Oreo Extravaganza Cake and Farnverhawkorf

Before I get to this amazing Oreo Extravaganza Cake, I need to bitch about the Yankees for a moment. Well, the middle relief pitching part of the Yankees.

Farnverhawkorf [farn-vehr-hawk-orf]

No, this isn’t a German word, nor is it Dutch, Austrian, Swiss, Swahili, Eskimo, etc. This is a bad word, and I’d rank it up there with some 4-letter words if it didn’t have 14 letters.

However, it does have a meaning, and the meaning is as follows..A four-headed behemoth with a scary condition characterized by the inability to hold a lead or keep a game within reach.

This, my Yankee fan friends, is the quad of all quads, the annihilation of all annihilation’s; Kyle Farnsworth, Jose Veras, LaTroy Hawkins, and Ross Ohlendorf. This is our bullpen minus Joba Chamberlain. This is the bullpen that’s going to blow many close games for us. This is the bullpen that’s going to make us start to quiver and feel clammy every time we see one of them warming up. This is the bullpen that will lead to sudden heartburn, excessive nail biting, closing or covering our eyes and praying to the baseball gods while our stomach contents start to demand a dishonorable discharge. This is the bullpen that will result in many bruised or broken hands due to punching walls when the inevitable tying or go ahead run scores, the bullpen that will literally leave us speechless or hoarse the next day, due to excessive screaming.

Yes, Yankee fans, this is what we’re going to have to deal with for a while. My advice is to keep alcohol close at hand, stock up on Pepcid, and maybe a Xanax or three. Why not try some Yoga and deep breathing? Feed your chakras? Astral projection to a place where the middle relief rarely gives up runs?

Bottom line; no more trash from CASH! Get us some decent middle relief pitching, preferably some that didn’t come off the clearance rack. And while we’re at it, how about a half way decent setup man who can actually get three outs without giving up at least 1 run once in a while. Pretty please?

Thank god we won this one, and thank god for Mariano Rivera, the best closer to ever grace the game of baseball. Let’s just hope we get to see more of him since Farnverhawkorf is scary and harmful to all who watch its deadly tentacles load the bases with 1 out.

OK, now onto the BEST part of this post!

Oreo Extravaganza Cake. A ribbon of oreo cookie crumbs are baked into each layer!

So, yeah, normally I don’t usually add oreo cookies or any commercial cookies and candies to my cakes because 1) I’m too busy shoving them down my expansive gullet to add them to any recipe, and of course, 2) I’m a kind of purist in that ‘baked from scratch’ realm I live in.  It’s simply because I like to know what goes into my food when I cook and bake; no pretentiousness, In fact, some of the tastiest and most beautiful cakes I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing are loaded with store-bought cookies and candy! How-ev-er, an exception to this rule arose when a friend’s little girl requested a cake “..with ‘lotsa oreos…cookies and kweam please?”for her birthday.

Yes. she said “kweam”. SO CUTE!

I couldn’t say no, or resist her big brown eyes sparkling with unbridled hope as she looked up at my undoubtedly twisted expression.

Of course I untwisted and exclaimed, “YES!”; exuberantly mind you, maybe even more so than her. I admit it, I was kind of stoked to take this on. I wanted to give her the most amazing layered oreo extravaganza she’s ever had, even if it meant using 20 packages of them.

I decided there needed to be oreo cookies in the cake, not just in the filling and frosting, and not just folded into the batter either, so I reached back into the recesses of my brain, cracking open vault after vault, until I found what I was looking for. The memory of one of the first cakes I ever made when I was gifted with a Pillsbury Bake-Off (all the grand prize recipes going back to like 1950) cookbook at the age of 13. My Inspiration Cake is what it was called, and as you can see, this brilliant baker created a chocolate ribbon within each layer. She sprinkled grated chocolate onto part of the batter, then covered it with more batter, resulting in a very cool striping effect.

Oreo Extravaganza Cake. A ribbon of oreo cookie crumbs are baked into each layer!

Could this be done with fine oreo cookie crumbs?

The answer turned out to be resounding yes, and I was happy as a pig in shhhh..when I achieved this chocolate and cream crumbed morsel of victory. Better yet, the cake didn’t separate, which was my biggest fear since cookies crumbs don’t possess the adhesion power that melted chocolate does. I think it was the lovely cream filling that played a huge role in the ‘stickage’ factor, so thank you, delicious oreo cream filling; I will always eat you first!

So, after the test round success, I waited until the last-minute to make the final cake. Like midnight the night before last-minute. I was supposed to bring it over to my friend’s house at 8 am. Crazy? Hardly. I like to bake at night, and in fact, I prefer to bake at night because there’s no distractions and it’s easier to focus when the world is silent.  Plus, I do my best work at night, and I needed this cake to be beautiful.

Well, just my luck; when I went to purchase the oreo cookies on that particular midnight, they were out of them! SO, I had to use generic store brand oreo cookies. Oh, the humanity! Hopefully no one would notice, but that was a slim shot since I decorated the top of the cake with them. No Oreo logo on those babies, just goofy looking ducks. I think they were ducks.

Ducks or not, this cake was a raving success, and it made one little girl very happy. That’s all that mattered in the end.

Oreo Extravaganza Cake. A ribbon of oreo cookie crumbs are baked into each layer!

On a more technical note, the reason I give the option to use your own favorite yellow or white cake recipe, instead of mine below, is because everyone has a preference in how they like their cakes.  Some like them dense and some like them light and fluffy. I’ve made this cake with both types and it turns out great either way. And, yes, you can use a cake mix if you prefer.

All that being said, I like to use a Basic Vanilla Cake, or a pure white cake.

Finally, a standard size package of plain oreo cookies contains 36 cookies, so you’ll need two packages for this recipe.  The recipe I like to call:

Oreo Extravaganza Cake

Oreo Extravaganza Cake
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Yield: One 8 or 9-inch round two layer cake; about 8 to 12 servings
 
Any basic vanilla cake or pure white cake (all egg whites) should work beautifully for this mega oreo bombshell of a cake!
ingredients:
  • Your favorite White or Yellow Cake Recipe (or Yellow Cake Mix) for a two-layer 8 or 9-inch round cake, or my recipe below. *
Cake
  • ¾ cup unsalted butter (12 tablespoons), softened
  • ¼ cup vegetable or coconut oil
  • 1½ cups granulated sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2½ teaspoons baking powder
  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1½ cups cake flour (make your own cake flour if you don't have any)
  • 1 cup buttermilk (make your own buttermilk if you don't have any)
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 28 oreo cookies, ground to fine crumbs in a food processor. You should have 2 cups oreo crumbs.
  • Extra oreo cookies to decorate top of cake
Vanilla Frosting
  • 1 cup solid vegetable shortening **
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 6 to 8 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb. Taste after 6 cups to make sure it isn't too sweet for your liking)
  • ¼ cup heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 10 to 12 Oreo cookies, placed in a sealed ziplock bag then broken up with a mallet or rolling pin so they remain in chunks
Dark Chocolate Ganache Topping
  • 6 oz.dark chocolate, chopped
  • ⅓ cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
directions:
For the Cake
  1. Grease and lightly flour two 8 or 9-inch round cake pans with butter or oil spray, then place a circle of parchment paper on the bottom of each, and grease and lightly flour those too. Preheat oven according to your recipe. (it's always 350 F, right? lol). It's 350 F for mine.
  2. In a bowl, stir together both flours, the baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a large measuring cup, stir together the buttermilk and whole milk. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl with a hand mixer, or in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle on medium high speed, beat the butter, oil and sugar together until smooth, fluffy and lighter in color. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until each one is incorporated. Do the same with the two egg yolks.
  4. Add a third of the flour mixture to batter and stir on low until incorporated. Next add half the buttermilk-whole milk mixture and stir until incorporated. Add another third of the flour mixture and stir until incorporated, then add the rest of the buttermilk-whole milk mixture until smooth and incorporated. Add the last third of the flour and stir until incorporated. Stir in vanilla extract.
  5. Into each prepared pan, pour/scrape ¼ of the cake batter, tapping the pans on the counter top to even it out. Sprinkle the batter in both pans with 1 cup of oreo crumbs each. NOW, if you want a pretty straight or close to straight Oreo ribbon, freeze the batter with the crumbs for about 20 minutes. I didn't do this, as you can see by my crooked zig zaggy ribbons. Remove from freezer and divide remaining batter evenly on top of each layer of Oreo crumbs in each pan.
  6. Tap pans on counter then place in oven and bake until the cakes spring back to the touch and a toothpick or skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean, about 25 minutes for two 8-inch pans, 30 minutes for two 9-inch pans, OR according to the instructions in your own recipe, if using.
  7. Remove cakes from oven when done and cool pans on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Remove the cakes from pans, peel off parchment circles, and place back on wire rack to continue cooling fully.
    If using your own yellow or white cake recipe; prepare your cake batter according to your recipe, then continue with instructions above for adding oreo crumbs to batter and bake to the time and temperature of your recipe.
For the Frosting
  1. In the bowl of your stand mixer or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, Cream together the butter and shortening until light and fluffy. Gradually add the sifted powdered sugar, one cup at a time, mixing until each cup is incorporated and the frosting is smooth. It will be thick and dry at this point.
  2. Slowly pour in heavy cream and then vanilla extract and salt while beating, until the frosting is smooth and of a spreadable consistency. Remove 1½ to 2 cups of the frosting to a separate bowl and stir in the Oreo chunks.
For the Dark Chocolate Ganache Topping
  1. Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl and set aside.
  2. In a saucepan, heat the cream, corn syrup, and butter just until simmering, then pour the hot cream mixture over the chocolate and let sit for a minute or so.
  3. Whisk the cream and the chocolate until smooth. Set aside while you frost the cake.
Assemble the Cake
  1. If there are any uneven humps on top of the cake layers, trim them off evenly. Place one layer, bottom up, on a cake plate or board. Spread with the reserved 1½ to 2 cups of frosting with the Oreo chunks in it. Place the second layer, bottom down, on top of the frosting and press to adhere.
  2. Frost the cake with a thin crumb coating, then chill for about 20 minutes in the fridge (You don't have to do this. This is only if you want a perfectly smooth frosting. Swirly frosting is great on this too!). After 20 minutes, remove the cake from the fridge and finish frosting it smoothly, so you have a nice, white, smooth coating. Place it back in the fridge for another 20 minutes or so. This chilling will help ganache drip nicely down the sides of the cake, remaining thick and fudgy. In the meantime, spoon the remaining frosting into a pastry bag with the tip of your choice. I used a large rosette tip for the top, and a small rosette tip for the bottom.
  3. Remove the chilled, frosted cake from the fridge and slowly pour the ganache over the top, letting it drip down the sides. Chill the cake for another 20 minutes, then decorate the top and bottom with whatever kind of piping you prefer. Stick an Oreo cookie in each piped mound of frosting on top of the cake.
notes:
* You can use your favorite chocolate cake recipe too, but you won't see the lovely oreo crumb ribbon as well.
** The reason I cut this frosting with shortening is because the filling in an oreo cookie is made with shortening. However, you can use all butter, or your favorite vanilla buttercream, if you prefer. The first time I made this cake, I made it with an Italian meringue buttercream, but It really needed a 'true' orea filling like frosting.

Oreo Extravaganza Cake. A ribbon of oreo cookie crumbs are baked into each layer!

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13 Responses to Oreo Extravaganza Cake and Farnverhawkorf

  1. tommy says:

    thats some hilarious stuff! ain’t it the trurh though? they did get the job done tonight, but like you said it was scary!!!

  2. Jess says:

    I love this blog, lis! but, you may have to remove the “ver” from the name if jose keeps pitching like he has! you could probably add some other bum that will end up in the bp eventually. lmao

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  7. Marilyn says:

    Too bAd you post an interesting cake, yet leave out the recipe for the cake. Made it all a useless post for me!

    • Lisa says:

      Marilyn, I’m so sorry you feel that way! I explained why I did that in the post. Some people like dense cakes, some people like light and fluffy cakes, and some people like to use cake mix or have a special family or favorite recipe they prefer. I’ve made this cake with all of the above, and they’ve all been wonderful. You can use any yellow or white 2 layer 8 or 9-inch round cake recipe to make this cake..or even a chocolate cake! The point is, you make it to suit your own taste because everyone has a preference and, again, I make it using various cake recipes, depending on whom I’m making it for 🙂

  8. Tina says:

    I made this for my daughter’s 6th birthday yesterday. The kids went nuts for it, as did the adults! I used your cake recipe and it was perfect! Thank you so much for this beautiful cake recipe!

  9. saray says:

    Porfavor me gustaria poder hacer esta tarya para mi novio qe es su cumpleaños el 24 de diciembre pero esta en ingles y no se lo qe pone..me la podriais traducir para poderla haceer??graciaaas

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