Chocolate Week in Maine

 

 

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Here in Maine we are recovering from Lobster week, and now fully into celebrating the wild blueberry which is enjoying a bumper crop this year.  However, in this household, this has been chocolate week. We celebrated hubbies birthday on Thursday with a chocolate cake, with chocolate fudge filling with chocolate chips, heath bar crunchies, and chocolate fudge frosting.  Granddaughter and I had a great time gussying up a cake mix cake. We even had chocolate ice cream to go with it.

Then yesterday, we were downtown at the Farnsworth Museum and in their gift shop we got a copy of  The Official Whoopie Pie Book - Making Whoopies,  published by DownEast press. We had a wonderful time leafing thru this one and remarking on the many variables of this wonderful treat.  Both Pennsylvania and Maine claim to have originated this delicacy and frankly I don't care where they started as long as they are available. There are as many variations of ingredients as there are lovers of the pies.  My grand-daughter's other grannie LOVES whoopies and we are trying to decide which ones to make her for her birthday later this fall. 

My personal favorites are the ones that have a butter creamy filling as opposed to the marshmellow fluff variety, and I love the pumpkin cake ones.  This book is a fun volume with history, local variations, and lots of recipes. Grand-girl especially loved the 4th of July specials with one blue cake, one red cake, and the white middle. I was in awe of the Whoopie Pie Wedding Cake, trimmed in lavendar and topped with a top hat looking cake.  That one was made by Two Fat Cats bakery in Portland ME.

Incidentally, the typical whoopie pie has less calories than a Dunkin Donuts Chocolate Coffee Coolata, so we therefore can eat them with impunity ---right?