The black & white snack known in some parts as Whoopie Pies are beginning to make their way from their traditional strongholds in Maine and Pennsylvania to Ohio and New York City and convenience stores and snack shops across the Midwest.
What’s a Whoopie Pie, you ask. Well, as noted by New York Times Dining & Wine writer Micheline Maynard, a Whoopie Pie is not really a pie at all. It’s more of a cake-like sandwich, similar to a Hostess Suzie-Q, if you’ve ever had one of those. Dark cake top and bottom with sweet white cream in the middle.
Last fall they showed up at the Magnolia Bakery in Manhattan, famous for starting the cupcake craze thanks to exposure on HBO’s ‘Sex and the City.’ Williams-Sonoma offered a heart-shaped version and featured them in their February catalog for $49 a dozen.
Whoopie Pies can now be found in Trader Joe’s supermarkets, some Whole Foods stores, and a number of small bakeries. Oreo sells a Whoopie Pie twin called an Oreo Cakester and Little Debbie makes a similar black and white snack cake.
Food historians say Whoopie Pies originated in Pennsylvania. There’s even an annual Whoopie Pie Festival at the Hershey Farm and Inn in Strasburg, Pa., that includes a Whoopie Pie eating contest and selection of a Whoopie Pie Queen. A bakery in Lewiston, Me., claims to have been ‘making Whoopie’ since 1925.
So be on the lookout as you head down the Interstate this summer. When you stop to refuel, you may want to indulge in the black and white snack yourself. After all, it’s fun just to say, ‘Whoopie Pie.’
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