Chocolate Orange Whoopie Pies

Here we go again you might say…’ not another whoopie pie’? but i have never made them before so i thought i would give them a try. I took my inspiration from quite a few recipes i had been looking at to find some thing that might take my fancy.

My neice had just had a baby and i wanted to send some to her. She is quite partial to oranges so thats what i made, Chocolate Orange Whoopie Pies

Doing my research i discovered many sites including Wikipedia who more or less state the first whoopie pie was invented in the USA in 2011 but i remember my mother making these in the 60’s.

Ingredients

180g castor sugar
2 eggs beaten
275g of flour
5 tbs of good quality cocoa powder
1 tsp of baking powder
grated orange rind for a medium sized orange.
250ml of buttermilk (To make your own, add one tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to a cup of regular milk and let it sit for 5 minutes.)
A good pinch of salt

Filling:
175g butter
250g icing sugar
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon of orange extract
A pinch of salt

Extra: chocolate sprinkles (optional)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C/300f/Gas Mark 4 and line two baking sheets. Reduce to 140c for fan ovens.
Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a bowl and put to one side.
Using another bowl and an electric whisk, cream the sugar and the butter until pale and fluffy. Add in the egg, mixing again to combine.
Add the dry ingredients, the buttermilk ,grated orange, gradually mixing at each interval until everything is combined. You should have a thick batter which will hold its shape reasonably well when dropped from a spoon. Don’t forget the mixture will spread whilst baking.
Spoon or pipe a well rounded teaspoon of the batter into a whoopie/macaroon tray. If you haven’t got a tray pipe onto waxed paper (greasproof) allowing space for them to spread while cooking. Bake on the middle shelf for about 15 minutes or until the tops have risen and spring back when lightly pressed.
Next prepare the filling by whisking together all the ingredients until you are left with a nice smooth mix the consistency of toothpaste.
When pies are cooked allow them to stand for 2/3 minutes before removing them with a spatula and cool on a wire rack. When cooled, spread or pipe the cream filling on the flat side and sandwich together .