Posted on 25th Aug 2010 @ 2:59 PM

Couple finds a calling in memories of buttercream-filled chocolate pies

So it comes as no surprise that, decades later, the local husband and wife have decided to leave their full-time jobs and start the Chococoa Baking Co. out of their Byfield home.

The business is aimed at bringing back that childhood favorite they had been missing all these years.

"I grew up in Maine where whoopie pies are from," said Ganong, noting she has also heard Pennsylvanians lay claim to the sweet treat. "There is a lot of nostalgia surrounding whoopie pies. I made them with my grandmother; Alan made them with his mother. We both have this memory of them."

Simply called "The Whoopie," the couple's creation is a play on the traditional 4-inch chocolate and vanilla whoopie pies of their youth. Mons, the chief baker for the company, has turned his pies mini, creating bite-sized treats that are 2 inches in diameter.

"They are the perfect comfort food," said Ganong, the former senior vice president of community relations at Provident Bank. "But it's not an over indulgence because of the size."

Mons, a former salesman who grew up in Hamilton, enrolled in gastronomy classes at Boston University. There, he found himself surrounded by professionals in the culinary field, and soon realized he wanted to create the next food product.

"There were chefs, caterers, restaurant owners, waitresses," Mons said. "I thought, this is what I need to do."

Perfecting the recipe did not come easy. Getting their whoopies to market took a full two years, Mons said, and included hosting focus groups and designing refrigerator-friendly packaging.

Mons and Ganong traveled to France and beyond sampling the best chocolate on a quest to find the perfect base ingredient for their pies. Finally, Mons threw together three different types of chocolate, from various regions of the world, and came up with sweet success.

"I didn't have enough of one kind (of chocolate) for a batch," Mons said. "So I threw three types in and came up with this decadent cake."

Renting space in the kitchen of The Nutcracker Bakery in The Tannery in Newburyport, Mons and Ganong began testing their findings. They turned to local products, such as eggs from Oak Valley Farms in Newbury, to create their buttercream filling, which they make in a variety of flavors, including vanilla, espresso and a seasonal offering of pumpkin. A lemon-flavored filling is in the works for the spring.

The result, they said, has broad appeal.

"There is no age to these," Ganong said. Added Mons, "Chocolate is pretty ageless."

They said the miniature-sized treats are proving popular with local catering companies, which have been requesting the Whoopie. "The support in the community has been amazing," Ganong said. "I guess chocolate is recession-proof."

The Whoopies, which retail for $4.95 for a package of three, are also being sold in Newburyport at Grand Trunk, Joppa Fine Foods, Fowles Market and Carry Out Cafe and in Amesbury at Ovedia Chocolate.

"We want to walk before we run," Ganong said of the company.

But what do they ultimately hope for Chococoa and The Whoopie?

"We want to build a whoopie pie empire," Mons said.

###

For more on Chococoa Baking Co., call 978-462-1179 or visit www.chococoabaking.com

Originially Published in The Newburyport Daily News by Katie Curley