Who doesn't love the childhood favorite Whoopie Pies aka gobs? As a child, my favorite were the traditional chocolate cake pies with cream in the middle. Now, I love the red velvet and pumpkin versions. I was lucky enough to recieve a whoopie pie pan and mix for my birthday. These pans make the perfect whoopie pie cakes. I decided to make these as the dessert to a healthier, summer dish that I found in the Washington Post a few weeks back. Both together make a perfect summer evening meal!
Shrimp and Pasta with Feta and Spinach Casserole
Ingredients:
1/4 tsp of salt
8 oz dried pasta
3 Tbsp EVOO
2 cups baby spinach
3 Tbsp grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
3 oz feta cheese
2 medium cloves garlic
1 pound large, peeled and deveined, shrimp
14 oz canned whole tomatoes
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 tsp dried oregano,
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
Leaves from 6-8 stems parsley
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
Note: The original recipe calls for using orzo or stelline, but I had whole wheat rotini that I wanted to use
1. Bring large pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta according to directions. Drain and return to pot
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Use a tsp of oil and brush the inside of a medium bakin dish.
3. Coarsely chop the spinach and crumble the feta.
4. Stir in 1 Tbsp of the oil into the pot with the pasta, then add the spinach, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and half of the feta. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish.
5. Chop the garlic.
6. Heat 1 Tbsp oil into skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and cook until slightly pink. Mix shrimp into the pasta dish.
7. Coarsely chop the tomatoes, saving their juices.
8. Heat the remaining oil in a skillet over medium heat. Ad the garlic and cook until fragrant. Stir in the tomatoes and their juices, wine, oregano, and crushed red peppers. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
9. Chop the parsely, and stir into the tomatoe sauce. Remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper.
10. Spoon the sacue over the shrimp and pasta.
11. Transfer to the oven and bake for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining feta.
This dish is delicious! And it is good hot or cold. I am thinking of putting a little over a bowl of spinach salad for a nice lunch tomorrow.
Whoopie Pie
Originially, I was going to make my first round of whoopie pies from a box mix that I was given with the pan on my birthday. I left them in the oven a minute to long and they burned. I ended up making the cakes from scratch, and used the filling mix that was in the box. Next time I will do both from scratch, but the boxed filling sure is good!
Whoopie Pie Cake Ingredients (makes 12 cake halves, or 6 whoopie pies)
1/2 stick of butter, softened
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
For filling:
I used the box mix, plus 6 Tbsp butter, and 1/2 Tbsp milk.
Note: I did not have buttermilk, so I made my own! For 1/2 cup of buttermilk, I filled a half cup with 1/2 Tbsp of lemon juice and then filled the remainder with milk. Let it sit for 5 minutes to sour and you have the equivalent of butter milk!
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray Whoopie Pie pan with cooking spray.
2. Beat butter and sugar with mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, beat until combined.
3. In another bowl, sift togther flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. Add half the dry ingredients into the butter mixture and mix. When most of the dry ingredients are incorporated, add the buttermilk.
5. When mixed, stop the mixer and add the remaining dry ingredients. Mix on low just until combined.
6. Spoon approximately 2 Tbsp of batter into each whoopi pie maker. Each should be about 2/3 of the way full.
7. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool completely.
The filling I used came from a box mix, but a standard Whoopie Pie filling
contains confectioner's sugar, butter, and marshmallow fluff.
Once filling is mixed, spread on one cake and sandwich with another cake.
You can get almost as creative as cupcakes with Whoopie pies! I made some with yellow filling (which I will use again during football season!) I also used fruit jam on a few others.
Other ideas include flavoring the filling, making different flavored whoopie pies, using sprinkles and other decorative candies, and using food coloring to make the filling various colors. The whoopie pies aren't huge like ones you might get at the bakery, so they are nice little treat!
I have to say, these whoopie pies were amazing!! I am excited to make some more black and yellow ones come football season, as well as experimenting with different flavored cake batter.
