super bowl sweets

On February 2, most of America will be firmly ensconced in cushy couches, eating chips, wings, pizza and other gut enhancing foods. I am so there, gut notwithstanding. Super Bowl Sunday is the second largest food-consumption day in the good 'ole USA, behind only, you guessed it, Thanksgiving. For shame, I've never dwelt too hard about the dessert portion of it, as the wings/pizza/chips combo loom larger than usual and take precedence. I usually make a batch of chocolate chip cookies.


This year, however, I thought it'd be fun to do a festive ending to game day with some football shaped whoopie pies. It was a team activity— I halved this recipe (made about 30 2½-inch whoopie pies), sandwiched frosting in between and Dear Daughter piped on the laces. The Son, well, he sampled.

The hardest part was executing a football shaped whoopie pie. The batter was a bit runny, so I let it sit at room temperature for half an hour which firmed it up a bit. I used a large teaspoon (flatware, not the actual measuring spoon) to drop the batter onto the cookie sheet and moved it from side to side to create the oblong. For the frosting, I used Nick Malgieri's Confectioners' Sugar Icing (recipe to follow) and the decorative lacing was 1 cup of confectioner's sugar mixed with a just a little bit of water.

Hope you have a happy game day. Are you planning an extensive menu or keeping it simple?

Confectioners' Sugar Icing
slightly adapted from The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted after measuring
3 tablespoons milk or orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine the butter and ½ cup of the confectioners' sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat with the paddle on low speed until smooth. Continue adding more confectioners' sugar, ½ cup at a time, until it is absorbed. Add the milk 1 tablespoon at a time, waiting until it is incorporated before adding more. Beat in the vanilla. If the mixture is still dry, add some more milk by the teaspoonful. Beat the icing for 5 minutes to make it light.




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