TWD: Devil's Food White-Out Cake

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie Recipe was chosen by Stephanie of Confessions of a City Eater...and it is not just 'any' recipe-it's the one from the very cover of our 'bible' here on TWD!



(NOTE: mine won't look like that, I'll tell you now...'close' but not quite up to Dorie standards!)

There's always a story...and here 'goes.

So I baked the cake layers on Friday night...and come to find out the baking sheet called for (it said to bake the layer pans on a cookie sheet) decided to warp in the heat of the oven (what the...?! Now I know it happens at high heat, but why this happened at a mere 350 surprised me.) So, what it meant is I had lopsided cake layers b/c the sheets tilted. I rotated half-way through hoping I could counter act this, but the damage was done I'm afraid. See??!



So then from Friday night to Saturday morning I went through my options;
- keep in 2 layers, rather than splitting each horizontally in half, but it would leave me with no cake layer to 'crumble' for the outer finishing touch (refer to book photo-there are three "1/2" layers, the 4th half-layer is then crumbled and pressed into the frosting
- try to cut the least 'slanty' one so I had the cake crumbs to add to the outer frosted finish cake, leaving me with one thick layer, one thin layer for the inside
- make a 'box' cake quickly just to have a 'crumble' cake for the outer
- None of the above, improvise, darnit--you're a creative person!

So it was then, around 12 midnight as I was mindlessly flipping channels thinking about my cake that I came up with the "save." I've got one word for you: OREOS.

So my plan became:
- keep in 2 layers, don't try to cut each uneven layer into more uneven half-layers, and make a 2-layer cake with crumbled Oreos for the outside finishing touch! Oreos being black and white perfectly fit into the theme of the cake....and not only that, but I actually had Oreos in the house! (I've been making so many Dorie treats that I have not bought cookies in ages--but I saw the 2-fer sale on them last week and grabbed them in a moment of weakness!)

So then Saturday morning was for the frosting...it seemed to take awhile for the sugar concoction to get to the right temperature..I waited and waited...my egg whites sat patiently waiting for me to give them a spin when the temp was almost 'there' so I could time it right...and I was so worried about the egg whites being done too SOON that I did not pay attention to them being done too LATE! The temp hit the appointed number and my egg whites were not ready! So then I tried to play with the heat on the sugar/water and urged my egg whites along (I'd like to think all the "c'mon! hurry up!!" yelling I did at the Kitchen Aid and egg whites did the trick!)

And so all's well that ends well..here is my yummy (and W.O.W is this frosting AMAZING!!) frosting!


I assembled the cake, frosted and threw the crushed oreos on the outside, and held back doing anything with the top..at first..


And then, because I made it on Valentine's Day, I got out my chocolate chips in regular and 'mini' size and played around a bit...here is the finished product! (Heart w/ arrow through it...or so I hope it looks that way to everyone..because it does to me! At other times, at a glance, I can't help but think those mini chips almost look like rosary beads..but really, it's a heart/arrow!)


Here is a cut slice--see? Just not that attractive--but the taste made up for the lack of 3 perfect layers. I think in hindsight the thinner layers and more frosting in between would have made it amazing..so I will try again someday and cut the layers, but I still THOROUGHLY enjoyed (and still am enjoying now on Monday night) this cake. And being a fan of Oreos, I like having them on the outside for some different texture..



Dear Husband loved the cake, so it's another winner! He's not a fan of frosting on cake type of guy, which I have come to accept (Yet I still don't understand because to me, nothing beats that perfect forkful of cake & frosting!)

I have to say this cake came out better than the chocolate cupcakes back in October, so I am one step closer to finding 'the' perfect chocolate cake (being devil's food though, not quite the perfect 'moist' cake I keep seeking). So all in all, we loved it. And again, this frosting: heavenly! I will use it for future recipes I am sure!! I truly could not stop licking the bowl...

And thanks to Nabisco, for saving the day...Oreos always were my favorite (store-bought) cookie!!

I think I shall call this version my "Dor-eo" cake!