Cookies 'n' Cream Cake

In trying to figure out a new cake for my class last Friday, I decided to try my go at a Cookies 'n' Cream Cake. This delicious 4 layer chocolate cake complete with cookie crumbles is layered with an Oreo Cream Filling and frosted with my very own Vanilla Buttercream. I must admit, I cheated a little again with this cake.. Since my class is on Friday night right after work, I decided to make this cake Thursday morning before work so it was so much easier to bake a cake with a cake mix starter. If you checked out the last cake I did for class, this is the same basic recipe I used for the Yellow Almond Sour Cream Cake, but this time I used a chocolate cake mix and added in some crushed Oreos. Not only is this recipe quick and easy, but it comes out perfect every time! The sour cream makes it a super moist cake and it keeps well too.

Chocolate Sour Cream Cake

Oven: 350 Bake time: 25-30 minutes
Adapted from side of box
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1 box Duncan Hines Devil's Food Cake 
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup crushed Oreos *if you don't add the oreos you have a perfect semi-homemade chocolate cake!
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Grease and flour two 8-inch round pans.
Mix eggs, sour cream, oil and sugar in large bowl. Once combined, alternate adding cake mix and water. Mix in crushed Oreos. Pour into cake pans and bake.
Remove from oven and place on cooling rack for 10-15 minutes before taking cakes out of pans to further cool.

Whenever I want to create extra layers in a cake I always wrap my initial cooled cake layers with saran wrap and place in the fridge for a few hours. Colder cakes are easier to work with and usually lead to a more level split. It is also a lot easier to level and slice layers into a cake if you have a cake leveler (Wilton makes a great one and can be easily purchased at places like Hobby Lobby or Michael's). But if you don't have a cake leveler than you can easily use a long serrated knife. 

SO after I let my cakes chill a bit in the fridge I took them out and placed them on a flat surface to start my leveling and slicing. I always level the tops of my cake, because a level top is always easier to frost. After leveling the top and removing the excess, I estimated the middle of the layer and used the knife to split the layer into two. This was done to both layers.. so when all is said and done you have 4 layers of cake.

Now it's time to make the Oreo Cream Filling.

Oreo Cream Filling

1 tsp unflavored gelatin
1 1/2 cups chilled whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 crushed Oreos
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Place 2 TBS cold water in a small bowl and sprinkle gelatin over; let stand for 10 minutes to soften. Bring 1/2 cup of cream to boil in small sauce pan. Pour over gelatin and stir until dissolved. Place in refrigerator just until cold, whisking frequently, for 5 minutes. Using an electric mixer, beat remaining cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract until peaks form. Add gelatin mixture to whipped cream and whip again until peaks form. Mix in crushed Oreos.

The space around the edge should be piped with the Vanilla Buttercream. Whenever you are filling a cake with something different than the frosting you should always do this. By doing so, you eliminate having to deal with filling spilling out the sides of your cake, making it difficult to get a smooth frosting.

Top with the second cake. Fill this layer with Vanilla Buttercream. Top with third layer, filling with the Oreo Cream again with the same technique as layer one. So just incase I lost you there.. in the end you'll have: cake, Oreo Cream Filing, cake, Vanilla Buttercream, cake, Oreo Cream Filling, cake. Top with layer four and frost away!

Vanilla Buttercream 

1 cup Crisco

1/2 tsp butter flavor (optional)

4 cups powdered sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 TBS water

Cream crisco. Beat in powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and butter flavor. Add water until frosting consistency is reached.

The Adventures of Cake Decorating Class #4

Since this was for my class of course the finished product was not the clean white cake pictured on the top (taken before I went to class). This past week was actually the last class in Lesson 1, where we learned how to make buttercream roses. If you've ever watched a decorator make a rose, don't be fooled... it is not as easy to do the first time around! ha I think my classmates and I did a pretty good job still, considering this was only the second time we had made buttercream roses!  Next week we're starting on Lesson 2, so stayed tuned for my cake decorating adventures! :)

  

                                                         Our wonderfully decorated cakes. 

Hello Kitty Cake

One of the girls at work is obsessed with Hello Kitty.... for example, yesterday as we sat around April's desk staring at her Hello Kitty adorned office space, we decided that we needed a little Rosa's Cafe in our lives and headed out for lunch. When we got into the car I couldn't help but notice the bouncing little Hello Kitty figurines dangling from the rearview mirror and as we sat down to lunch and April placed her newly purchased Hello Kitty hot pink purse next to her in the booth, the little girl in the booth next to us (complete with hello kitty earrings) couldn't stop hanging over the partition to sneak a peak. So when it was brought to my attention that April's birthday was this week of course I knew exactly what kind of cake she would be getting! Thankfully Hello Kitty is a pretty simple cartoon critter, but fun to create nonetheless :)

Even though I pretty much had in mind what the little kitten looked like, I kept a basic photo of the Sanrio feline close by to make sure I got it all just right. I started by using 2 8-inch round cake pans and 2 single cupcakes (for her ears). After cooling and keeping in the fridge overnight, I did a little sculpting so her face would be a little more oval. I also cut the cupcakes each in half and placed the two halves on top of each other so they would be the height of the cake. I have found that baking a cake the night before and keeping it in the fridge overnight makes it easier to mold and carve when it comes crunch time.

The more I work with fondant, the more I learn and I feel like I'm getting half way decent at it, for being self taught that is... Although sometimes I've been known to make my own Marshmallow Fondant, this time I went with the store bought: Wilton's Rolled Fondant. Even though I think the marshmallow tastes better using the store bought fondant guarantees the strength and right consistency, not to mention its a lot less messy than making your own. After crumbing coating the cake and attaching the ears with frosting and a couple toothpicks, I covered the cake with white fondant and then colored/molded the bow, whiskers, nose and eyes with the leftovers. This was actually the first time I have been completely happy with how the fondant covered cake has turned out.. it was perfectly smooth... basically, I'm getting goood ;)

I meant to take a picture of the whole process, but got in the zone while creating the cake and completely forgot! SORRY!

April absolutely loved the cake, which also made me completely happy. The cake itself was a Vanilla Cake with Vanilla Buttercream Icing. I tried something a little different with a white cake recipe that I've used before and I think I'm going to keep using this change in cakes to come.