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| All images / Mike Ahern |
Brit Decor: Bakes/ Cookies & Cream Birthday Cake
What to do when your somewhat picky Dad needs a birthday cake? My initial reaction, in true Mike-style, was to panic before eventually calming down to contemplate the task ahead. My awesome Dad has always liked his sweet treats and I have long suspected that my own sweet tooth is inherited from him, so I began thinking along the lines of 'the sweeter the better'.
I have always been a fan of Häagen-Dazs cookies and cream flavoured ice-cream and its contrasting textures of silky smooth creaminess fused with crumbly Oreo cookies; one moment please whilst I compose myself...So I then set to work on baking up a triple (because it was my Dad's Birthday) layer sponge cake with some rather indulgent mascarpone frosting, not forgetting the all important ingredient; cookies!
Needless to say, the cake went down a storm although we all felt just a tiny bit over-indulged by the end of the perfect evening. Happy Birthday Dad.
Ingredients: (For the Sponge)
300g Caster sugar
320g Plain flour
100g Unsalted butter
3x Large eggs
1tsp Salt
4tsp Baking powder
310ml Whole milk
154g Oreo Cookies (keep 4 spare for the frosting)
Frosting:
500g Mascarpone
900g Icing sugar
300g Unsalted butter
4 Oreo cookies
How to make the sponges:
Grease 3x 20cm cake tins and preheat your oven to 170oc. Using an electric mixer, combine the sugar, butter, flour, baking powder and salt until smooth and sandy. Separately, mix together the milk and eggs before adding to the flour mixture - keep mixing until smooth and creamy (now is great for one of those cheeky lick the spoon moments).
Then loosely crumble the Oreo cookies into the mixture and blend together using a fork to lightly fold in the cookie chunks. Pour the mixture evenly into the three tins and then place in your oven to bake for approximately 25-30 mins.
Now for the frosting:
Slowly and carefully mix the softened butter together with the icing sugar using an electric mixer. Once the mixture is smooth, gradually add the mascarpone and increase the speed until you have a light and fluffy consistency.
And finally:
Remove the cakes from their tins once completely cooled and then assemble into a tower formation with a layer of frosting on top of each sponge - use a palette knife to smooth as you go along. Then ice the sides and top of the cake before finally crumbling the remaining cookies over the top and sides for that gorgeous light and dark contrasting colour.
