Monday, April 26, 2010

Cake of the Week: Oreo Cake

Just 48 hours after last week's cake fiasco, I was back at it again. Usually I give myself a bit more time between cakes, but this one was for a birthday I found out about the day beforehand. And it was for the lovely Megan, my very glorious co-worker, and a reader of this blog (everybody say Hi Megan!).
I found out Tuesday afternoon that it was her birthday on Wednesday. So I called out across our shared wall, Meeegggaaaannnn??? (This happens often throughout the day when I need a meaningful human interaction - i.e. someone to talk about running, cake, etc., or to share some amazing internet find - we're talking dessert-related here people).
Yes?
Luckily she was there to respond (when she's not I'm just another lonely cubicle-droid talking to myself in a computer screen world).Me: If you were to have a cake of your choice, what kind of cake would that be?
Megan:
Oh gosh, well, I just really really love vanilla frosting.Dun dun dun. As you know from last week, frosting is kind of the bane of my existence. (And no, I don't think that's an over-dramatic statement.)
I took a deep breath, sighed, and accepted the fact. It's going to be a cake, and it's going to involve frosting. I can do this! I can! I can!
And guess what? I did! It was the best frosting I have ever made. Yep. That's right!

But I get ahead of myself. Let's first talk about the cake.
Oreo Cake from Beantown Baker. Erin had made this cake once before, and though I wasn't in Boston at the time to experience it, rumor (aka, Jess) has it that the cake was fabulous!The original recipe is for cupcakes, but it makes a nice two-layer cake. I lined the bottom of one of the cake pans with Oreo halves, and then crushed oreos into the cake. I used about 20 Oreos total, which I think was almost too much. When I make this cake again (because it's definitely good enough for a repeat), I think I will crush up fewer Oreos into the batter.
And the frosting, oh the frosting. First of all, it worked. Second of all, it was delicious! I 1 1/2-ed the frosting recipe to make sure it was enough for the cake, and it came out perfectly.

As we celebrated Megan's birthday the next day at work, everyone said they loved the cake, and I really don't think they were lying. And if they were, oh well, becuase I love love
love this cake!
Oreo Cake

Cake
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups flour, plus 2 Tbsp for the Oreo chunks
(I omitted this step)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 2/3 cup sugar
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
1 pkg Oreo Cookies (~45 cookies)
Preheat over to 350F. Grease and flour two 8-9 inch pans.

Twist apart 24 Oreos. Place the wafer with filling on it, filling side up, in the bottom of one of your pans. Cut other wafers in half. Crush the other wafer halves, also for garnishing.

Cut the remaining Oreo cookies into quarters with a sharp knife. Toss with 2 Tbsp flour and set aside. (I didn't toss them in flour.)

In a large bowl cream the butter until fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add the milk and vanilla and mix to combine.

In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Add the dry ingredients to butter mixture. Mix until integrated. Stir in sugar. With an electric mixer on low speed, beat for 30 seconds. Turn the mixer up to medium speed and beat for 2 minutes. Add the egg whites. Beat for 2 more minutes. Stir in the quartered cookies.

Fill 2 8 or 9-inch cake pans. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cakes for 15 minutes before removing from the pan.

Frosting
8 oz cream cheese at room temp
1 stick butter at room temp
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
3-4 cups powdered sugar
2 T milk - as needed

Cream butter and cream cheese until fluffy.

Add vanilla extract. Slowly add powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached.

Happy Birthday Megan!