Appml

When Al Dente blog reader Pat Hawn recently shared her inexpensive regional foodie finds, I was thrilled to learn that one of them, Whoopie Pies, originated in Pennsylvania Dutch country, an area I was planning on visiting this summer.

I stopped in at the Lancaster County Farmers Market just a few days ago, eager to scout out regional delicacies including the famed Whoopie Pie. And I found that homespun treat at J & R Baked Goods.

The chocolate pies had been snapped up earlier in the day, so I settled for the pumpkin, an option I might have considered out-of-the-ordinary, had I not just read Micheline Maynard’s New York Time’s article “Whoopie! Cookie, Pie or Cake, It’s Having It’s Moment”. In it Maynard tracks the recent migration of Whoopie Pies from a regional Amish delicacy (it’s also native to Maine, go figure) to bakeries across America, singling out several of these newer purveyors including Chicago’s Fraiche Bakery Café, where the two most popular flavors are chocolate and pumpkin.

One look at a Whoopie Pie and you know right off the bat that it’s not a pie at all. It is, rather, two rounds of cake with a fluffy, gooey filling that’s eaten in-hand like a cookie. And my pumpkin Whoopie Pie was yummy. If your neighborhood bakery hasn‘t discovered the Whoopie Pie, you can find them online at specialty food stores including Dean & Deluca or Hancock Gourmet Lobster Company.

Thanks again, Pat, for passing this tip along. If anyone knows of other cheap and fun foodie souvenirs from the farmers market or the grocery store, let me know.

–Tracy Schneider