Gilded With Oreos

Perhaps you have heard the phrase, 'gild the lily' which seems to me to mean taking something beautiful and either making it more beautiful or trying to. This month the Cake Slice Bakers had our usual four cakes to choose from and I chose one that seemed to be a case of gilding the lily.

When I saw the choices for the June cake for the Cake Slice Bakers I was pretty sure that I would go with the Oreo Cookie Cake. Once I knew that there would be at least three of us to eat it for Father's Day, it was just what I want to make and to eat. Best laid plans and all that. I made it but didn't eat any because I completely had a brain fart and made it with unsalted butter, instead of the dairy-free margarine I had planned on. This was not easy to do since the two sticks of butter had to sit out on the counter for a while to soften. Not sure why I thought about it after I had beaten the batter together, but at least that kept me from trying the batter out as I often do before putting it in the pan. It smelled so good as it finished baking that I almost gave in and had some anyway...but didn't.

The good news is that since we had so much and one less person to eat it, we persuaded our friends from the farm to help us out. Such a difficult task helping us consume some of this rich, sour cream pound cake laced with chunks of Oreo cookies! To doll it up I made some ganache with a touch of bourbon added and used it as a topping and to hold halved Oreo cookies for garnish. Then we added some whipped cream as slices were served, since Sweetie said it was a little dry (and because as long as you are gilding the lily, might as well go all-out!) Everyone finished every crumb, so you know this is a keeper recipe. Next time I'll make it with margarine!

 Thanks dear friends from Spoiled Rotten Farm for helping us with the cake, and glad to hear that it is even better with morning coffee! I knew that giving you some to take home was the right thing to do.

Happy day after Father's Day , a day late, to all you Dads who enjoy cake!

Oreo Cookie Cake
from Maida Heatter's Cakes
Serves 16

14-15 Oreo sandwich cookies

2 3/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

8 oz. (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

3 eggs

1 cup sour cream

Optional - ganache and more Oreo cookies, cut in half, for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a tube pan and dust all over with fine, dry breadcrumbs. A fancy tube pan or Bundt pan with a pattern, which holds 10 to 12 cups is best. Invert pan over paper and tap out excess crumbs. Set pan aside.

Place the cookies on a cutting board and carefully cut them into quarters with a sharp knife. Some will crumble. That's OK. Set aside.

Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.

In a large bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter until soft. Add the vanilla and the almond extracts and the granulated sugar and beat to mix well. Add the eggs, one at a time, making sure that each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next one. Scrape bowl and beaters as needed now and throughout the batter making process.

On low speed add the dry ingredients in three additions alternately with the sour cream in two additions. Beat only until incorporated after each addition.

Place about 1 1/2 cups of the mixture by heaping teaspoonfuls in the bottom of the prepared pan. Smooth with the bottom of a teaspoon. Using the same spoon bottom, form a trench in the batter.

Add the cut up Oreo cookies to the batter remaining in the mixing bowl. Fold them in very gently, folding as little as possible just until mixed with the batter.

Place heaping spoonfuls of the Oreo batter into the pan over the plain batter. Smooth the top and smooth some of the batter up the sides of the pan.

Bake for 1 hour, until a cake tester inserted gently into the cake comes out clean and dry. Don't worry about any cracks in the top of the cake. It's OK.

Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then cover the pan with a cooling rack and turn the cake over. Remove the pan and let cake cool on the rack.

Serve as is, with a dusting of confectioners' sugar, or drizzle with a nice ganache (see recipe below). Decorate with more Oreo cookies cut in half.

Ganache
4 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
3 ounces heavy cream

1 tablespoon bourbon

Set the chopped chocolate in a mixing bowl.

Pour on the cream and mix well.

At half power in the microwave, heat the mixture for a minute. Stir well. Repeat until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Stir in the bourbon. Let the ganache stand and firm up to thick pouring consistency before using.

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