Neapolitan Whoopie Pies

It’s summer, my little freaks! That means barbecues, cold beers and ice cream. Fuck it, it’s too hot for barbecues. How about just cold beers and ice cream? I whipped up a recipe that incorporates the flavors of both of those things, without actually being either of those things. (Just to keep you guys on your toes.) Trying my best to make the best out of summer (I’m a snow bunny), I give you Neapolitan Whoopie Pies.

The yummy ice cream flavor combo in a light, fluffy little dessert that you can lug with you to any barbecue or sit at home in your air conditioned place, eating them in front of some James Bond movies. (The latter is what I opted for.) The pies consist of a chocolate cake (made with chocolate stout) on one side, a strawberry cake (made with strawberry ale) on the other side and a rich creamy vanilla buttercream (made with black lager) on the inside.* So whip some up, and hunker down, cause this heat wave is the pits!

*If you’d like to replace the vanilla buttercream with vanilla ice cream for an ice cream sandwich version of this recipe, it is also AMAZING.

Ice cream, without the hassle of ice cream.

Neapolitan Whoopie Pies
yields about 2 dozen
(recipe adapted from here, here and here)

Ingredients for the Chocolate Pies
2 cups + 2 tbsp flour
¼ tsp kosher salt
¾ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp baking soda
⅓ cup cocoa powder
½ cup chocolate stout (room temperature)
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
½ cup canola oil
1 egg white
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup buttermilk

Ingredients for the Strawberry Pies
½ cup strawberries, stemmed and halved
1 ¾ cup flour
¾ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
⅓ cup canola oil
2 tbsp buttermilk
2 tbsp strawberry ale
1 large egg

Ingredients for the Filling
½ cup butter, room temperature
1 tsp Madagascar Vanilla
2 tbsp black lager
2 tbsp buttermilk
4-5 cups powdered sugar

Preheat to 350°F. Either spray a cookie sheet or whoopie pie pan with cooking spray. Set aside.

Start with your chocolate cake ingredients. Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a medium bowl and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl (or your stand mixer bowl) combine the stout and cocoa powder. Add in your brown sugar and canola oil. Mix until just combined. Next, add in your egg, vanilla and buttermilk. Carefully fold in your dry mixture to your wet mixture, in two parts. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Spray a tablespoon with cooking spray. Scoop out 1 tbsp portions of the batter onto your prepared bakeware. Re-spray your spoon as necessary. You’ll have little round lumps.

Just whoopie stuff…

Pop in the oven for 9-10 minutes per batch. Make sure a toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool. Remove. Repeat until all of your chocolate-ios are baked up.

While those are in the oven, start preparing your strawberry batter. Put your strawberries in a food processor and pulse a few times until you have small chunks.

Combine your flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside.

In your wet mixing bowl, combine your brown sugar and oil. Mix in your strawberries, buttermilk, ale and eggs. (You could technically use red food dye here if you want that pink look to your cakes, but I opted for the natural look.) Carefully fold in your dry mixture to your wet mixture, in two parts. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Repeat the process you did for the chocolate pies. Use a tablespoon, drop them on a sprayed pan and bake, 9-10 minutes.

While those are cooling, prep your buttercream. Beat the butter and add in your vanilla, lager and buttermilk. One cup at a time, blend in 4 cups of the powdered sugar. Test it. If it seems thick enough to hold up, you’re done. If not, add a little more of the powdered sugar until you’re happy with it. (If you need to thin it, add more beer, 1 tbsp at a time.)

Start assembling. Put 2-3 tbsp of buttercream on a cookie and top with another cookie. I actually used a piping bag to make it easier and cleaner. (Also, then they kind of look like little white poops.) At this point, I advise wrapping them in little squares of saran wrap. It keeps them from getting messy and makes it really easy to share them. Cause everyone is gonna be wanting a piece of you with this shit in your fridge.