Last Thursday was lil'sis b-day and off course I made cake. She demanded asked for a Cookies and Cream Cake, so Cookies and Cream Cake it was. And it had to look EXACTLY like this one. Yeah, she's kinda bossy...but it was her birthday so...
I have to admit that she did a great choice, though. This cake is amazing! So moist, and fluffy, and light. Not too sweet, just the way we like it. Perfect. The only change I made was to use whipped cream instead of buttercream. Oh, and I added crushed cookies to the filling. =D
PS.: Dec 1st was Ann's mother's birthday,too, so I'm also dedicating her this cake. Elaine, I hope you had an amazing day and have many more birthdays to come. Happy (belated) Birthday!! =)
~Ana
Cake
1 1/4 cups All-purpose
Flour
2/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder (or Hershey's Special Dark)
1
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
3/4 cup
Unsalted Butter
1 1/2 cups Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
3 large Eggs,
room temperature
1 1/4 cups Buttermilk
Frosting/Filling
600ml whipping cream
Sugar, to taste
Crushed Oreos - 4-5
For the cake:
1. Preheat oven to 350F/180ºC. Prepare two 8-inch cake pans with butter
and flour.
2. Into a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder,
baking soda, baking powder, salt. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a
standing mixer, or a large bowl using a hand held mixer, beat together
the butter, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. About 3 minutes.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated and scraping down
sides as needed.
4. With mixer on low speed, add 1/3 of the dry
ingredients, mix until incorporated. Then add 1/2 of the buttermilk, mix
until incorporated. Repeat until the last 1/3 of flour has been used.
Mix until incorporated and then beat for 1 additional minute. Batter might look curdled but it's okay.
5. Divide
the batter evenly between the two prepared pans. Bake for 35-40
minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean
and the sides begin to pull away from the edges. Allow to cool in the
pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn the cakes out onto the racks and
allow the cakes to cool completely. I used just one 9-inch cake pan and baked for aprox. 1 hour.
For the filling:
1. Beat 2/3 of the whipping cream and sugar until soft peaks form.
2. Fold in crushed Oreos.
For the frosting:
1. Beat remaining whipping cream - with sugar to taste- until stiff peaks form.
Cake Assembly:
1. When the
cakes are completely cool, cut each cake in half horizontally. Use
1/3-1/2 cup of frosting to fill between each layer. When all the layers
are stacked, set aside 1/2 cup of frosting then use rest to frost the
outside.*
2. Using a ziploc bag and a rolling pin, crush all but 7 of
the Oreo cookies. Apply the cookie crumbs to the sides of the cake*
3. Use
the reserved 1/2 cup of frosting to create 7 swirls on the top of the
cake, place a cookie in each swirl.
*I assembled the cake inside the cake pan and left covered with foil overnight in the fridge. Next day, I used a foam plate, smaller than the cake pan, as a base - you can use a cardboard wrapped in plastic wrap; inverted the cake, frosted with whipped cream - spreading a thick layer on top.
Now comes the hard part: using a spatula, try to lift the cake, together with the cardboard, and slide it into your palm. Be careful not to lift too much or the cake will tumble. Follow step 2. I find it easier and less messy to do this step with a rectangle pan or parchment paper underneath, or else you will end up with cookie crumbs all over your kitchen. Set on a nice cake plate.
Recipe taken from Sunny Side Up in San Diego, that adapted from Family Circle Magazine, February 2009.
=B
