Lemon Polenta Whoopie Pie Recipe:
Makes 16 pies
For the whoopie pie shells:
125g butter, at room temperature
200g light brown sugar
2 eggs
450g plain flour
1 tsp salt
1½ tsp baking soda
250ml buttermilk
225g polenta, soaked in lemon juice (roughly 175g dry polenta and the juice of 4 lemons)
For the chocolate ganache:
300g dark chocolate, 70% cocoa, broken into small pieces
300ml double cream
Juice of 1 lemon
50g butter
½ tsp salt
To decorate (optional):
100g dark or milk chocolate
50g ground pistachios
1. Preheat your oven to 180˚C. Line two baking trays with baking paper or silicone mats.
2. Whisk together the butter and sugar. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, salt and baking soda.
3. Add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk.
4. Fold in the polenta. Fill a piping bag and pipe 5cm rounds (or however big you'd like your whoopie pies to be).
5. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the cakes spring back when touched. Allow to cool before filling.
6. While the whoopie pies are baking, heat the double cream to the point just before it boils over a medium heat. Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice, salt and butter. Stir until the butter melts completely
7. Add the hot double cream mixture to the chocolate pieces and whisk vigorously until the heat of the cream melts the chocolate, forming a thick ganache. Allow to cool.
8. Fill a piping bag with the chocolate ganache and pipe onto half the whoopie pie shells, cover with the other shells. To decorate, you can melt the milk chocolate over a hot water bath, spread a teaspoon full over thewhoopie pies and top with ground pistachios.
