Chocolate Whoopie Donnas Way Recipes

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.
• 2. To make the cakes: In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, espresso powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and vanilla till smooth. Add the egg, again beating till smooth.
• 3. Add the cocoa, stirring to combine.
• 4. Add the flour to the batter alternately with the milk, beating till smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, and beat again briefly to soften and combine any chunky scrapings.
• 5. Drop the dough by the 1/4-cupful onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving plenty of room between the cakes; they'll spread. A muffin scoop works well here.
• 6. Bake the cakes for 15 to 16 minutes, till they're set and firm to the touch. Remove them from the oven, and cool on the pans. While still lukewarm, use a spatula to separate them from the pan or parchment; then allow to cool completely.
• 7. **To make 16 smaller whoopie pies (about 2 3/4" dia., about 2 1/2 ounces each): drop the dough onto the baking sheets in 30g balls, about the size of a large ping pong ball, or about 1 1/4". Bake for 11 to 12 minutes, till set. Finish as directed in the recipe.
• 8. To make the filling: Beat together the shortening, sugar, and marshmallow till well combined.
• 9. Dissolve the salt in the water, and add to the marshmallow mixture. Add the vanilla, and beat till smooth.
• 10. Spread the flat side of half the cakes with the filling. Top with the remaining cakes, flat side towards the filling. Wrap individually, in plastic wrap, till ready to serve.
• 11. Yield: 8 large whoopie pies (about 4" dia., about 5 ounces each). To make smaller pies, see ** in step 7.
• 12. Due to the differences between natural and Dutch-processed cocoa powders, do not substitute one for the other in recipes. Dutch Process cocoa has been treated with an alkali to neutralize its natural acidity. Because it is neutral and does not react with baking soda, it must be used in recipes calling for baking powder, unless there are other acidic ingredients in sufficient quantities used. It has a reddish-brown color, mild flavor, and is easy to dissolve in liquids.
• 13. Espresso powder is chocolate's best friend. Use 1/2 to 2 teaspoons in chocolate baked goods, frostings, and sauces; a touch of espresso powder enhances chocolate's flavor without adding any coffee flavor of its own. Ground, brewed, then dried from specially selected coffee beans, powder readily dissolves for easy mixing. *This ingredient is optional.
• 14. Marshmallow Fluff is a New England ingredient available in certain other parts of the country. Marshmallow creme, more widely available, is a thinner consistency than Fluff. If you make your filling with marshmallow creme, you may need to add a bit more sugar to stiffen it up sufficiently.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 F.
• Make the pies: In a medium heatproof bowl, combine the unsweetened chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate and butter. Fill a pot (relatively the same size as the bowl) about 1/3 full with water and place it over medium heat. When the water simmers, place the bowl of chocolate and butter over the simmering water and lower the heat. You want to melt the chocolate and butter gently together, stirring and scraping the sides (to avoid scorching).
• In another bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon and lemon zest. Set aside.
• Separately, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.
• When the chocolate and butter is melted, remove the bowl from the heat; stir to assure it's completely mixed and transfer to another medium bowl. This will accelerate cooling. Allow the chocolate to cool a few minutes. Whisk in the egg mixture. Whisk in the flour mixture. Only whisk until blended, over-mixing can affect the texture of the pies.
• Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray (alternatively, use a piece of fitted parchment sprayed with nonstick spray). Drop the batter in large spoonfuls (keeping the shapes as round as possible) on the baking sheet. You are aiming for rounds that are about 2 inches in diameter. Take care to leave some room (about 2 inches) between each one to allow for spreading that will occur as they bake.
• Place the tray in the hot oven and bake for 6 to 8 minutes. Check the pies. Leave in the oven an additional minute or two if they seem under baked. The dough will lose some of its shiney-ness and no longer look wet but will still feel soft. Remove the tray from the oven and allow them to cool for about 5 to 10 minutes before gingerly lifting them off the baking sheet and onto a flat surface.
• Make the filling: In a medium saucepan, heat the milk to a simmer and add about 3/4 of the cup of the toasted almonds. Reserve the remaining almonds. Shut off the heat and allow the almonds to "steep" in the milk, for 10 to 15 minutes. Strain the milk and pour it back into the same pan, discarding the almonds from the milk.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat together the sugar, flour, cornstarch and egg yolks until thick and smooth, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Pour some of the hot milk mixture over the eggs and whisk to blend. Pour the egg mixture back into the milk; turn on a low to medium heat and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in the almond extract. Continue to cook for an additional 1 to 2 minutes, stirring to make sure it doesn't cling to the bottom of the pan and burn, until very thick. Pour the cream into a clean bowl. Stir in the remaining almonds. Cover tightly with a layer of plastic so the cream doesn't form a skin. Allow to cool.
• Assemble: "Sandwich" some of the cream in between two of the chocolate rounds. Drizzle with melted chocolate, if desired.