Whoops

First it was cupcakes, then it was French macaroons, and now it’s the New England classic – whoopie pies. They seem to be all over town. I’ve seen them in bakeshops, on food trucks and now as a DC pop-up shop.

The night before Halloween, Elliot and I ventured out to eat dinner at one of our neighborhood standbys. As we were leaving the restaurant, we noticed the large gathering of people in the AutoZone parking lot across the street. We came to find out that everyone was gathered for Thriller on H Street. Sure, the Michael Jackson tribute was great, but what interested me more was the small table set up by the sidewalk. A table piled high with the nostalgic treats.

The treats were baked and sold by McKee Floyd, a former hill staffer that now bakes whoopie pies and dreams of opening Whoops! Bakeshop in spring 2011. But, until that dream becomes a reality, she is taking her whoopie pies and “popping up” all over DC. In the past few weeks she has been on U St, in Georgetown, Adams Morgan and most recently on H St NE.

Floyd prides herself on using only the finest ingredients in her whoopie pies. That night we decided to get one of each whoopie pie offered - a red velvet and pumpkin – bringing the total to $6. Unfortunately, I am unable to eat red velvet anything because of a pesky allergy to red food dye, but Elliot vouched for how wonderful it was. He loved that the cream filling wasn’t so sweet that it overpowered the cake on the outside. And although I liked the pumpkin whoopie, I wish it had been a little sweeter. Yet, I was happy to find the cake was extremely moist, reassuring me that the pies were fresh and hadn’t been wrapped in plastic for more than a few hours.

Although it may be a few months, I am looking forward to her shop opening and being able to customize my own whoopie pie. Floyd hopes that she will be able to have customers choose their cake, frosting and toppings. I don’t know about you, but I think we can all get behind that.

Until then, follow Whoops! on twitter @whoopsbakeshop and look for her to “pop up” in a neighborhood near you.