Sugar Rush: The Hunt For Columbine's Whoopie Pie
[Photo: Kathy Chan]
I went through a lot to get this chocolate whoopie pie ($3.50). It was Serious Eats reader Deep who gave me the heads-up after I first wrote about
Columbine. The dessert specials at Columbine change on a daily basis, and every once in awhile, the whoopie pie pops up—in Deep's words, "phenom-nom-nom-inal." You have to check the Columbine website each morning, where they list the specials.
On one lucky morning, the whoopies were on the menu, and Deep emailed me; I dashed down, but was unfortunately too late. They'd sold out of whoopie pies. That was a month and a half ago. But just yesterday morning I saw an email in my inbox from Deep—"Whoopie Pie alert!" This time I ran down to Columbine as soon as my meeting got out, waited in the very long lunch line, and ordered one whoopie pie.
"Sorry ma'am, we just sold out."
"What?!"
"But if you wait just 15 minutes, we should have more."
"Oh yes! I'll wait! I can wait!"
So I waited. 15 minutes turned into 30 minutes. And then 45. I'd check in with the woman behind the counter. "Almost, almost," she'd say. After 30 minutes she offered to deliver it to my office when it was really finished. But I waited it out. And just after the 45-minute mark, the whoopie pie was in my hands—plus the free cookie they threw in for my patience.
And man. It was totally worth it. The cookie is at that perfect middle point of cake and cookie—soft, verging on fudgy, but still a coherent cookie. The filling? Marshmallow cream, spooned in the center. It doesn't look like much cream, but take the first bite, and everything just swooshes right out so that all is all distributed evenly. Perfect ratio, and sweet, but not too sweet. Thanks again, Deep!
Columbine
229 West Broadway, New York NY 10013 (map)
212-965-0909
columbine229.com
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4 Comments:
You, Kathy, are a sweets sniper. Way to stick it out for the good stuff!
I'm amazed that they make more than one batch. But I am glad they did. Perfect description, too! Love that filling... sigh..
BTW, they say they are a wintertime special, but I have seen it in the summer.
still checking the specials daily,
deep
dbdtron at 10:24PM on 01/13/10
i remember when i first saw these, i didn't think anything of it... ok choco cake like thing with sweet white icing. meh. then i tried it..... WOW. tastes soooo deliciously homemade, really really amazing. today they had ina's coconut cupcake - also really freakin good and usually sells out quickly.
soopi25 at 11:10PM on 01/13/10
Whoopies are lovely. I last had them from Lancaster, it's a 2 hour drive from NYC though. But if you need them more than a few times a year, it might be worth a trip to Amish country.
TommySalami at 9:38AM on 01/15/10
Is it possible that cream filling has just a titch of, I don't know, Fluff??
Sounds heavenly, in any case. Anything that fresh from the oven has got to be otherworldly...
Sweet Freak at 9:43AM on 01/15/10