Whoopie pies are, apparently, the new cupcake - i.e. the latest baking fad originating from the US. But don't be put off by the slightly annoying concept of trendiness in baking - they're really good! A whoopie pie is basically an individual sandwich cake, with two little flat cake buns and a filling in the middle - sometimes with a topping as well.

This beautiful book was a Christmas gift from my mother in law, together with a special whoopie pie tray (a bit like a bun tray but with shallower dips).

First thing to say is how lovely this book is - you can see from the pic above the cute retro look - so even if you never intend to make any of the recipes it will look great on your coffee table. Inside, it's just as delicious with mouthwatering large pictures of every different recipe.

The book is divided into sections for simple whoopie recipes, pies with icing, topped and drizzled pies, frozen or chilled ones and a chapter for 'holiday' themes like Halloween or Christmas. There is, rather oddly to my mind, an extra chapter tacked on the end with recipes for other 'American classics' such as peanut butter cookies. I must confess I haven't really looked at this chapter much.

The recipes I've tried so far (including chocolate whoopies, chocolate chip whoopies and salt caramel whoopies) have all been really clear to follow and well laid out. Baking times are accurate and the end result has always been delicious. They do take a bit of time due to having to make fillings separate from the cake mix and often chilling the mix for half an hour before baking, so don't expect to whip them up in 10 minutes.

However, I would say that Claire Ptak seems rather over-generous with her quantities. I find that her standard quantity for 9 large whoopies actually makes 12 really quite large pies. If you're making for kids I'd definitely go with the mini whoopie sizes or they'll be over-faced. So in general - use your own judgement rather than slavishly follow her recipe on how many pies it should make!

This is even more true of the filling quantities. Just the other day I was left with a rather large quantity of chocolate marshmallow filling with nowhere to go - and I wasn't scrimping! Still, better than too little I suppose...

Overall, this is a great, fun recipe book that can also inspire you to make your own fillings and toppings. Not for the cook who wants the quickest bake, but they're not difficult to make as long as you have a bit of time and enjoy spending it in the kitchen!