been made recently and our lines of communication suffered due to distance and work schedules. I made up my mind to end it and did so cordially and matter of factly. There was no struggle, no fight. It was just... over. I woke up the next day with a new lease on life. I would focus on myself, get to the gym, lose a few pounds, work on my blog, reinvigorate my career and reconnect with old friends.

Root Beer Float Whoopie Pies

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!