Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Salted Caramel Frosting

Nate has a sweet tooth. A horrible, horrible sweet tooth. Personally I try to refrain from eating a lot of sweets (I would choose cheese over chocolate, if I had to pick a vice), but thanks to Nate I am constantly churning out dessert after dessert. 

On the one hand it's fun, because I get to keep my baking skills up to chop. But on the other hand, it's dangerous, because even if you aren't crazy about sweets, it's impossible not to have at least one slice of, say, homemade butterscotch pie...

Anyway, the pie was finished a few days ago, and Nate decided he wanted whoopie pies next. I've never made them before, and I think the only time I've ever had one is when Starbucks inside our grocery store is giving away their pastries at the end of the day. I used this recipe for the cookie/cake part, and this recipe for the filling, with a slight modification (see below). 

Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Salted Caramel Frosting

First, mix together the dry ingredients: Flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Beat the butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla until smooth and fluffy.

In a small container, mix together 1/2 cup lukewarm coffee and some buttermilk. Alternating between adding the flour mixture and the coffee/buttermilk mixture to the butter/sugar mixture. Once mixed, put into a bag and pipe onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.

Take out of the oven and let cool completely.

Make the frosting. I made the frosting from this recipe, but whipped 1/2 cup heavy cream and folded it into the frosting at the end, to achieve a nice fluffy texture. Put the frosting into a pastry bag and pipe onto one cookie/cake round, then top with another, pushing down until the frosting reaches the edge.

The cake is dense and moist, the fluffy filling is sweet and salty in a way that helps cut through the richness of the cake. Highly recommended, especially with a cold glass of milk or iced tea!