Given the chance, what would you name as Vermont’s state treat? We’ve got a pie (it’s apple) but seem to lack a true state dessert. It seems that most folks don’t realize that pie is not dessert, but a course onto itself. Our neighbors to the South have an official donut (Boston Crème), New Hampshirites are too cranky to have anything but a state vegetable (Pumpkin) and the folks to the west have copied our state fruit (Apple) and have a totally lame state muffin (Again, apple). Only our friends over in Maine seem to really get it, and have dubbed the Whoopie Pie as the state treat.
If the Vermont legislature thinks that it should spend time establishing Skiing and Snowboarding Vermont’s official outdoor sports and adding Walleye as another official fish, it is past high time that we get a state treat. Therefore the Sapbucket officially calls on the Legislature in its next biennium to formalize an official treat for the state of Vermont. Since it seems that election season has already started, we further declare that this will be the litmus test by which the Sapbucket judges every candidate for office. Will you take a strong position in favor of an official dessert for all Vermonters? (We’ll be taking suggestions for what that treat should be during the rest of the year.)
In the meantime, we’re discus Maine’s official treat the Whoopie Pie. I’m not vested enough in the history of the dessert to take a side in whether Mainers or the Pennsylvania Amish invented it. Heck, I had never even had a Whoopie Pie before trying the Nomadic Oven’s devilish creation last year. It recently caught my eye in the City Market dessert case and I figured the time was right for a Sapbucket review. The pie is a large size, comparable to a hamburger from Al’s French Fries with a second patty between the bun, and comes wrapped in plastic. That seems to help the outer chocolate cakes stay fresh and moist. The cakes are soft (bordering on sticky) and fantastically chocolately. Not a crazy rich brownie chocolate, just simple chocolate cake goodness. The icing is sweet and marshmallow like in texture and flavor while binding the two cakes together so you consistently have both chocolate and icing bites. As noted, I’m a Whoopie Pie novice, but I thought this was an excellent treat and a great dessert.
Verdict: Maine’s official treat will always be welcome here in Vermont.
Baked in Burlington, we picked up a Nomadic Oven Whoopie Pie from City Market. A few years ago Seven Days did a small piece on the story behind the Nomadic Oven’s creator, Jen Smith. After reading that, like the Nomadic Oven on Facebook and follow them on twitter @TheNomadicOven.
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