Whoopie pies

Try your hand at making the cake of the moment

Preparation time 40 minutes
Cooking time 14 minutes
Makes 8

You will need

For the pies
125g butter or margarine, softened
200g light brown sugar
1 large egg, beaten
350g plain flour
50g cocoa powder
1¼ tsp Dr Oetker bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp salt
250ml low fat buttermilk

For the filling
150g unsalted butter, softened
250g icing sugar, sifted
few drops Dr Oetker vanilla extract

For the topping
150g icing sugar
2 ½ tbsp cocoa powder
Dr Oetker chocolate strands or silver balls, to decorate

Directions

Preheat oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas Mark 4. Line 2 or 3 large baking trays with baking parchment.

To make the pies, cream the butter and sugar together until pale and creamy then beat in the egg.

Sift the flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda and salt into another bowl. Gradually add spoonfuls of the flour mixture along with the buttermilk - mixing well after each addition to make a smooth, thick cake mixture.
For pink pies leave the cocoa powder out and replace with an extra 50g plain flour, then add ½ tsp Dr Oetker pink food colouring to the mixture when you add the buttermilk.

Using a 5cm diameter ice cream scoop, drop 6-8 scoops of the mixture onto each baking tray, spaced well apart to allow for room for spreading. Bake in the oven for 12-14 minutes until risen, slightly cracked and firm to the touch. Cool for 5 minutes on the trays before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the topping, sift the icing sugar and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl and gradually mix in 5-6 teaspoons warm water to make a smooth, glossy spreadable icing. Spread thickly over the peaked side of half the cold pies, smoothing the icing with the back of a knife. Sprinkle with your favourite cake decorations and leave on a wire rack for a few minutes to set.

For the filling, put the butter in a mixing bowl and beat until soft. Gradually sieve in the icing sugar, beating well after each addition, to make a smooth, spreadable icing. Add a few drops of vanilla to flavour. Either spoon the filling into a piping bag fitted with a plain 5mm nozzle and pipe over the flat sides of the remaining pie halves, or alternatively, spread thickly using a knife.

When the iced pie tops are set, carefully sandwich them onto the filled pie halves and enjoy.