Mary Berry's Chocolate Whoopie Pies!

I do like a good birthday excuse to get baking!  Yesterday I was sifting through my recipes that had been torn from magazines and came across these Whoopie Pies!  Now who can resist a name like that, especially as the Birthday Boy was my buddy Lucas who's turning 7 today!

The recipe says to whisk the butter, egg, sugar and soured cream with an electric hand-held whisk, but I chose to use the K beater attachment on my trusty Kenwood.  Instead of adding them all together, I creamed the butter and sugar first, then added the cream and then the egg.

Half the flour, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda was sifted in and blended, before sifting in the remainder.  It all came together very nicely and was thick and smooth as suggested. 

My measuring, however, was a little slapdash!  You are meant to divide the mixture in half and then spoon 15 equal portions onto 2 lined baking trays.  Well I went for the guessing option....... Lets just say some of my Whoopies are 'Whooper Whoopies'!  I think using a quick release ice-cream scoop might be a good idea to get an even size.  I have heard people use these for cookie dough, etc.

I popped them into a pre-heated 160c fan oven for 15 minutes, switched the trays over in the oven and baked for another 4 minutes as they didn't look quite cooked.

They are supposed to be risen and firm to the touch and cracked a little in the middle!  Well mine sure are cracked!  Unique I think is a good description.

I then sandwiched them together with Nutella....... I know!!!  I altered a Mary Berry Recipe!  It was an inspired choice.  They were then topped with the icing sugar topping and adorned with chocolate sprinkles.

They were rather large, but tasted yummy, especially with the Nutella centre.  Enjoyed by adults and kids alike and really quick to make.

Now, you may have noticed the slight lack of photos!  OH has very kindly nabbed all the cameras for a kayaking trip, leaving me with an old dud camera for which I cannot find the USB lead to upload the rather terrible photos I took of my Whoopies.  Desperate measures meant me asking Lucas's Mum to take a photo of the Whoopies this morning - how sad am I!!  Hardly like the delightfully compact Mary Berry versions on the recipe link, but tasty nonetheless.

Can you guess which are mine??

Go on give them a go, even if just for the name!

Happy baking!