Two Bakers and a Cookies and Cream Layer Cake

Last Saturday was a day which I very much looked forward to. Me and Jean had arranged to meet up and do a couple of bakes. The bakes on our list are a cookies and cream layer cake and a chocolate banana swiss roll. 

Unfortunately as I was down with Sinus and my nose was like a running tap, the plan for the chocolate banana swiss roll had to be called off. I was not able to focus well while baking. Had Jean not reminded me, I would have carelessly left out the cocoa powder for the chiffon sponge.  

Combining our efforts, both of us assembled the cake from scratch. Jean layered the cake while I did the frosting. Compared to my previous cookies and cream cake (pictures were lost when my com crashed recently), the frosting was not very well executed. You can see some parts of the cake only had a thin layer of frosting which could barely cover the chocolate sponge in the interior. I was not really in the mood to bother myself with a cleanly frosted cake. 

When it comes to frosted cakes, I am not quite a cream person. On the other hand, Jean loves fresh cream. For me, if it has to be a cream cake, the fillings and flavours that accompany the cream are crucial. I was kind of skeptical at how the cake would turn out to be initially and I am glad that it turned out great. The chunky Oreo cookie bits softened in the cream filling to a texture similar to that of a cookies and cream ice cream. To enhance the flavour, I added in a bit of icing sugar and vanilla extract. If you are a cookies and cream lover, this is the cake for you. 

I am definitely glad to have Jean at my place for a nice Saturday afternoon of baking and sharing session. Look forward to our upcoming baking sessions and executing many more bakes. When you have company, you can expect to be more ambitious. 

I am submitting this entry to Aspiring Bakers #7 - Chocolate Delight (May 2011) hosted by DG from Tested and Tasted

Cookies and Cream Cake ( Chocolate Sponge Cake recipe adapted from 超人气香港蛋糕56款, Cream filling adapted from My Birthday Cake by Kevin Chai)

Serving size: Makes a 8 inch round cake. Serves 10 slices.

Taste and texture: Cake base is soft and moist. Cookies and cream filling is similar to cookies and cream ice cream.

Equipment and materials:

• 8 x 3 inch round pan
• 9 inch round cake board
• Cake leveller or palette/serrated knife longer than 8 inches
• Balloon/wire whisk
• Rubber spatula
• Handheld beater/Stand beater
• Baking paper
• Wire rack
• Toothpick/wooden skewer
• Flour sieve
• Mixing bowls
• Cake turntable (optional)
• Star Piping tip (Wilton # 22)

• Piping bag
• Coupler

Chocolate Sponge Cake (3 layers):

• • 70g egg yolks, room temperature
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 4 tbs vegetable oil
  • 4 tbs water
  • 80g cake flour
  • 15g cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 145g egg whites, room temperature
  • 50g caster sugar
    
    

Making the Chocolate Sponge Cake:

Prepare Oven - Preheat oven to 160 degrees C.

Prepare flour mixture - Sift flour, cocoa powder and baking powder in a large bowl. Whisk to combine and allow the dry ingredients to be evenly distributed.

Making the egg yolk batter - Place egg yolks, 50g caster sugar in a large mixing bowl. Whisk egg yolks and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Add in oil and water. Mix well with a wire whisk. Add in the flour mixture and mix to obtain a smooth and thick chocolate batter.

Beating egg whites - In a clean metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites on low speed. Increase speed slowly to medium-high and beat untill egg whites are at soft peaks. Add 50g of sugar gradually and beat untill egg whites are almost stiff and still moist. This is when the beaters are lifted, the egg whites will form peaks that are upright and not drooping slightly. Egg whites will resemble whipped cream.The entire bowl of whites will not drop out when the bowl is overturned. Do not beat until the egg whites are dry and clumpy.

Folding in egg whites - Using a balloon whisk, fold one third of beaten egg whites into egg yolk batter gently to lighten and combine. Fold in the rest of the beaten whites to combine. Final batter should be foamy and uniform in colour with no streaks of egg white present. Folding egg whites gently using a balloon whisk will prevent egg whites from deflating too much.

Baking the sponge cake - Pour batter into a greased and lined 8 x 3 inch round pan and bake at 160 degrees C for 25 -30 minutes. Test doneness using a skewer or toothpick. The highest part of the cake should rise up to 4/5 of the height of the tin. When the cake is done, the inserted skewer will come out clean. Cake will shrink from edges and in height on cooling. Unmould sponge cake and leave to cool upright on a wire rack.

Cookies and Cream Filling:

• 250 ml chilled whipping cream (diary)
• 160g coarsely crushed Oreo cookies, cream filling removed
• 1 tbs icing sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Whipped Cream Frosting and Decorations: 

• 300ml chilled whipping cream  (diary)
• 10 pcs mini Oreo cookies (with cream filling)
• some finely crushed Oreo cookies
• 9-10 pcs Oreo cookies to decorate perimeter (cream filling removed)

Preparing Cookies and Cream Filling:

Whipping the cream - Place 250 ml chilled whipping cream in a mixing bowl. Beat the cream on high speed until it reaches mousse state. Add 1 tbs icing sugar and continue beating the cream on low speed to dissolve the sugar. Add vanilla extract and continue beating, stopping and checking the consistency every 5 seconds. Beat the cream until it reaches soft peak (80% stiff). Fold in coarsely crushed Oreo cookies into the whipped cream to obtain cookies and cream filling. Set prepared fillings aside for use.    

Preparing Whipped Cream Frosting:

Whipping the cream - Place 300 ml chilled whipping cream in a mixing bowl. Beat the cream on high speed until it reaches mousse state.  At this point change the speed to low and continue beating the cream, stopping and checking the consistency every 5 seconds. Beat the cream until it reaches soft peak (80% stiff). Set prepared whipped cream aside for frosting and piping rosettes.  

Assembly:

Slicing sponge cake - Slice sponge cake into 3 even layers using cake leveller or long serrated/palette knife. Slice off the part that has domed.

Preparing the layers - Using the removable base of a round tart tin or a round cake board, slide the tart tin base or cake board under a sponge layer and carefully transport one sponge layer onto a 9 inch round cake board placed on a cake turntable (optional). This method of transferring is to prevent the sponge layer from breaking.

Dab half of the cookies and cream filling and spread it evenly onto the first sponge layer using a palette knife or spatula.

Place a second sponge layer (using the tart tin base or cake board to transport) carefully over the first sponge layer and align it properly with the first layer. Dab the remaining half of the cookies and cream filling and spread it evenly onto the second sponge layer using a palette knife or spatula.

Add the 3rd sponge layer (using the tart tin base or cake board to transport) and align it well with the first two layers. Apply a thin layer of whipped cream frosting on the surface and the sides (perimeter) of the cake to seal the crumbs first (crumb coating). Once the crumb coat is done, add enough whipped cream to the surface and sides of the cake and smooth the whipped cream using a palette knife. Set aside remaining whipped cream frosting for piping rosettes.

Decorations:

Piping rosettes and placing mini Oreos - Fill a piping bag fitted with a Wilton #22 star tip with the remaining whipped cream frosting (or any other tip you desire). Hold the piping at 45 degrees to the cake surface and gently squeeze out the whipping cream, applying constant pressure and moving your hands in a circular motion to pipe a rosette. Release pressure and pull the tip away to complete the rosette. Pipe 10 rosettes and place a mini Oreo cookie resting against a piped rosette in a circular fashion (see pictures above).

Placing Oreo cookies around perimeter and scattering finely crushed Oreos - Place Oreo cookies evenly spaced apart around the perimeter of the cake see pics above). Scatter finely crushed Oreos in the middle of the cake. 

Notes:

1. Whipped cream is not stablized and would not hold its shape for too long at warm room temperature 
2. Try practice piping rosettes on a strip of baking paper 1st before piping on the cake surface.
3. Cream whipped to 70-80% stiff is ideal for piping, filling and frosting. If it is too stiffly whipped, the cream will not be smooth when piped or may separate when it is frosted (if cream is too vigourously handled).  
4. Use about 1/2 tsp cream of tartar to stabilize the beaten egg whites if required. It will make folding of egg whites easier.

Notice:

If you wish to post the recipe and instructions online, please give due credit and do re-phrase the instructions. I have taken quite a bit of effort to construct, edit and type them out. Thank you =].

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