(This one’s dedicated to Brian Kane, one of the kind souls without whose assistance WWJD would be…well, nonexistent.)
pie- noun: a baked food having a filling of fruit, meat, pudding, etc., prepared in a pastry-lined pan or dish and often topped with a pastry crust: apple pie; meat pie.
Well, I suppose you have to know that you live in something resembling Paradise when one of the biggest controversies you’re faced with is…wait for it…which sweet, delectable confection should be crowned as your state’s official dessert. Yes, this is the debate gripping Mainers these days as they ponder whether or not their beloved Whoopie Pie is worthy of such lofty status.
It’s seems a quintessential Mainer battle of Good vs. Evil, a battle pitting tradition against public health:
Those who support the idea say the chocolate cakes filled with creamy white frosting are a decades-long Maine tradition and help the economy, as bakeries turn out thousands a day. The one-man opposition is concerned about glorifying a product made with lard amid an obesity epidemic.
It’s either “pure, edible nostalgia”…or a frosting delivery system…which, from where I sit…um, well, you say “frosting delivery system” like it’s a bad thing….
Me? I’m not even sure a Whoopie Pie meets my definition of pie…you know, pastry and filling? Having never experienced the alleged rich, creamy goodness this is a Whoopie Pie, I’ll leave that debate for intellects more nimble than my own, but for my part, I’m having trouble wrapping my head around how a Whoopie Pie is even a “pie”. Of course, if that’s the biggest problem in my life….
The filling is generally of one of two types: a thick, sweet frosting made from Crisco shortening combined with confectioners’ sugar, or, more conveniently, a dollop of Marshmallow Fluff.
The cake itself is typically not especially sweet, and is often on the dry side, since the frosting lends plenty of sugar and a gooey consistency, said Sandra Oliver, a food historian and columnist in Islesboro, Me.
How the cookies traveled to Maine is a mystery, however.
One theory holds that whoopie pies were brought north during the Great Depression through the Yummy Book, a recipe pamphlet first published in 1930 by Durkee-Mower, the Massachusetts company that makes Fluff.
Ah, so THIS is why we’re fat….
Sure, so a Whoopie Pie isn’t the healthiest or most nutritionally sound item on Maine’s menu. Then again, we live in a country in which your average American considers a Quarterpounder with Cheese to be haute cuisine. Somehow, I have to think that a Whoopie Pie is the least of our problems….
