Happy B-Day B.!!

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

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

Hey hey hey, let's bake a cake! Again. But cake's always good. ;)

Besides, this banana bread is super good for you. It's made with whole wheat flour (fiber), nuts (antioxidant) bananas (potassium) and coconut (er..hm..fiber?). See? All good stuff. =)

This is the best banana bread I've had so far. Seriously. It is at the top of my banana bread list. Go make some for you! ;)

3 cups whole wheat flour - I used 2 c. whole wheat and 1 c. all-purpose and worked out fine

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

2 cups brown sugar - I used 3/4 c brown sugar and 3/4 caster sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon vanilla extract - I used 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 tablespoon banana extract - I ommited

1 1/2 cups very ripped bananas, mashed (about 3 bananas)

1 cup shredded coconut

1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped - I used Brazil nuts

1/2 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF/180ºC. Grease the pan with butter.

2. In a small bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, and salt. In another large bowl, whisk the eggs, oil, and sugar. Add the flour mixture to the eggs mixture, mixing with a spoon/spatula.

3. Add vanilla and banana extracts, mashed bananas, coconut, nuts and the buttermilk, mixing until incorporated.

4. Pour into the pan and bake for 60-65 minutes. Let it cool for about 10 minutes before removing from the pan.

PS.: I poured half the batter into the pan, arranged some banana slices over it and topped with the rest of the batter.

Recipe taken from here (in Portuguese).