Whoopie Pies

Boldly proclaiming the Whoopie Pie as "the latest classic craze sweeping the culinary world," former pastry chef Goren offers up over 80 mix-and-match recipes for fanatics. Though her pies resemble the classic French macaron in appearance, they have the consistency of cakes, with bakers dropping the batter onto cookie sheets in dollops. Using this method, Goren offers a wealth of applications both sweet (Apple & Calvados, Chocolate Coconut, and Snickers & Vanilla Cream) and savory (Beet, Mushroom & Goat Cheese, and Zucchini with Feta Cheese). The sweet options are fairly predictable, while the more outlandish savory offerings (incorporating ingredients like anchovies or featuring cornbread with a whipped cream cheese filling) seem to do little besides increasing the recipe count. Considering that there are already seven other books dedicated to Whoopie Pies (four of which were published this year), the deck is seemingly stacked against Goren. In addition, the book's lack of a recipe list%E2%80%94with only a table of contents based on theme and an index based on ingredient%E2%80%94will frustrate readers trying to find particular recipes. (Oct.)