Whoopie pies or whoopie cakes have now migrated from the US to the UK. A well-known London store apparently cannot make enough of them.

Where the original idea for whoopie cakes comes from remains a mystery, but it appears to be a toss-up between New England and a Pennsylvania Amish tradition. One thing we do know is they have been baked for many years. One story goes that the Amish made these cakes from left-over batter as treats for the children. When the children discovered them in their lunch bags, they would shout, "Whoopee!" This may not be true, but it certainly sounds plausible.

Whoopie cakes were originally prepared from two small sponge drops that were chocolate-flavoured. These were filled with marshmallow and shortening, blended together to form a white cream filling. At Unifine it was felt that this concept not only fitted the company’s products, but also the hand-held snack culture that has developed here in the UK.

Unifine has created eight versions, which were launched at the Baking Industry Exhibition in Birmingham earlier this year. The one below has been developed especially for this British Baker article. It’s a blend of chocolate sponge drop bases filled with raspberry mousse and delicious raspberry fruit compôte.

Fresh Raspberry Whoopie Cake

Method

1. Pipe chocolate cake batter onto a silicone mat or paper

2. Bake for 8 -10 minutes at 190ºC, allow to cool, then turn half of them over ready for filling

3. Pipe a border of raspberry mousse around the edge of the upturned bases and then fill the centre with raspberry compôte

4. Place the tops on and drizzle with chocolate icing and decorate with fresh raspberries.

5. Refrigerate well to allow the mousse to set. Then enjoy!