Whoopie pies had a moment of fame just when my book Short & Sweet was coming out, so I dedicated several pages to recipes for chocolate and vanilla versions, with maybe five or six other flavour variations as well: enough to stock a cake stall at the next village fete! If you want to try them all, you can buy the book HERE, but as a taster, this recipe which I wrote for Patrick at BakeryBits will show you how easy they are to make.

If you're not quite sure what whoopie pies are, imagine a cross between a small cake and a softish biscuit, with buttercream or marshmallow icing used to sandwich the two halves together and, optionally, to ice the top. They are American in origin, probably coming from the Pennsylvania Dutch or Amish communities, though they are widely available outside the northeastern states and New England, where they received the singular distinction of being declared the 'official treat' of the state of Maine by the state legislature.

You will find special whoopie pie baking trays on sale, but you can use shallow patty tins, or simply go freehand on flat baking sheets. Some American recipes suggest using an ice cream scoop to deliver same-sized portions of dough. This recipe uses 25g cocoa powder to 75g flour which makes very dark 'pies'; if you want to tame this a little, increase the flour and decrease the cocoa, keeping the total at 100g. The quantity below is enough to make 12 halves, which will yield 6 whoopie pies.

Whisk together all ingredients except for the flour, cocoa and bicarbonate of soda. Once mixed, add these too, mixing until evenly combined. Lightly butter the baking sheet (or the pockets of the whoopie pie tray or patty tin) and spoon the mixture into 12 evenly-sized portions. Bake at 180°C/160°C fan until springy. Leave to cool for a few minutes and then tip out onto a wire cooling rack.

For the buttercream: Whisk the butter then beat in the remaining ingredients until all evenly combined into a smooth paste. Spread six of the cooled sponges with a good dollop of buttercream and place another sponge on top of each. Spread the remaining buttercream on top of the whoopie pies and add sprinkles, if desired.