HARRISBURG, Pa. — Laura Fultz said she had a good feeling when she brought her pumpkin whoopie pies to the Pennsylvania Farm Show — but not THAT good.
“I hoped I might win third, fourth or fifth place,” the Liverpool resident said. “I knew they were good but I never expected to win first place.”
Fultz bested 28 other entries Tuesday afternoon to capture the blue ribbon and $500 in the Farm Show’s Whoopie Pie Contest.
Other awards went to Christy Meuler of Hummelstown, second place and $100; Sharon Kurtz of Emmaus, third place and $50; Sally Reinoehl of Schuylkill County, fourth place and a ribbon; and Darlene Noll of Pine Grove, fifth place and a ribbon.
Whoopie pies — a dessert hybrid of a cookie, pie and cake — look like a cookie or cake sandwich with a fluffy creamy filling. While the “sandwich” part was traditionally made of chocolate and the filling a white cream, anything goes these days. This year, four of the five winners made pumpkin whoopie pies.
Lancaster Farming's Stephanie Speicher got a chance to judge the whoopie pie contest at the Pennsylvania Farm Show.
Once considered a Lancaster County dessert because they originated with the Amish community, they’ve now gone mainstream.
Three judges diligently sampled the tasty treats, narrowing their field to nine then doing more tasting as they evaluated for flavor, smell, taste, texture and smoothness of filling.
The entries, like the bakers, were diverse, with several classic chocolate and peanut butter or white-filling whoopie pies, and several pumpkin and some unusual ones like peanut butter and jelly and one with a cinnamon filling.
Fultz made whoopie pies the size of hamburger buns. “I hardly ever make chocolate whoopie pies, because everyone likes pumpkin,” she said.
Meuler, noting she comes from a family of bakers, said she almost didn’t make it to the contest, which had a 3 p.m. entry delivery time. She arrived at 2:45 due to traffic delays.
“My first batch of whoopie pies was dry so I made another batch,” she said. “When you make whoopie pies, don’t overfill them. I didn’t expect to win. This is the best I’ve ever done in a Farm Show contest.”
Two women in the audience, Mary Miller of Strongstown and Debbie Lynch of Red Lion, said they met at a Farm Show whoopie pie contest four years ago and have been friends ever since. Both entered the whoopie pie contest again.
“When I make whoopie pies, I use oil, not shortening to make the batter smoother,” Lynch said. “I bake them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment. For the filling, I use soft butter, confectioners’ sugar and milk and beat it four minutes so it is smooth.”
Kurtz said she adds pumpkin pie spice to her batter and a little clove “to give it a kick.”
There’s room in this contest for newcomers too. Jared Murphy of Newburg said he never made whoopie pies in his life before baking for this contest.
“Mine are a classic chocolate whoopie pie,” he said. “I’ve always liked whoopie pies.”
Diana Bissett, Farm Show whoopie pie contest chairwoman, said there’s “definitely” a trend toward pumpkin whoopie pies because so many people like pumpkin.
“Whoopie pies are a special treat,” she said. “People like them. Entries in this contest are up. We had a big crowd watching the judging.”
