The latest Fashion......in wellies and cake.

At last, enough snow to give me a reason to walk into Richmond with my rather sporty new wellies from Hunter!  Who would have thought, not so many years ago, that even this simple, durable footwear would one day become fashionable - it took me quite a while to decide between the practical yet pretty Royal Horticultural Society design (seen here), and the rather less practical but obviously more 'street smart' Jimmy Choos!  Being a practical girl it had to be the RHS, if only to remind me that once in a while I should wear them for what they are intended!
The other fantastic thing about being snowed in, is the excuse to bake cakes.  Not that I really ever need an excuse, but it's great to walk to the neighbours with something cheering when the weather is so grey, and cake normally fits the bill with most (homemade hot toddy tends to go down quite well too, especially on the really cold days!).
And as with fashionable wellies, it appears that cakes go through fashion phases too.  For the last few years it has been cup cakes wherever you look, but now it looks like there is a leaning towards the Whoopie Pie!  It has to be a fun cake, if only because of it's name, but luckily they also taste pretty good.  I tried to make a healthy option by using butternut, but to be perfectly honest, Whoopie Pies don't really lend themselves to being healthy, and at the moment we are all using up so many calories keeping warm I don't think it will matter too much!

Butternut and Passion Fruit Whoopie Pies

110g butter, at room temperature
200g dark muscovado sugar
3 eggs, beaten
250g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
large pinch ground cloves
250g cooked and mashed butternut
150g cream cheese
1 passion fruit, juice only
200-225g icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas mark 4.  Line 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper.
Cream together the butter and sugar until they are light and fluffy.  Add the beaten eggs, a little at a time to prevent the mixture from curdling.
Sift in the flour, baking powder, Bicarb and spices, then fold in gently before folding in the butternut puree.
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture on the baking sheets, making sure to leave enough space for them to spread.  Cook for 10-12 minutes, until they feel 'springy' to the touch.  Cool on a cooling rack.
Cream together the cream cheese, passion fruit juice and icing sugar to make the filling.   Spread a little onto one pie, then top with another.