This week, Oreo celebrated it's 100th birthday. And the food bloggers of America didn't hesitate to join in on the celebration with them. Oreo recipes popped up all over the Internet, one after the other, particularly ones using the limited edition Birthday Cake Oreo that the company released to celebrate the centennial. Me? I don't jump on bandwagons. I'm a leader, not a follower. So I made cookie and cream cupcakes using the classic Oreos, just because I felt like it.
....And because my mom asked me to bake something for her to take to her friend's house, whose son had just gotten out of the hospital. Now I don't know about you, but if I were home from the hospital and people were visiting me, I'd want them to bring something involving chocolate. And Oreos are definitely up there. So, why not make someone's day with these cupcakes, that not only have an Oreo cookie bottom, but are also loaded with chunks of Oreo cookies and then topped with sweetened whipped cream, Oreo cookie crumbs, and a mini Oreo cookie for the grand finish.
Yes, I know. That sounds amazing. But before I get into just how amazing these cupcakes are, can someone please explain to me why every single recipe that I find these days calls for CAKE flour! It's like nobody uses regular all-purpose flour anymore! And it's annoying because I don't have cake flour, nor do I want to buy it. So basically, I just keep getting excited about recipes only to have my hopes crushed when I go down their list of ingredients.
But not this time. This time, I took one look at the ingredient list and said to myself, challenge accepted. It appears that I'm not the only one who refuses to buy cake flour because there are substitutions for it EVERYWHERE online. Just subtract some flour, add some cornstarch, sift it a few times, and you're good to go. Now this doesn't mean I'll be making it a habit. Not every recipe will get the luxury of me going out of my way and making unusual substitutions to make it, just awesome recipes like this one.
Oh, and just a heads up, recipes calling for weird measurements of flour may be difficult to substitute. For example, this recipe called for 1 cup and 2 tablespoons of cake flour. Now the one cup I was okay with--subtract two tablespoons from every cup, pretty straightforward. But 2 tablespoons? Nobody prepared me for that. But I did make it to Calculus Honors somehow, so with a few calculations, I figured out that I would have to subtract 1/4 of a tablespoon from 2 tablespoons. My math teachers would be so proud.
At the end of the day, I gotta say that it was all worth it. The weird measurements. The purchase of Oreos that are never on sale. The purchase of fancier than usual baking cups. The purchase of mini Oreos and then discovering when I got home that they were 50 cents cheaper at a store I passed by.
One bite and it was all worth it. Everything just came together so beautifully. The batter rose perfectly to the top, making for a light and fluffy cupcake, and the chunks of Oreos that I thought would be way too much, were just the right proportion. And then just when I thought things couldn't get any better, the taste of the sweetened whipped cream, meshing with the other flavors, put my taste buds in overdrive.
One bite and it was all worth it. Everything just came together so beautifully. The batter rose perfectly to the top, making for a light and fluffy cupcake, and the chunks of Oreos that I thought would be way too much, were just the right proportion. And then just when I thought things couldn't get any better, the taste of the sweetened whipped cream, meshing with the other flavors, put my taste buds in overdrive.
But you don't really need all my pretty adjectives to convince you how good these cupcakes are. Just take a look at the pictures. You'll be sold just like I was.
Cookies and Cream Cupcakes
Yield:12 cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
A little less than 1 cup of all-purpose flour + 2 and 1/4 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted together
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon whole milk
1 and 3/4 teaspoons white vinegar
2 egg whites
3/4 cup sugar, divided
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
pinch of vanillin powder (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
12 whole Oreo cookies, cut into quarters
12 halves of Oreo cookies, with the filling attached
For the topping:
1 cup of heavy cream
1 and 1/2 cups of sifted powdered sugar
pinch of vanillin powder
finely crushed Oreo cookies
mini Oreos or whole Oreos
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cupcake pan with 12 cupcake liners. Put the Oreo halves, filling side up in each of the liners.
Add the vinegar to the milk and let it stand for 5-10 minutes before using.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together.Using a stand or hand mixer on medium speed, cream the butter and 1/2 cup of the sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and mix until thoroughly blended.
In another bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Gradually add 1/4 cup of the sugar and beat until soft peaks form.
At this point, using a hand whisk, add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and gently stir until just combined. Stir in 1/2 of the milk to the batter and then add the half of the remaining flour mixture, followed by the remaining milk. Stir in the rest of the flour mixture until incorporated. Always stir gently and only until just combined. Make sure not to overbeat it to avoid getting dense, rubbery cupcakes.
Stir 1/3 of the beaten egg whites to the batter to lighten it up a bit and then gently fold in the rest of the egg whites until incorporated. Then gently fold in the chopped Oreo quarters.
Divide the batter among the liners. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until they are well risen and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean or only has a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely before frosting.
For the topping:
Beat the heavy cream with a mixer at medium speed for 3 minutes. Gradually add the sugar, then the vanilla extract and mix well. Increase the speed to high and whip until stiff peaks form. Frost the cupcakes with your desired piping tip and top with crushed Oreo cookies and a mini Oreo.
Adapted from Food Wanderings in Asia
Oooo, I really like this! Thanks for linking up to our "Strut Your Stuff Saturday." We would love to have you back!! -The Sisters
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! Love the idea of a link party and I will definitely be back :D
ReplyDeleteAn oreo garnish AND an orea sitting at the bottom as a little surprise? These are cupcakes I could absolutely get stuck in to!
ReplyDeleteCould I substitute vanilla extract for the vanillin powder? If so how much should I use?
ReplyDeleteYes you certainly can. You would use 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, in the cupcakes and in the whipped cream.
ReplyDeleteHi Merium, I love the pics u take!! Tried this recipe now help me out here.. My cupcakes puffed up but about 20 min in just to see if they were done I pulled them out and they all got deflated and fell flat!:(.. They weren't done I put them in fit about 10 min more and then they were finally done but brown n crusty on the top. What did I do wrong??pls help
ReplyDeleteHey Anonymous...first off, thanks! Secondly, I can't say for sure where exactly you went wrong but if I had to take an educated guess, I would say it has to do with the egg whites. You have to be very slow and gentle when folding beaten egg whites into batter or else they will deflate and your cake will sink. This happened to me once before when I overwhipped egg whites into shortcake. Try it again and let me know how it goes!
ReplyDelete