The Maine State Dessert -- Whoopie Pies

It used to be that if you knew what a whoopie pie (or whoopee pies -- both spellings work) was, you came from Maine, Massachusetts or Pennsylvania. Ever since Oprah declared whoopie pies one of her favorite things, you see whoopie pies everywhere. The traditional pie is chocolate with a white sugary filling, but nowadays, you see every possible combination. Red velvet (a Southern bastardization), pumpkin, orange, strawberry. But for the true whoopie pie lover, chocolate and white is the only way to go.

When I was growing up, you could find whoopie pies in any corner grocery or gas station. You were really lucky (and popular) if your mother made them. It's not hard to find recipes, but why go to all the trouble when it is so easy now to find them? Plus, they are so rich and fattening and delicious that it is not a good idea to have more than one around at a time.

Last week we went to my niece Julia's wedding in New Hampshire. Julia filled the reception with many creative touches, but the best was the pile of wrapped whoopie pies to pick up when leaving. We got two:

Yum. We were hungry that night, so opened one up to snack -- and it was MAPLE, not chocolate! Well, we were in New Hampshire, after all, so maple fit, but for a true whoopie lover, nothing will do but chocolate.

So I decided to do a whoopie taste test. You get the benefit.

Here's the first in what will probably be a long line, right off the shelf of the Burnt Cove Market here on Deer Isle:

Now, this photo is upside down and I apologize, but if you stand on your head you will see it is from Steve's Snack Bakery .  The bakery seems to be in Skowhegan, and no place is more Maine than that (Margaret Chase Smith was from Skowhegan -- google her).  Steve makes TWELVE different flavors of whoopie pies -- one of them maple. I had to paw through the pile to find the classic chocolate and white.  Here it is sliced:

All too often there is too much of the white sugary filling, but Steve has it just right. And the cake is plump, dark chocolate-y. The whole is very tasty, fudge-y, moist (even after sitting around on a grocery shelf for who knows how long?), and altogether yummy. But there is something just intrinsically wrong with a manufactured whoopie pie, and the label speaks to the problem, a long list of additives beyond the flour, sugar and Crisco (the basic three food groups in Maine). Sheesh.

OK. So yesterday I was in Bangor and stopped at Frank's Bakery on State Street. Frank's has been around forever, and I will write about his donuts later, but suffice it to say that if Mainer's love it and it is sweet, Frank makes it. Here is Frank's whoopie, after riding around in the car all day:

Not so dark chocolatey as the Steve's version, thinner cakes (but they HAD been in the car all day). Taste test: the cake is drier, not so intensely chocolate, a bit more filling vs: cake. Taste good. But the best part, is that because it was fresh from a bakery, we can assume (hopefully) that the ingredients are fresh and wholesome, at least as wholesome as flour, sugar, cocoa and Crisco can be. No label, no additives, right?

The verdict: The Frank's is first choice, because of the freshness and lack of additives (hopefully if it had had a label, none would be listed). But the Steve's is a worthy contender, despite the label. PS Another "fact" from the label: Calories 390.