Wednesday, March 2, 2011

20 Sweets in 20 Weeks - #13: Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Red Velvet Whoopie Pie

I first attempted making Red Velvet cake back in 2009 and I think it is safe to say that it was deemed a failure. I think I must have put to much baking powder in those cupcakes because they were extremely bitter. So when Red Velvet won the poll this week I was happy to be giving it another shot, but I was also worried that I would fail again. Luckily those worries were unfounded. I have now successfully made Red Velvet cake, in the form of whoopie pies!

That being said - I think I'm not a massive fan of Red Velvet cake - the flavour is a bit so-so to me, it just isn't sweet enough, or chocolatey enough, or anything really. But my goodness it sure does look pretty. In fact it looks out of this world! The bright red cake with the white cream cheese filling looks divine. And on another positive note my mum officially loved these whoopie pies - she said for her it was a flavour explosion - I guess we must have very different tastebuds? Who knows.

Anyways if you want to make some pretty whoopie pies and you want a 'not too sweet' cake then give these a try - they were extremely easy to make and very pretty to look at.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pie

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies (from Annie's Eats)
For the cookies:
2 cups plain flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
8 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 oz red food coloring

For the frosting:
8 oz cream cheese
5 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract (I only used 1 tsp)
2½ cups icing sugar, sifted
  1. Preheat the oven to 375˚ F and line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.  
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Beat in the egg until incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.  Blend in the vanilla.  
  4. With the mixer on low speed, beat in about a third of the dry ingredients, followed by half of the buttermilk, beating each addition just until incorporated.  Repeat so that all the buttermilk has been added and then mix in the final third of dry ingredients.  Do not overbeat.  
  5. Blend in the food coloring.
  6. Annie piped hers to make heart shaped whoopie pies - I just used an ice-cream scoop to scoop out the batter on to the baking paper. 
  7. Bake for 7-9 minutes or until the tops are set, rotating the baking sheets halfway through (mine were a bit larger so I baked for 15 minutes).
  8. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking trays  at least 10 minutes, until they can be easily transferred to a cooling rack.  
  9. Repeat with any remaining batter.  
  10. Allow cookies to cool completely before proceeding.
  11. To make the cream cheese frosting, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the cream cheese and butter on medium-high speed until well combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes.  Mix in the vanilla extract.  Gradually beat in the icing sugar until totally incorporated, increase the speed and then beat until smooth.
  12. Annie used a piping bag to pipe the cream cheese frosting on between two of the cookies - I just used a knife to spread it on through sheer laziness
  13. Once you have piped/spread on the cream cheese frosting on to the bottom of one cookie - sandwich it with another cookie - and voila! You are done. Now just repeat for the rest of the whoopie pies.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pie

18 comments:

Christy said...

your filling would have been SOOO much nicer than mine. I thought my choc ones were awful.

Anh said...

beautiful work!

Kat said...

Yum! They look delicious. I have always wanted to try whoopie pies. I will definitely be giving these a go when I get back from Europe.

veit said...

you are doing a great job with this baking thing...


EXCELLENT work

Anonymous said...

They look realy yummy!!

Paris Pastry said...

How beautiful! That intense red color is out of this world :) I always love how red velvet looks, but I agree with you on the taste, not quite chocolaty enough.

Hoola Tallulah said...

mmmm these look so so delicious, thanks for sharing, deffo gonna give these a try!

Rose said...

Wowzers! that is one perfectly red whoopie pie.

Rose

Tangerine Dreams said...

That looks gooooood :) I just discovered I have to cut out cocoa to help out my son's eczema so this will be the perfect dessert to make (we need our dessert every night!). Thanks for visiting! Would love to be bloggy friend with you :)

Zoe said...

Hello!!
Thanks for your sweet comment on my blog!
Just came to have a look at yours and wow! Delicious treats! Now I'm hungry!! :p Will definitely keep an eye on your cute blog xo

Ashley Crenshaw said...

That looks so yummy!! I'm so glad you found me. I would love to be there to cheer you on while you open your shop! You can never have too much support!

Lauren said...

Sounds delicious!

emma said...

okay i HAVE to make these. they look incredible!
i haven't attempted red velvet or whoopie pies but your pictures alone have convinced me i have to buy ingredients this weekend. thanks :D

Fancy Lads said...

Those look divine! What lovely pictures...

Xiaolu @ 6 Bittersweets said...

It is amazing how much personal tastes vary, isn't it? I've also had a few failed attempts with red velvet and gave up for a while. But I recently became obsessed with getting my "perfect" recipe for the cupcakes and after making it twice since my recent post, I think I've tweaked it to near perfection. These look really cute and I'm glad your mom was able to enjoy them!

tinysea said...

I may just have to try this! I LOVE Red Velvet. :)

Thanks for the follow!

By the Bluegrass said...

Aww....dang, I always see your yummy stuff before bed! Now, I'm going to bed craving these!
xo,
Sena

oneordinaryday said...

The color is awesome! They look perfect.