This cake was one of the first cakes that I have ever sold! A friend ordered this cake and this Snickers Cheesecake for his girlfriend’s birthday, and I was happy to bake both of them. I had a little bit of leeway for this cake with instructions that she likes Tiffany blue and black colors. So, I decided on this Midnight Cookies & Cream Cake.

However, I encountered a problem while baking the cakes! They baked unevenly. There was no way I could use them for a “professional” cake. I certainly wasn’t going to be able to slice the cakes in half to create six layers as I was planning. So, I ran out to the grocery store quickly to bake a cake that I knew would work. The photos above are of the cake that I sold and not the cake in the recipe below, except the frosting, which made more than enough to frost two, three layer, 8″ round cakes.

There was nothing wrong with the cake other than the uneven bake. Fortunately, my family was in town for my wife’s baby shower and my brother and sister’s birthday was a few weeks away, so we were able to salvage it. You can see in the photo below how uneven the cakes were (especially the top layer). I trimmed the tops off all of the layers to make them as even as possible, but the top layer was particularly uneven.

It’s too bad because this was a really good cake, which we enjoyed many times over the weekend. I’m sure the cake I sold was spectacular, too, since I’m extremely confident in that recipe (and we tasted all of the scraps from its trimming). The frosting was very good with the Oreos mixed in between the layers, and the sprinkles made for a fun appearance.

I think that the culprit for the bake was the superfine sugar. I read online that I could make my own in a food processor, but I don’t think it was as fine as it needed to be. This likely created a structural problem during the bake. I’m definitely going to try this recipe again with real superfine sugar to see if that is the problem.

MIDNIGHT COOKIES & CREAM CAKE
Based on this recipe.

INGREDIENTS

Cake:
2 1/4 cups (285 g) all-purpose flour
2 1/4 cups (450 g) superfine sugar
1 cup (120 g) “black” unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk, room temperature
1 cup hot coffee
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 eggs, room temperature

Frosting:
2 3/4 cups (625 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup (130 g) high-ratio shortening
1/4 tsp. salt
10 cups (1 kg. + 250 g) powdered sugar, sifted
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. water, as needed
1/4 cup (60 g) cream cheese, room temperature
Gel food coloring
16 Oreos, semi crushed (for filling) + more for decorating
1/3 cup (50 g) rainbow sprinkles

DIRECTIONS

1. For the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottoms of three 8″ round cake pans, line with parchment paper, then set aside.
2. In a large bowl, sift flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a medium bowl, combine buttermilk, coffee, oil, and vanilla, then mix in the eggs.
4. Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients, then whisk until smooth (about 1 minute).
5. Pour batter into prepared pan.
6. Bake 20-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs. Let cool on wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn onto the rack to cool completely. Wrap cake in plastic wrap and chill 30 minutes before decorating.
7. For the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat butter, shortening, and salt on medium speed for 8 minutes.
8. Reduce speed to low, then gradually add the powdered sugar, heavy cream, vanilla, and water.
9. Increase speed to medium-high and beat for 6 minutes.
10. Beat in the cream cheese until combined, about 30 seconds.
11. Transfer 5 cups of frosting to a medium bowl, then add food coloring. Set aside.
12. Add the Oreos to the remaining frosting and beat 30 seconds or until incorporated.
13. For assembly: Cut chilled cakes in half (or not). Frost inner layers with Oreo frosting and outside with the colored frosting as desired.

NOTE: The frosting ingredients can easily be halved.