I decided to go all out and make yummy food and treats and surprise him with those. I made cinnamon rolls the day before, hiding them in the refrigerator the next morning. The morning of his birthday, I snuck down, popped the chilled dough in the oven and made some coffee, sneaking back upstairs to get the baby up. The smell of them baking+the smell of the coffee brewing was intoxicating and a wonderful smell to wake up to. He was able to enjoy a hot roll right out of the oven with a cup of coffee before heading off to work. They were a yummy birthday treat and I think they were one of his favorite things about the day.
The other thing I put a lot of thought and work into was his birthday cake. He said he would be fine with something simple like a chocolate cake made in a baking pan. Whoa. Boring. I love my husband and respected most of his birthday wishes, but I wasn't going to make a boring birthday cake. I was going to make a Oreo Ganache Cake, goshdarnit! I decided not to go overboard on it though, taking the simple route. I researched different options and came up with a mixture of different ideas. It ended up being a very pretty cake and delicious too. It wasn't overly-sweet and it was surprisingly easy to make and assemble. I'm documenting my version on my blog so I can pin it and have it for future reference, as I'll definitely be making this again.
Oreo Ganache Cake
Ingredients
- For the Cake:
- 3/4 cup (about 3 3/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup (about 3/4 ounce) cocoa powder
- 1/2 plus 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (about 4 1/3 ounces) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Procedures
- 1Make cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350°. Line bottom of a 9-inch cake pan with parchment paper and lightly coat the inside with non-stick pan spray. Sift flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt into large bowl; set aside. In medium bowl, whisk sugar, sour cream, oil, eggs, and vanilla until smooth.
- 2Whisk wet ingredients into dry ingredients until smooth. Pour batter into pan and bake until cake is just firm and toothpick inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cake cool in pan for 15 minutes, then remove from pan to completely cool on wire rack, about 1 hour.
- 3Set aside 2 Oreo cookies (for topping). Chop remaining cookies into 1/4-inch pieces; set aside.
- For the Oreo whipped cream:
- 12 Oreo cookies
- 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/4 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 4To Assemble Cake: make the Oreo whipped cream in 2 batches. In a bowl, whip 1/2 cup cream on medium-high speed to soft peak, spoon into large bowl and refrigerate. In same bowl, whip remaining 3/4 cups cream, sugar, and vanilla to soft peak. Fold into already whipped cream.
- 5Place about 1/4 cup whipped cream in bowl and refrigerate until ready to decorate cake. Fold chopped Oreos into remaining whipped cream.
- 6Slice cake in half horizontally to create 2 layers. Place bottom layer on serving plate. Spread the Oreo whipped cream onto cake. Top with second cake layer.
- For the Ganache:
- 4 Squares Baker's Semi-Sweet Chocolate
- 1/4 Cup Butter
- Microwave chocolate and butter in a small microwaveable bowl on high 2 minutes or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Cool 5 minutes.
- 7Spread a thin layer of the cooled ganache over the top of the cake. I allowed it to run over the side. I also had a little left over. Chill in refrigerator for about 2 hours to allow cookies to soften and the ganche to harden.BEFORE SERVING:Pipe or spoon the reserved whipped cream on the top middle of the cake. Chop up the remaining 2 oreo cookies and sprinkle on the top of the cream.
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