Cookies and Cream Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
November is upon us. We’re in the midst of autumn. Winter will soon descend. It’s cold out. Oficially. And it’s high time for a thick slice of an indulgent cookies and cream cake with a rich cream cheese frosting.
Well, how about the very one that I have pictured here for you today? It’s as good as any. No — better. Much better.
A flavor-packed, buttery vanilla cake. With crushed Oreo cookies dispersed throughout its tender, fluffy crumb. And a sweet, velvety cream cheese frosting, spread high atop the cake and sprinkled with some more Oreo cookie bits.
This is how we cope with Daylight Savings Time and bone-chilling weather and the year that 2020 has been, people.
Okay. So. Let’s get back to the texture. This cookies and cream cake is fluffy. It’s light. It’s tender. It’s moist. It’s soft. And still — it’s rich. It’s flavorful. It’s buttery. And it’s got that full-bodied vanilla taste.
This vanilla cake is light on the tongue and perfectly sweetened and melt-in-your-mouth and a joy to ingest, in short.
Plus, there’s those crunchy Oreo cookie bits stirred into the vanilla cake batter. Giving us those cookies and cream vibes and extra flavor points and increased texture points and more joy-to-ingest points.
And the frosting. It’s a classic cream cheese frosting.
Equal parts butter and cream cheese. A splash of vanilla. A pinch of salt. A cupful of confectioners sugar. All whipped up into a smooth, velvety, rich, fluffy frosting that’s sweet and tart and tastes like melted vanilla ice cream and is the best addition to the cookies and cream cake base, which isn’t overly sweet on its own and partners wonderfully with the cream cheese frosting for a palate explosion of flavors.
I thank you, cream cheese frosting lords. You’ve improved this cookies and cream cake, and you’ve improved the quality of my life, just in general.
Winter/stay indoors plans: a hefty slice of this cookies and cream cake with cream cheese frosting. A steaming mug of tea. A book (or Netflix, I’m not judging). A blanket.
Settle in folks — your nights just got very exciting.
Soft and tender. Light and fluffy. Moist and rich. Buttery and vanilla-y. Cookie-filled and frosting-topped.
Cookies and cream cake with cream cheese frosting — I’m coming for you.
Cookies and Cream Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Yield: 8” cake/about 8 servings
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (4.5 oz.) packed cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
6-7 Oreo cookies, chopped (or 2/3 cup chopped)
Cream Cheese Frosting:
3 oz. butter, softened
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1+ cups confectioners sugar
-Chopped Oreo cookies, for garnishing
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line and grease an 8” round pan.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar for a few minutes until mixture is light and fluffy. Add in the eggs and vanilla extract and cream until mixture is smooth and fluffy again. Batter may look curdled - that's okay.
3. In a small bowl, stir together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. In a measuring cup, measure out the sour cream and milk and then mix the two together.
4. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and milk mixture to your machine running on low-medium speed, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix till just combined. Stir in chopped Oreos last.
5. Spread batter evenly into prepared pan. Bake for 24-28 minutes, until cake springs back when touched and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few crumbs. Let cool before frosting.
6. Frosting: Using a wire whisk attachment, whip the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add in the rest of the ingredients and whip until smooth and fluffy. Add more confectioners sugar if you want the frosting thinner or sweeter. Spread frosting over cooled cake and garnish with crushed Oreo cookies.
