Lemon-Raspberry Whoopie Pies

The Recipe: Lemon-Raspberry Whoopie Pies from the May 2010 issue of Everyday Food.

The Substitutions: zilch

The Verdict: Well -- where to start? This was my first foray into whoopie pies. Since anyone will tell you that whoopie pies are "the new cupcake," I knew I had to get in on the action. The first thing I will say about this recipe is that this is not the greatest introduction to whoopie pies. They were okay, but no one was wowed. I blame this on the filling.

The recipe was easy enough -- first I made the cookies, which were not-too-sweet lemon biscuits. I think next time around I would have added the juice of the lemon as well as the zest, because they weren't lemon-y enough for my taste. But they were good. My problems came with the filling. First problem: my KitchenAid stand mixer broke and I've yet to get it fixed. So I borrowed my mom's flimsy little mixer and it was not whipping the cream as whippy as I needed it. So it wasn't as fluffy and delicious as I imagined. Also, I think I'd be better off with a more substantial filling -- this one is just whipped cream with raspberries folded in, which really squirts out the sides of the pies when assembled. Not great news. Finally, it's a little early for raspberry season in these parts and mine were not ripe and delicious. Slightly bitter even. Again, not great news.

But I am still intrigued by the concept of the whoopie pie. Since my husband's motto is "if it's not chocolate, it's a waste of dessert," I'm sure you can all see where this is going next...