Today was a baking day for me. It was windy and cold outside so it felt good to stay inside. I listened to Christmas music, had several cups of coffee and put on my baking thinking cap. My sister has requested Cookie-n-Cream cupcakes for her birthday later this month but I didn't have a recipe I loved for this flavor combination. I decided to "sandwich" vanilla cake between two layers of chocolate cake. The effect turned out exactly like I was hoping for and resembled everyone's favorite sandwich cookie, the Oreo.
I sprinkled the top of the cake batter with crushed Oreos before baking for a little extra crunch and flavor. It added a nice look and the cupcakes looked good enough to eat coming right out of the oven even before frosting. I could tell somethings was amiss though.
Unfortunately I got a bit distracted during the baking process. I was cleaning up all my dishes and was singing along to all of my favorite Christmas carols. This may not sound like a bad thing but because of this I let the cupcakes bake a little too long. The result was a batch of good cupcakes but not great cupcakes. Just a little too dry for my liking. I knew I could salvage the batch with a great batch for frosting and that I did.
The frosting turned out great! It was sweet and creamy just like the filling of an Oreo cookie. I then topped each one with a mini Oreo. I think this recipe will be perfect for my sister's birthday. I will make sure to be a little more attentive to my cupcakes next time. It was hard today though, I get sucked in to those Christmas carols and suddenly I'm in a Winter Wonderland instead of my kitchen.
My night ended with a dinner out with dear friends. Over glasses of wine and many laughs we enjoyed a scrumptious Italian meal at
Carmella's. For anyone going, I highly recommend the house made ricotta ravioli. Delizioso!
