Sweet Wars

Melissa Zabower
Oct 8, 2018
2 min read

Wars have been fought for centuries, for power, resources, and land. Enemies have faced off across fields in pitched battles, agreeing to meet on a field on a certain day to fight to the death. Guerrilla warfare has defeated enemies with weapons and fear. Some wars have lasted thirty years, and some have ended after only six days. One war, at least, has been sweet. The sweetest war on record is the Whoopie Pie Wars.

Yes, folks, you read that right. Whoopie pies, those fist-sized, cream-filled confections, started a war between Maine and my own Pennsylvania.

Lancaster County is known for its whoopie pies, but a Maine bakery was the first to sell them, and a few years ago, Maine decided to make Whoopie Pies the state treat. Residents of Lancaster County couldn't swallow that, so the Lancaster County Visitor's Bureau passed around a petition that eventually raised more than 500 signatures. The petition claimed Maine had committed "confectionary larceny."

But the origin of whoopie pies isn't as clear as Lancaster County residents want to believe. They seem to have been invented in the 1920s, but it may have been in Pennsylvania, Maine, or even Massachusetts. No one knows for sure.

Recipes vary, too. The traditional recipes use vegetable shortening to make the stiff white filling. Others use butter. Sometimes the cake that forms the sandwich is sticky; sometimes its rather dry. Chocolate cake is traditional, but other variations have popped up over the years, and in honor of fall, I'm including a recipe for a pumpkin version.