Whoopie pie
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The whoopie pie, alternatively called a black moon, gob (term indigenous to the Pittsburgh region), black-and-white, bob, or "BFO" for Big Fat Oreo (also recorded as "Devil Dogs" and "Twins" in 1835), is an American baked product that may be considered either a
cookie A cookie is a baked or cooked snack or dessert that is typically small, flat and sweet. It usually contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of oil, fat, or butter. It may include other ingredients such as raisins, oats, chocolate chips, n ...
,
pie A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts ( pecan pie), brown sugar ( sugar pie), swe ...
,
sandwich A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...
, or
cake Cake is a flour confection made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients, and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate, ...
. It is made of two round mound-shaped pieces of usually
chocolate cake Chocolate cake or chocolate gâteau (from ) is a cake flavored with melted chocolate, cocoa powder, or both. History Chocolate cake is made with chocolate. It can also include other ingredients. These include fudge, vanilla creme, and other ...
, or sometimes pumpkin,
gingerbread Gingerbread refers to a broad category of baked goods, typically flavored with ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon and sweetened with honey, sugar, or molasses. Gingerbread foods vary, ranging from a moist loaf cake to forms nearly as crisp as ...
or other flavored cakes, with a sweet, creamy filling or frosting sandwiched between them.


History

While considered a
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
classic and a Pennsylvania Amish tradition, they are increasingly sold throughout the United States. The whoopie pie is the official state treat of Maine (not to be confused with the official state dessert, which is
blueberry pie Blueberry pie is a pie with a blueberry filling. Blueberry pie is readily made because it does not require pitting or peeling of fruit. It usually has a top and bottom crust. The top crust can be circular, but the pie can also have a crumble cru ...
). Gob he term indigenous to the Pittsburgh regionhas been trademarked by the Dutch Maid Bakery in Johnstown. The owner, Tim Yost, bought the rights to the name and the process in 1980. The world's largest whoopie pie was created in
South Portland, Maine South Portland is a city in Cumberland County, Maine, United States, and is the fourth-largest city in the state, incorporated in 1898. At the 2020 census, the city population was 26,498. Known for its working waterfront, South Portland is sit ...
, on March 26, 2011, weighing in at . Pieces of the giant whoopie pie were sold and the money was used to send Maine-made whoopie pies to soldiers serving overseas. The previous record holder, from Pennsylvania, weighed . The town of Dover-Foxcroft, in
Piscataquis County, Maine Piscataquis County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. As of the 2020 census, its population was 16,800, making it Maine's least-populous county. Its county seat is Dover-Foxcroft. The county was incorporated on March 23, 1838, ta ...
, has hosted the Maine Whoopie Pie Festival since 2009. In 2014, more than 7,500 people attended the festival. The 2013 festival had eight different whoopie pie vendors in attendance. Bakers from across Maine compete for top whoopie pie in a number of categories.


Origin controversy

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
,
Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
,
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
and
New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
all claim to be the birthplace of the whoopie pie. The Pennsylvania Dutch Convention & Visitors Bureau notes that the whoopie pie recipe comes from the area's Amish and Pennsylvania German culture—origins that are unlikely to leave an official paper trail—and has been handed down through generations. Labadie's Bakery in
Lewiston, Maine Lewiston (; ; officially the City of Lewiston, Maine) is List of cities in Maine, the second largest city in Maine and the most central city in Androscoggin County, Maine, Androscoggin County. The city lies halfway between Augusta, Maine, August ...
has been making the confection since 1925. The now-defunct Berwick Cake Company of
Roxbury, Massachusetts Roxbury () is a Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood within the City of Boston, Massachusetts. Roxbury is a Municipal annexation in the United States, dissolved municipality and one of 23 official neighborhoods of Boston used by the city for n ...
was selling "Whoopee Pies" as early as the 1920s, but officially branded the Whoopee Pie in 1928 to great success. Various claims suggest that the whoopie pie originated in Massachusetts and spread both north and south, or that German immigrants in Pennsylvania brought the predecessor of the whoopie pie to communities throughout the northeast. A clue into how the possibly Amish dessert got to be so popular in New England can be found in a 1930s cookbook called ''Yummy Book'' by the Durkee Mower Company, the manufacturer of Marshmallow Fluff. In this New England cookbook, a recipe for "Amish Whoopie Pie" was featured using Marshmallow Fluff in the filling. In 2011, the
Maine State Legislature The Maine Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. It is a bicameral body composed of the lower house Maine House of Representatives and the upper house Maine Senate. The Legislature convenes at the State House in Aug ...
considered naming the whoopie pie the official state pie. The proposal received bipartisan support. L.D. 71, officially known as "An Act to Designate the Whoopie Pie as the State Dessert", read "The whoopie pie, a baked good made of two chocolate cakes with a creamy frosting between them, is the official state dessert". The Maine Legislature eventually decided to declare the whoopie pie the official state treat, and chose blueberry pie (made with wild Maine blueberries) as the official state dessert.


See also

*
Dorayaki is a type of Japanese confection. It consists of two small pancake-like patties made from castella wrapped around a filling of sweet azuki bean paste. The original dorayaki consisted of only one layer. Its current shape was invented in 1914 b ...
*
Macaron A macaron ( , ) or French macaroon ( ) is a sweet meringue-based confection made with egg white, icing sugar, granulated sugar, almond meal, and food colouring. The macaron is traditionally held to have been introduced in France by the Ital ...
*
Monaka is a Japanese sweet made of azuki bean paste sandwiched between two thin crisp wafers made from mochi. The wafers can have the shape of a square, a triangle, or may be shaped like cherry blossoms, chrysanthemums, and so on. The azuki bean pa ...
* Moon pie *
Sandwich cookie A sandwich cookie, also known as a sandwich biscuit, is a type of cookie made from two thin cookies or medium cookies with a filling between them. Many types of fillings are used, such as cream, ganache, buttercream, chocolate, cream cheese, jam ...


References


External links

* {{Snack cakes American desserts Cookie sandwiches Snack foods Symbols of Maine New England cuisine Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine