Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies are soft, melt-in-your-mouth sandwich cookies that taste like little pieces of cake. Moist, lightly cocoa-flavoured and beautifully deep red in colour, they are filled with a creamy Philadelphia-style cream cheese frosting, just like a classic Red Velvet Cake. For Valentine’s Day, you can also shape them into adorable hearts.

Makes 12 sandwich cookies.

Ingredients for the Red Velvet Whoopie Pies:

• 115 g butter
• 170 g light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 160 ml buttermilk
• 250 g plain flour
• 15 g cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• a pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon red gel food colouring (such as Wilton)

All ingredients should be at room temperature.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until fully combined. Pour in the buttermilk and mix again. The mixture may look slightly curdled at this stage, but this will not affect the finished bake. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Mix on low speed just until combined. Add the red food colouring and mix until evenly incorporated. If using a less concentrated colouring, you may need to add a little more.

Line a baking tray with baking paper. Alternatively, use a special whoopie pie baking tray, greased and lightly floured. Transfer the batter into a piping bag with the tip snipped off (a piping nozzle is not necessary) and pipe portions of about 1½ tablespoons of batter onto the tray. The batter can also be spooned onto the tray. Leave plenty of space between the cakes, as they spread and rise considerably during baking.

Bake at 175°C with fan assistance for approximately 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave on the baking tray for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, sandwich the cakes together with the cream cheese filling.

Ingredients for the cream cheese filling:

• 55 g butter
• 150 g icing sugar
• 170 g Philadelphia-style cream cheese
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

All ingredients should be at room temperature.

Melt the butter and leave it to cool. Place the cream cheese and icing sugar into the bowl of a mixer and beat until light and fluffy. Gradually pour in the cooled melted butter, beating continuously. Finally, add the vanilla extract and mix until combined. Chill the filling in the refrigerator for about 1 hour, or until slightly firm.

Enjoy!