Chocolate Strawberry-Marshmallow Whoopie Pie

I get so inspired every time I watch Unique Sweets on the Cooking Channel. And let me tell you, I watch it at least one episode a week... well, more like every other day. I watch it again and again, and all the episodes never get old.

The sweets that stood out the most were the ones with the natural ingredients. No food coloring. Raw foods. One of the bakers made red velvet cupcakes using beet juice as food coloring. How cool is that. After thinking about baking without artificial food coloring and flavoring, I wondered what my maple syrup marshmallows would taste like if I added the freeze dried strawberries right after I made a new batch.

I heart freeze dried strawberry!!! The marshmallows had that strawberry aromatic. So much fragrant that if I didn't make them myself, I'd think a strawberry extract or some sort of artificial strawberry flavor was added to the recipe. Now I'm so addicting to freeze dried strawberry. I want to bake more things with them as a highlighted ingredient.

The other day, I was flipping through a baking book, reading out the recipes' names. Brek stopped me when a recipe caught his attention and told me, "You haven't made whoopie pie in awhile." He was right. Last time I made them was for Halloween treats. The very next day, I came up with chocolate strawberry-marshmallow whoopie pie recipe.

Luv, luv, luv!!! Brek really liked the strawberry aromatic in the marshmallows. Camden wanted only strawberry-marshmallows because... well, he just loved marshmallows. I think he was on to something because strawberry-marshmallows did taste good by itself.

I highly recommend using a whoopie pie pan for this recipe as each cake will bake perfectly round with a good dome. It also comes in handy for not just baking whoopie pies. I've baked cookies with this pan to achieve that perfectly rounded cookies. (Check out my perfectly rounded chocolate chip cookies).

Chocolate Strawberry-Marshmallow Whoopie Pie
makes 6

Chocolate Cake
3 Tablespoons (0.7 oz) cocoa powder
3 teaspoons instant coffee granulate (optional)
3/4 cup (3 oz) all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 large egg
1/2 cup (3.5 oz) granulated sugar
1/4 cup (2 oz) coconut milk
3 Tablespoons safflower oil

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F degrees. Spray the whoopie pie pan with the cooking oil. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, coffee granulate, flour, and baking powder. Set aside
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg and sugar.
4. Add the milk and oil then whisk until creamy.
5. Mix in the flour mixture just until just combine.
6. Using the medium scoop, place the batter onto the prepared whoopie pie pan.
7. Bake in the preheated oven until the toothpick inserted in the middle of any cake comes out clean, about 10 minutes.
8. Let the cakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Then transfer the cakes into the rack to cool completely. NOTE: While the cakes are cooling, make the strawberry-marshmallows (recipe follows).
9. Turn over 6 of the cakes.
10. Scoop about 3 tablespoons of strawberry-marshmallows onto the cakes.
11. Place the other cakes on top of the strawberry-marshmallows to make whoopie pies.
12. Roll the side of the marshmallows onto the crushed freeze dried strawberry.
13. Serve right away or keep them in an airtight container at a room temperature for up to 3 days.

Strawberry-Marshmallows
2 cups freshly whipped maple syrup marshmallows
2-3 Tablespoons freeze dried strawberry, divided

NOTE: Look for the freeze dried strawberry that only have strawberries as an ingredient. Just Strawberries is what I used in this recipe. One bag is pretty expensive, so I use them wisely in my baking.

Wait until the chocolate cakes are made and in the cooling stage before making the marshmallows. The freshly whipped marshmallows make it easier to place between the cakes. Only 2 cups are needed for this recipe. What to do with the leftover marshmallows? Make regular marshmallows or add more crushed freeze dried strawberry to make more strawberry-marshmallows for future treats. (Notice the chocolate covered strawberry-marshmallows photographs. See, the possibilities of strawberry-marshmallows are endless.)

1. While the marshmallows are whipping in the stand alone mixture, roughly break the freeze dried strawberries into small pieces.
2. Once the maple syrup marshmallows are freshly whipped, scoop about 2 cups into a bowl. (Just estimate the amount that'd be enough for 6 whoopie pies.)
3. Stir in 2 tablespoons of the crushed freeze dried strawberries.
4. Use the strawberry-marshmallows right away, as stated in the instruction above. Save about a tablespoon of crushed freeze dried strawberries as garnish.

Allergy Info: The chocolate strawberry-marshmallow whoopie pie is free from or can be made without dairy, corn, legumes (soy), nuts (not coconut), and fish.