February 15, 2014

Nutella Cookbook Creation #1: Orange Creme Whoopie Pies

So my lovely sister Kerri got me the awesome Nutella cookbook for Christmas…

This is my first post where I am actually using it though!

Basically, I’m sure you will have guessed but this is a cookbook full of yummy treats to make, which all feature Nutella. I thought I would start from the beginning with my creations, however the first recipe was for Nutella & fruit club sandwiches, which was too easy.

The second recipe was for mini coconut Nutella palmiers, however I didn’t really fancy coconut, so on I went. Finally, third time lucky, I stumbled across the orange creme whoopie pie recipe. ‘Yes ‘ I thought, this is definitely the type of thing I am looking for.

I’ve never eaten a whoopie pie, so didn’t really know what to expect, however it looked yummy on the picture, so I was ready to give it a go!

How did I get on?

Well… I did *okay* for my first time. Basically, the recipe that I have included for you below tells you that the mixture will make 15 whoopie pies. So in my brain, I thought okay, 15 pies, means 15 spoonfuls of the mixture on the baking tray, right?

Wrong! That only makes seven (quite large) whoopie pies, when you put the two halves together. So basically, I didn’t fully read the recipe and was having a severe blonde moment (even though I’m not blonde).

So yeah, as I mentioned above, mine came out rather larger than I originally planned, which meant they were quite filling. However, they still tasted nice!

The orange creme went a bit wrong for me as well. When making it, I melted the butter, then took it off the heat before I put in the other ingredients, whereas you’re supposed to put them in whilst it is still simmering. This meant that my mixture didn’t really thicken up that well, however I just rectified this by adding in some plain flour.

Would I make it again?

Yes, I will definitely be making these whoopie pies again, because I want to see what they would be like smaller like they are actually supposed to be!

The only thing that I might do is just use chocolate or vanilla buttercream for the filling, instead of making the orange creme. I didn’t dislike the creme in the recipe, but it was very time-consuming and wasn’t really worth the wait in my opinion.

If you used your own buttercream, the whole process would be so much quicker, as the pies themselves only take 10-15 minutes to cook.

You could also just add some orange flavouring to your chocolate icing, if you still wanted an orange taste for your pies.

Could I taste the Nutella?

In all honestly, not really. However I usually slather it on or eat is straight from the jar so I’m probably immune from the taste when it is used in smaller quantities now.

It is still a nice recipe though and makes for great whoopie pies (if you get the sizing right!)

Conclusion

So yes, that was my very first baking experience with my Nutella cookbook! Not without its hiccups, but like would probably be boring if it was perfect, right?!

Let me know if you try out the recipe (included below), or if you have the Nutella cookbook too!

Until next time…

Sam x

Ingredients

Orange creme filling:

One orange
75g unsalted butter
50g caster sugar
One egg
75 Philadelphia-style cheese

Whoopie pies:

125g plain flour
One teaspoon of baking powder
40g unsalted butter
40g caster sugar
One egg
100g nutella
20g cocoa powder
100ml semi-skimmed milk
pinch of salt

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees (Gas 4)

2. Make the orange creme filling. First grate the orange zest and then squeeze it’s juice into a bowl. Next melt the butter in a separate bowl over a pan of simmering water. To this, add the sugar, egg and the zest & juice. Beat this mixture, still over the heat, until it thickens. Remove this from the heat and leave to cool. After this, add in the cheese and chill the mixture for at least one hour.

3. To make the whoopie pies: Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. In another bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until you have a smooth mixture. Add to this, the Nutella, the egg, cocoa powder and milk. Mix this well and then add the first flour mixture to it.

4. Place THIRTY (*winks) spoonfuls of the mixture onto a baking tray covered in parchment paper (or which has been greased). Bake for 10-15 minutes. Leave this to cool and spread on the orange creme mixture when both are ready.