In Maine terminology, this is wicked, indeed: A Classic Chocolate Wicked Whoopie.

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November 2006

Product Reviews / Main Nibbles / Cookies

Wicked Whoopies

Whoopie Pies For Kids & Grown-Ups

CAPSULE REPORT: Order a big box of Wicked Whoopies and it will probably become a regular ritual in your home. Give a box as a gift—especially to a young person—and it will be remembered for a lifetime. In the hands of Amy Bouchard, the whoopie pie has been elevated to a gourmet snack food—if there is such a thing—and it is addictively good.

• Whoopie Pie Overview
• Whoopie Pie Flavors
• Gift Whoopies
• Shop Online

About 12 years ago in the city of Gardiner, Maine, Amy Bouchard, a mother of two, was looking at different opportunities to augment the family income. Fortunately, she started to bake whoopie pies from home, and the business blossomed.  From ten pies a day made by hand, factory production has resulted in more than four million Wicked Whoopies baked to date. Her home kitchen has been replaced by a 70-pan commercial oven and a 140-quart mixer. Her husband and two children now work in the operation, which has two retail bakeries, a large wholesale business and an e-tail business to consumers nationwide.

First, about the name, “Wicked”: there is nothing bad about these cream-filled snack cakes, except the calories. Explains Amy, “In Maine, when something’s good, we call it ‘good.’ When something’s great, we call it ‘wicked.’”

Second, to the uninitiated: whoopie pies are a New England cousin to Southern moon pies. They are chocolate snack cake “sandwiches” with a filling. Moon pies use marshmallow, whoopie pies use a cream filling. The traditional whoopie pie uses a devil’s food cake and a vanilla cream filling. Wicked Whoopies start with chocolate, and offer 8 other flavors of cake, some of which waiver from the vanilla filling as well.

We tasted through the gift sampler—the whole thing—and a box of Whoop-De-Doos. All the cakes are very moist, and our favorites are an eclectic lot.  In alphabetical order, they are Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter and Raspberry, coincidentally, one from each of the three “flavor groups” below. And of course, the Whoop-De-Doo, which is sold separately, and is in a class by itself, even though we’ve added it to the Classic Flavors section.

Whoopie Pie Flavors

Classic Flavors

• Chocolate Chip Whoopie Pie, one of our favorites, is like a chocolate chip cookie turned into a cake—with cream filling (photo at right).
• Classic Chocolate Whoopie Pie, the traditional whoopie pie, is, not surprisingly, the best-seller. It’s rich, dark chocolate cake with fluffy cream filling (photo at top of page).
• Mint Chocolate Whoopie Pie looks exactly like the Classic. The difference is that there is some mint flavoring in the cream filling. We’re very big on mint here at THE NIBBLE, and wished for a heavier touch of it in the filling to make up for the fact that there’s no mint in the cake. Those who like only a touch of mint will be happy.
• Whoop-De-Doo Whoopie Pie.  Previously mentioned, these were our undoing. We ceased to be able to eat them just one at a time, and the food addict police needed to be called to remove the remainder. While we didn’t have a love-fest reaction to the Classic Chocolate, somehow covering the whole thing in hard chocolate had a magical effect. We should point out, this is the gourmet version of the Hostess Ding-Dong and Drake’s Cakes Ring Ding.

“Comfort” Flavors

What happens when favorite comfort foods are turned into whoopie pies?

• Maple Whoopie Pie channels a maple-doused pancake into a whoopie pie. Open the package and it smells like a bottle of pure maple syrup, though it looks like two very fat pancakes with a layer of frosting in-between. They’re so moist and syrupy that if tasting them blindfolded without the frosting, one might easily guess “pancake.” Should you eat one for breakfast? Equating it to a cinnamon bun or other sugary “breakfast pastry”: why not!
• Oatmeal Whoopie Pie is different from the rest of the group. Instead of cake, this whoopie is made from two crunchy, cinnamon-flavored oatmeal cookies. Those who love oatmeal cookies may enjoy this variation.
• Peanut Butter Whoopie Pie is a “whoopie!” for anyone who loves the combination of chocolate and peanut butter. We do, and it was one of our favorites. The cream filling is delicious when flavored with peanut butter. In terms of sandwiching it between layers of chocolate cake: what could be better? (Photo below in purchasing section.)
• Pumpkin Whoopie Pie smells of pumpkin and cinnamon. But we felt that this flavor—specifically the cake—was missing an element of sinfulness or richness that should be part of the whoopie pie experience. If you’re going to expend the calories...then plunge!

Oatmeal Wicked Whoopie	Pumpkin Wicked Whoopie

Fruit-Flavored Whoopie Pies

The two fruit entries offer polar opposite perspectives on fruit-flavored whoopie pies.

• Raspberry Whoopie Pie is yellow cake with two fillings: the regular cream topped with raspberry jam. The net effect is a tasty jelly donut.
• Strawberry Whoopie Pie is such a bright pink color, it would delight young girls. The strawberry flavor is subtle, like a strawberry mix cake, overpowered by the filling. We remand this flavor to Barbie tea parties.

Raspberry Wicked Whoopie	Strawberry Wicked Whoopie

In The Neighborhood?

If you’re in Maine, visit the Wicked Whoopie bake shops in Gardiner (5 Mechanic Street) and Farmingdale (621 Maine Avenue). You may find seasonal flavors not on the e-tail menu, plus other baked delights.

Wicked Whoopie Pie Gifts

It’s well worth it to get an assorted box. We got every flavor and cut the pies into quarters: one quarter of each flavor was more than enough to get the full whoopie experience and decide what our favorites were.

Even though they’re a snack cake, the experience is so festive that we would serve them at a party (especially a kids’ event or family occasion party) instead of a cake. Or, there’s a “Whoopie Cake,” a five-pound jumbo Classic Wicked Whoopie, which serves 7 to 10 people.

Send a box of Wicked Whoopies to a child, teen or college student, and you will be his or her “favorite person” for eternity—or the equivalent in kid years. Send a box to an adult with a snack food fixation, and the result will probably be the same. Anyone with an artistic eye will appreciate the beautiful floral cellophane and fabric ribbon that package the gift box. The Whoop-De-Doos are in festive violet and chartreuse-striped bags pretty enough for party favors without any additional wrapping—although Wicked Whoopies will custom-print and add special hang-tags to commemorate the event.