Who can't resist the two great tastes of chocolate and marshmallow. Whoopie pies are an easy way to get your homemade cake craving satisfied but without too much fuss in the kitchen. Also, they are easy an dessert to put together if you don't have the right baking pan for a full cake.

There are all sorts of flavor combinations, but here is my winter recipe for chocolate Whoopie pies with homemade marshmallow filling. Obviously, if you need to save time please substitute the homemade marshmallow for marshmallow fluff, Nutella or any flavor of your favorite jam.

Whoopie Pies
120 grams butter milk (add a few drops lemon to milk if you don't have buttermilk)-room temperature
130 grams room temperature butter
30 grams room temperature shortening
130 grams sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
200 grams flour (sifted)
1 teaspoon baking powder
60 grams cacao powder

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Sift together, the flour, cacao powder and baking powder.
3. In a large bowl, mix the butter, shortening and sugar using a hand mixer on low speed (or stand mixer) until well mixed. Add the egg in portions and mix well. Lastly, add the vanilla.
4. Add the dry ingredients and milk to the butter mixture alternately and continue to mix on a low speed with the mixer until everything is well blended.
5. Scoop the dough into a piping bag fitted with plain nozzle and pipe small mounds of dough onto the parchment paper. Tip: dip a small round cookie cutter in flour and then tap on the parchment to provide a guideline for piping the dough. Do this to make a guide for all of the pieces you need to pipe.
6. Bake 12 - 15 minutes. After removing from the oven cool completely before filling.

Whoopie pies on a silpat sheet ready for baking Flour circles are a guide to size each piece

Marshmallow Filling
25 grams gelatin
120 grams water
80 grams water
120 grams sugar
40 grams corn syrup or equivalent (in Japan use mizu ame)
80 grams egg white
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Soften the gelatin with the 120 grams water in a bowl.
2. Whip the egg whites in a bowl until soft peaks form.
3. Heat the 80 grams water, sugar and corn syrup in a small saucepan until it reaches 110 degrees Celsius. Slowly pour this mixture into the whipped eggs and continue to mix with the mixer (or stand mixer).
4. Add the gelatin water to the saucepan and heat lightly so that the gelatin dissolves completely. Add this to the egg whites in portions and continue to mix with the hand mixer for a few minutes and then add the vanilla. Mix with the hand mixer until the mixture starts to become cool.
5. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a decorative nozzle and pipe a round circle on one side of a whoopie pie. Use another piece of whoopie pie to make a sandwich with the first.
6. Tip: after step 4 the mixture will become firm quickly since it contains a lot of gelatin so have the piping bag and whoopie pies ready. You can pipe leftover marshmallow pieces onto a baking sheet that has been dusted with cornstarch. The cornstarch will keep the marshmallow pieces from sticking to each other.