Food Fights: Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Cherry Buttercream Frosting and Marnie Stern, Marcellus Hall and Class Actress

(AP image taken by Matt Rourke)

Whoopie Pies are born in controversy. This blog, though trying to remain above the fray, has been no different to these whoopie wars. First there was the disparaging remarks about my eye sight at something I wrote about a whoopie pie shop. Then, the shipped batch that had to settle a bet. Now, in a story that has gone viral the last few days and has been picked up by news outlets such as USA Today, the Associated Press and the Huffington Post, these desserts are fueling a state war of words.

Both Pennsylvania and Maine have staked claim to the origination whoopie pies. This has gone on for as long as I can remember. The two sides have always lived in peace thinking Maine has theirs, we have ours (being an original Pennsylvanian I use we). Then in March of 2009 an article appeared in the New York Times about whoopies. It cited food historians as suggesting that the dessert probably originated in Pennsylvania. This upset many people in Maine including State Representative, Paul Davis, who remembered eating the desserts in his childhood. He began looking into the Times claim and the more he researched (talked to people), the more he felt something needed to be done to acknowledge Maine's claim. So in January, one year and ten months after the article was published, Davis introduced a bill to make the Whoopie Pie Maine's official treat. When news got to the Pennsylvania Amish, they were not happy. Rallies occurred, websites were created, videos made and Maine was told to "stick to lobster." This thing seems far from over.

News of this situation was brought to my attention by high school classmate and fellow food blogger and writer Erin. She suggested we have a "Save our Whoopie" bake day on Thursday to celebrate Pennsylvania's claim to whoopies. She baked a Mini Chocolate Whoopie Pie with Chocolate Hazelnut Buttercream Filling. I went with a Chocolate Whoopie Pie with Cherry Buttercream Frosting.

As I baked up these Whoopies I enjoyed the sounds of three artists whose lyrics describe the Maine/Pennsylvania situation to a t. There's Marnie Stern with "Every Single Line Means Something," Marcellus Hall who is "Laughing with You" and Class Actress who suggests we be "Careful What You Say."

Marnie Stern-Every Single Line Means Something

Marcellus Hall-Laughing with You

Class Actress-Careful What You Say


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