makin' whoopie

PIES that is ... ya sickos! ;-P

I found this recipe in a recent issue of the Rachael Ray Magazine and decided to make a couple of batches for Liz & Ben's Halloween party. They turned out to be AMAZING. Seriously good and not bad for my first attempt at whoopie. Pies. Pies, people!

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, 1 stick melted, ½ stick softened
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree (not the pumpkin pie filling that already comes spiced)
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon plus 2 pinches salt
• 1-2/3 cups flour
• 4 ounces cream cheese, chilled
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.


2. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and brown sugar until smooth. Whisk in the eggs, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, 1 teaspoon vanilla, the baking powder, the baking soda and ¾ teaspoon salt. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour.


3. Using an ice cream scoop, drop 12 generous mounds of batter, spaced evenly, onto each baking sheet. Bake until springy to the touch, about 11 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.


4. Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, cream the softened butter with the cream cheese. Add the confectioners’ sugar and the remaining 2 pinches of salt and ½ teaspoon of vanilla. Mix on low speed until blended, then beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes.


5. Spread the flat side of ½ the cakes with the cream cheese frosting. Top each with another cake.

Unfortunately, I found out the hard way that the allspice included in the pumpkin pie spice is not just the combination of other spices that one would think composes allspice. It's actually a fricken pepper. Who would've thunk it? Alas, another pretty bad allergic reaction surfaced which caused me to leave Liz & Ben's totally awesome Halloween party early. Blah.

On a more positive note (hey, anything's more positive than an allergic reaction!), Tony loves these. Renee loves these. I think Kate, Teeru, Jen, and Brian love these too. So if you're looking for something relatively simple to put together for your next shindig, I'd say go for these and share the yumminess. :)