Cookies & Cream Cake

This cake recipe is from my "A Passion For Baking" book by Marcy Goldman. The book suggests you make it in a tube pan but I couldn't find my tube pan and I didn't want to make it in a bundt pan so I chose mini loves instead. Plus, it's so much easier to give away mini loaves as gifts instead of cutting up a cake.

Doesn't this cake look just decadent? And fun? I loved making it. The only complaint I would have is the cake part is more like a fluffy yellow cake. I would think this cake would have been better with a pound cake like texture. But since it's supposed to be made in a tube pan, I think it's more of a "put on a plate - eat with a fork" kind of cake. I tried to make it into a "slice and eat with your hands" sort of cake. If that makes any sense. But it's definitely a delicious cake. My boys loved it and the kitchen smells delicious. I was so worried about putting too many cookies in the middle of the cake that I went TOO light I believe. There were not enough cookies in the middle of the cake. It was still good but it could have had a few more.

Black and White Cookie Ripple Coffee Cake

From Marcy Goldman's "A Passion For Baking"

CAKE INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 6 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups buttermilk
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 30+ coarsely chopped sandwich cookies (Oreos)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray a tube pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a mixer bowl, cream softened butter and sugar on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs 2 at a time, and blend on medium speed until blended, scraping bowl often to make sure no butter or sugar sticks to the bottom. Add vanilla and buttermilk and blend well. Fold in the dry ingredients and blend until batter is smooth, about 2 to 4 minutes.
4. Pour 2/3 of the batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle 2/3 of cookie pieces over batter (the 20 cookies), putting more on perimeter than direction in middle area (cookie pieces are less likely to sink when dispersed this way). Top with remaining batter and top batter evenly with remaining cookie pieces.
5. Bake 45 minutes and then reduce oven temp to 325. Finish baking until cake tests done with a cake skewer that almost comes out clean, another 15-20 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in pan before turning cake out onto a serving plate. Let cake cool completely before adding glaze.