Whoopie gold We’re hungry to know: When it comes to this iconic Maine confection, where can we find the creme de la creme?

Complexity is overrated.

Oh sure, you put a caramel-glazed pecan-walnut torte, dusted with cinnamon-infused sugar and served with orange-cranberry compote and cr?me fraiche in front of anyone, and it’ll be eaten. You could spend hours in the kitchen, creating brioche, or souffle, or cakes so luscious and beautiful that you’re certain you deserve a show on the Food Network. We’re not knocking the fine art of baking. The effort is always appreciated.

But sometimes what you want is a big ol’ honkin’ whoopie pie. Two slabs of decadent, cakelike chocolate cookies, joined together with generous amounts of fluffy vanilla cream. Spare us the strawberry- and orange-flavored varieties. Don’t mess the filling up with pineapple or coconut. You crave authentic, simple, sugary goodness. The whoopie pie, in its untarnished, original form, always delivers. Like the red hot dog and the Italian sandwich, it’s an icon of Maine food.

In much the same way as holes in doughnuts or green-bean casseroles, the origins of the whoopie pie are shrouded in mystery. According to food historian and Bangor Daily News columnist Sandy Oliver, the recipe has been around since the early 1900s. Its first known published appearance was in a 1942 Rebekahs Cook Book. There are unsubstantiated rumors that the whoopie pie is an import from the Pennsylvania Amish, but just as we claim Paul Bunyan’s from here and not Minnesota, we’d prefer to believe that it’s a uniquely Maine concoction.

No one knows why they’re called whoopie pies, though we can hazard a guess that it involves involuntary exclamations of joy upon seeing the treats emerge from the oven. That’s why we want you, BDN reader and possessor of a serious sweet tooth, to tell us where you can get the best whoopie pie in Maine.

Before you say, “My grandma’s kitchen,” we’ll set down the rule that the only whoopie pies eligible for this contest are ones that are available for anyone to buy. So while Aunt Petunia’s time-tested recipe may be to die for, we must ask that you choose a pie from a bakery, restaurant, corner store or wherever else has them on sale to the general public.

Send your nominations to eburnham@bangordailynews.net, or to Whoopie Pie Contest, c/o Bangor Daily News Lifestyle Section, 491 Main St., Bangor 04401. Include contact information for both your nomination and yourself, and feel free to send along your thoughts as to why your favorite whoopie pie is No. 1. Is it the consistency of the filling? The density of the cookie? The size? The intensity of the chocolate? How does one actually make whoopie?

The deadline is April 25; we’ll run a story in mid- to late May announcing the winner. So get to it, readers. You’ve got some seriously sweet work ahead of you.