Mood Food: Forgiveness Raspberry-Orange Whoopie Pies

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Forgiveness is something that can’t be sugarcoated or bought off with a treat. When I’ve really fucked up, the most incandescent Willy Wonka candy can’t cover up a mistake, or a hurt that burrows into the heart and forms hate. I could sneak bottles of homemade vanilla extract, sprinkled with lavender for peace, in a person’s mailbox. I could leave baskets pumpkin bread on their doorstep, with bay leaves sewn in for luck. And it will sit there, rotting away and decaying like the friendship and trust I once had.

Whoopie pies are a bitch to make. They dirty up a million dishes, and mine have to be eaten right away lest the whipped cream filling melts and deflates or the cakes grow cold. So hopefully the receiver will see how much effort you put into making them.

Whoopie pies are best shared. Go to the recipient’s house and offer to sit and eat them together. If they take them or don’t take them and tell you to leave, leave respectfully and give them space. Maybe try again when they’ve cooled off. If they allow you to enter the premises, though, that’s a good sign! Smile and be grateful.

Make small talk. Wait for them to eat a whoopie pie. Let the fruitiness of the raspberry add some sunshine back into their heart. They may even smile. At this point, they’ve let you into their home and they are eating deliciousness. They have their walls down and are in a prime state for reconsideration. And forgiveness.

Apologize, apologize, apologize. Explain yourself. People are human and we all make mistakes. We all have bad days where we say hateful bitter things that we regret. When you love someone that fills your heart the way that caramel fills the center of a chocolate, the emotions and passion that comes with it can be uncontrollable and scary. It’ll have you looking into the mirror and whispering “Why the fuck did I say that? What’s wrong with me?”. Whether it be a lover, family member, or a friend, love is a strange thing to navigate.

If you are lucky enough to receive their forgiveness, for the love of god don’t piss them off again. Unless absolutely necessary. For instance, if they’re dating a boyfriend that’s an asshole that grabbed your ass while she wasn’t looking and you need to tell her even if it’ll make her angry. Totally hypothetical.

If they don’t forgive you, either it wasn’t meant to be or you don’t deserve their forgiveness at that time. They may forgive you in 10 to 20 years and you won’t even know it, but all you can do is hope. Backtrack and think about how you got to that mistake so that you don’t do it again. And if you need to forgive yourself…make these whoopie pies, eat solo, and smile because a new day is coming tomorrow.

What makes this recipe enchanting:

• Easy orange-accented whoopie pie cakes

• A fluffy raspberry whipped cream filling

• A fun baking project

More fun baking projects:

• Molten Lava Cakes

• Heartbreak-Healing Honey Spice Cupcakes

• Home Sweet Home Banana Bread

• The Best Buttermilk Biscuits with Cinnamon Honey Butter

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Makes 4 whoopie pies

Cakes:

• ¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted

• ½ cup light brown sugar

• 1 orange’s zest

• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 egg

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• ¼ tsp plus 1/8 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda

• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

• ½ cup milk

Filling:

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

• 3 tablespoons brown sugar

• 6 oz. fresh raspberries (about 1 ½ containers)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer, mix the butter, brown sugar, orange zest, and vanilla until light and creamy. Add the egg and mix to combine. Set a fine-mesh sieve over the bowl and sift in the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Use a spoon to push the ingredients through the sieve into the wet ingredients. Remove the sieve and add the salt. Mix with the hand mixer until combined.
   

2. Drop the batter in 2-tablespoon mounds, about 2 inches apart, onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake until puffed and golden around the edges, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cakes cool completely.

3. For the filling, clean your beaters from your hand mixer. In another large bowl with the electric hand mixer, whip the cream and brown sugar until soft peaks form. In a small bowl, mash one pack of the raspberries completely. Then add the other half of a pack of raspberries and mash only slightly, leaving lots of beautiful raspberry chunks. Divide raspberry cream evenly among bottoms of half the cakes, then sandwich with remaining cakes. These are best eaten fresh.