Whoopie!

I was spoilt at Christmas and received a whoopie pie pan from Lakeland.

I've always wanted to make whoopie pies and now with the pan they are super easy. Here's how my first batch turned out:

If you want to make some here's what you need:

Ingredients (makes medium 16 whoopies)

• 200g of unsalted butter
• 1 large egg
• 150g caster sugar
• 125g creme fraiche (or sour cream)
• 75ml skim milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 275g plain flour
• 100g marshmallows (I used chocolate (brown coloured) ones)
• 200g icing sugar

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan 160°C). Melt 75g of the butter and set aside. Using an electric hand mixer, whisk the egg until light and fluffy. Beat in the sugar, a third at a time, until thick and glossy. Beat in the melted butter, sour cream, 25ml of milk and the vanilla. Sift the bicarbonate of soda and flour into the bowl and beat until smooth. Using a wide piping nozzle or spoon, pipe or spoon the mixture on to the whoopie tray, or onto a lined baking tray (if you don't have a whoopie pan - try to space balls about 3-4 cm apart).  Bake for 12 minutes until almost evenly golden on top. Leave to cool for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.

For the marshamllow filling, heat the marshmallows and milk in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring until smooth, then cool. Beat 125g of butter until creamy and soft then gradually beat into the marshmallow until smooth. Sandwich two whoopie pies together with the marshmallow cream.

A lot of people serve whoopies without icing on the top, but if you want to add a glace icing then mix the icing sugar with 2-3 tablespoons of cold water. Spread a little on each whoopie, or you can drizzle it on (like I did) - whatever takes your fancy. Decorate with sprinkles or other decorations if you want too. I made little sugarpaste flowers and added some edible glitter. Nice and girly. Remember to leave the whoopies to set for a bit before serving. Once filled and iced the whoopies will keep for up to 6 hours.

I'm making some more whoopies this weekend (am experimenting with flavours) so will let you know how they go soon.

Happy Baking xx