An homage...

To date I've lived in (at least) 25 different apartments/homes/places of accommodation throughout my life and am truly fortunate that I view "Home" as "where I am" so no matter where I am; I belong.

One thing remains consistent, however, and that is where I'm from. I'm from New England. That will never change and I am intensely proud of that heritage.

With a 2005 population of 14,239,724 it's a place as varied and wonderful as its inhabitants. Unless you've lived/worked/vacationed there it's impossible to explain all of the wonderful nuances that exist in an area just slightly larger than Washington state.

Because of the above reasons and many more my next experiment had to be Vegan Whoopie Pies.*

The original recipe idea/inspiration came from My Sweet Vegan written/developed by the clever and adorable Hannah Kaminsky.

Behold (the heavily modified version of the recipe**)...

Don't forget to click on the pictures to see them bigger!

Fresh out of the oven:

How to tell when you're doing too many things at once and might need to take a step back for a moment. Trying to pour a newly-opened 5kg bag of powdered sugar into a 1 cup measure:

With "Cream Cheese" frosting:

Because Mr B and I aren't major sweet-toothers (and value -not- largely increasing our BMIs) we give away most of what I make. The recipe I used made 6 Whoopie Pies and I think the next time I make them I'll have to consider for whom I'm making them... Inside a bakery? Sure! The larger the better! But if I were to make them as an order I'd definitely make them smaller. (Can you imagine that I used to eat a whole one of these in one go?!)

My solution for sharing/taste-testing and the transportation thereof.... Cut and box!

I have been having so much fun developing and testing these recipes and ideas with you as my moderators and cheerleaders so I thank you, humbly.

I'm not sure what to make next. I'm still waiting for my piping tips to arrive from The States as I'm desperate to make decorated sugar cookies.

Keeping in mind that I want to move away from chocolate for a bit do you have any suggestions as to what I should attempt next/think about including in my little repertoire?

*Also, just because I'm a geek like that... The recipe was found on page 76 of the recipe book and 1776 is an important year in New England's (and America's) history and 1976 is the Centenary of the USA as well as my birth year!

**solid brown sugar does not a good Whoopie Pie make I can assure you! Also, I don't own nor want to purchase Pastry Flour but there are wonderful substitution suggestions out here on the Interwebs so don't feel put off if, like me, you don't happen to have a bevy expensive ingredients. There is help out here/there!

Also, should you come across something that has you stumped; drop me a line! I'll do my -best- to find you the perfect solution either from my (limited) vegan-baking knowledge and/or my Search-Engine-Fu.