Chocolate Raspberry Whoopie Pies

[maybetoday]

Chocolate Raspberry Whoopie Pies

Yield: 13 whoopie pies





Ingredients



Whoopie Pies

4 ounces unsalted butter, room temp.

1 cup light brown sugar

1 egg

1 & 1/2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder, I recommend a dark cocoa powder such as Callebaut

1 and 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk


Raspberry Cream Cheese Buttercream
7 ounces unsalted butter

8 ounces cream cheese

3- 3 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Pinch of salt

1.2 ounces freeze dried raspberries - this is approximately 1 and 1/3 cups freeze dried raspberries. I get them at Trader Joe's.


Chocolate Ganache

4 ounces semisweet or dark chocolate

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 Tablespoon light corn syrup


Assembly

Piping bag for filling

Tip #826

Freeze dried raspberries, for garnish


Instructions



Preheat oven to 400 degrees.


Whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together in bowl and set aside.


Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.


Add egg and vanilla.


Alternate adding dry ingredients with buttermilk starting and ending with dries. Don't over mix the batter.


Scoop batter onto parchment lined sheet pan using a 1 ounce cookie scoop.


Bake at 400 degrees for 9-11 minutes.


Raspberry Cream Cheese Buttercream


In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and cream cheese on medium speed for about 5 minutes.


Start adding 3 cups of powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, so you don't have a sugar shower, scraping down the bowl as needed.


Put freeze dried raspberries in a food processor and process until you have powder.


Sift raspberries to remove the seeds. You will have to sift it 2-3 times to get rid of all the seeds.


Add raspberry powder to the buttercream and continue to mix on medium-high speed until fully combined.


At this point, you will have to taste the buttercream and decide if you need any additional powdered sugar. I personally like 3 cups, but if you are piping the buttercream you may need to add an additional 1/2 cup of powdered sugar to make it stiffer.


Chocolate Ganache


Bring heavy cream up to a scald. You can heat it on the stove or microwave it.


Pour over chopped chocolate and let sit for about 30 seconds. Stir mixture until smooth.


Stir in light corn syrup until smooth. Set aside to let cool. You want it to be slightly warm when you use it - warm enough that you can spoon it around, but not hot where it runs right off the top!


Assembly

Fill cooled cakes with raspberry buttercream. I used a pastry bag fitted with tip #826.


Spoon warm ganache on top and swirl around lightly to achieve the look you want.


Sprinkle crushed freeze dried raspberries over the top. I like to crumble the raspberries in my hand over the top so you get different size bits and lots of pretty pink dust.


Serve immediately or refrigerate for about 10 minutes if needed.


If not serving right away, I suggest filling them, then storing in an airtight container in the fridge. Ganache and sprinkle the day of because raspberries will get soggy in the fridge.


Notes



Start checking the whoopie pies at 8 minutes. Your time will depend on how big you scoop them. Mine always take 9-10 minutes.



Allow them to cool for about 5 minutes on the sheet pan and then transfer them to a cooling rack.



Unfilled whoopie pies should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature.



Filled whoopie pies should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Allow to sit out about 15-20 minutes to take the chill off before serving.

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