Pink Lemonade Whoopie Pies

Posted: June 23rd, 2010 | Jessie | | Tags: lemon, strawberry, whoopie pie | 3 Comments »

This past weekend was Pat’s grandfather’s 85th birthday.  I was very excited when I found out it was a pot luck.  I love sharing food with new people.  Pat suggested I make these chocolate caramel slices.  Pat suggests these bars for almost every occasion, but with good reason – they’re delicious, rich, and always a crowd pleaser.

But I have this problem.  I really hate making the same thing twice.  There are so many great recipes out there I constantly want to try something new.  I did end up making the caramel slices, but I placated myself by making a second (and entirely unnecessary) dessert.  Since I bought my new cookbook:  Whoopie Pies I’ve been on a serious whoopie kick.  This book encourages you to mix and match fillings.  Strawberry and lemon struck me as seasonal appropriate, and when you put them together what do you get?  Pink lemonade.  Perfect for a springtime potluck.

I’m going to be honest.  These aren’t the best whoopies I’ve made.  The frosting was delicious, but the cake fell a little flat – both literally (they didn’t really have the signature dome) and taste-wise.  I’ve upped the amount of lemon zest below to tackle the taste issue.  I’m not entirely sure why they were flatter than the chocolate ones.  They actually have more leavening.  I think some recipe testing is in order.  Having said that I would definitely recommend these if you want to try whoopie pies, but aren’t a chocolate lover.  If you do like chocolate, however, you might want to try these or these.

Lemon Whoopies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temp.
4 tbsp. vegetable shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (packed) brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
Grated zest of 1 3 lemons (I think these could really use stronger lemon so I increased the amount of zest)
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375°.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl whisk together: flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

3. In the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter, shortening, and both sugars until light and creamy, about 3 minutes.

4. Add the eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla.  Beat on medium speed until completely combined, about 2 minutes.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

5. Alternate adding the flour mixture and buttermilk.  Begin and end with the flour.  Mix until combined.

6. Using a small cookie scoop or tablespoon, drop batter onto the prepared cookie sheets.  Space them at least 2 inches apart.  Bake one sheet at a time for about 12 minutes or until the cakes spring back when you touch them.  Remove the sheet from the oven and let the cakes cool on the sheet for at least 5 minutes before transferring them to  a rack to cool completely.  I definitely recommend cooking your whoopies one sheet at time.  They will cook much more evenly.

Strawberry Buttercream

I was sort of frustrated when I made these because the recipe as written in the book didn’t yield enough filling for all of the whoopies.  I’ve doubled it below so you’ll have more than enough.  You might even end up with a little leftover – I’d recommend spreading it on a graham cracker and topping it with some fresh strawberries.

4 cups confectioners sugar
1 cup freeze dried strawberries
12 tbsp. (one and a half sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
6 tbsp. Marshmallow Fluff
4 tbsp. all purpose flour
2 tbsp. milk

1. In work bowl of a food processor, pulse the sugar and the strawberries until the strawberries are crushed into very small pieces.  If you don’t have a food processor you could grind the strawberries using a mortar and pestle.

2. In the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the sugar-strawberry mixture, butter, vanilla, Marshmallow Fluff, flour, and milk starting on low speed and increasing to medium.  Srape down the sides of the bowl occasionally and continue to beat until mixture is smooth and creamy, about 4 minutes.

To assemble cakes:

Face all of your whoopies flat side up.  Put a heaping scoop of buttercream on top of half the whoopies.  Top with remaining whoopies.

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