Once upon a time there was a girl in a far away pastry land who made this magical raspberry buttercream.
The end.
You guys, my love for this raspberry buttercream is strong, which is why when I received a reader request for whoopie pies, I knew what had to be done. I will find any excuse! Devil’s food whoopie pies filled with swirls of the raspberry buttercream, topped with a dollop of silky, smooth chocolate ganache, and dolled up with raspberry sprinkles! Pretty and filled with substance – I’m all about it!
I love when I get reader requests for classic comforts. One that makes you want to run into the kitchen, bake up immediately and then share with everyone because they’re so damn good. Okay, maybe not so much that last bit.
When I strike gold on a recipe, I find I often go from wanting to shout from the rooftops about it to just sit there and look at them being all pretty parked on a cake stand. All while dabbing away the crumbs on my face. I also love when something so simple turns out so devastatingly delicious, like these innocent looking whoopie pies. I can hear Britney singing in the background now.
I made my go-to chocolate whoopie pie and then lunged at the chance to make THE raspberry buttercream. You remember, the one I went on and on about in this cake and then again with these cupcakes.
They were pretty good to begin with, and then I thought wouldn’t they look pretty if I dolled them up with some more of those freeze dried raspberries? Like gorgeous hot pink all-natural sprinkles?
YES!
Said sprinkles need something to stick to so obviously chocolate ganache was the only logical solution. Obviously! The trick in making this ganache is adding a touch of light corn syrup. It has just the right consistency and stays put – pretty swoops and drips included. Then hit them with the pink power sprinkles and go for it! Or you can just stare at them like I did.
I will tell you that since the raspberry buttercream is cream cheese based it gets soft when making it. For this reason I make the buttercream the night before. When the cakes are cool and ready to fill, pop the buttercream in the mixer and assemble! I also think they’re best the day you make them, but are definitely still swoon worthy the next day. Just make sure you let them come to room temperature before eating.
Please note that freeze dried raspberry power sprinkles will lose their oomph when refrigerated so you’ll want to ganache and zhush the day of.
Happy baking!
Ingredients
- 4 ounces unsalted butter, room temp.
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 & 1/2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder, I recommend a dark cocoa powder such as Callebaut
- 1 and 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 4 ounces semisweet or dark chocolate
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 Tablespoon light corn syrup
- Piping bag for filling
- Tip #826
- Freeze dried raspberries, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together in bowl and set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
- Add egg and vanilla.
- Alternate adding dry ingredients with buttermilk starting and ending with dries. Don't over mix the batter.
- Scoop batter onto parchment lined sheet pan using a 1 ounce cookie scoop.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 9-11 minutes.
- Follow instructions for a single batch of buttercream. If the buttercream gets too soft, pop it in the fridge for about 15 minutes.
- Bring heavy cream up to a scald. You can heat it on the stove or microwave it.
- Pour over chopped chocolate and let sit for about 30 seconds. Stir mixture until smooth.
- Stir in light corn syrup until smooth. Set aside to let cool. You want it to be slightly warm when you use it - warm enough that you can spoon it around, but not hot where it runs right off the top!
- Fill cooled cakes with raspberry buttercream. I used a pastry bag fitted with tip #826.
- Spoon warm ganache on top and swirl around lightly to achieve the look you want.
- Sprinkle crushed freeze dried raspberries over the top. I like to crumble the raspberries in my hand over the top so you get different size bits and lots of pretty pink dust.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate for about 10 minutes if needed.
- If not serving right away, I suggest filling them, then storing in an airtight container in the fridge. Ganache and sprinkle the day of because raspberries will get soggy in the fridge.
Notes
Start checking the whoopie pies at 8 minutes. Your time will depend on how big you scoop them. Mine always take 9-10 minutes.
Allow them to cool for about 5 minutes on the sheet pan and then transfer them to a cooling rack.
Unfilled whoopie pies should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
Filled whoopie pies should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Allow to sit out about 15-20 minutes to take the chill off before serving.
Liz says
What fabulous whoopie pies! The filling sounds exquisite—love this twist on the plain Jane version 🙂
bblondie says
Thanks, Liz!
Beverley Press says
these are little treats of gold and I have the same love of butter cream as you do. Gorgeous photos my delicious friend xoxo