This month’s Aspiring Bakers theme is Aspiring Bakers #18: Layers of Love (April 2012) hosted by Sam of Sweet Samsations. The gist of it was – make a layer cake in April! Got this one posted just in time…

This is a home made version of something I made with my roommate in DC a few years ago when everyone else in the city had cleared out for Christmas. That one we made with boxed cake and a tube of cookie dough. We only needed one cake one layer, but cake mix makes two, leading to a spare cake, and eventually to the name of the blog.

Those were the days!

This time I made every thing from scratch, and addressed an issue my friend Catie has with ice cream cakes, that the ice cream melts and makes the cake soggy. She had mentioned, in the same conversation that she told me she doesn’t like ice cream cakes, that a friend of hers had said something about baking cakes with crusts, which I jumped on and put an Oreo crust on the cake layer. It worked really well at keeping the ice cream out of the cake, and was one more good flavor in the mix.

A solid Oreo barrier.

One thing to be careful of – there are several ingredients that are supposed to be room temperature, so make sure you take them out first!

Ingredients:

Oreo Crust:

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 15 double stuff Oreos

Cookie:

• 1 cup plus 1/2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• scant 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup plus 1/2 tablespoon lightly packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Sour Cream Cake:

• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup plus  2 tablespoons cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature

Frosting:

• 1/3 cup margarine or butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 4  tablespoons milk

• Plus 1 1/2 quarts vanilla ice cream

Grease two 9″ round cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment circles, and grease again. Preheat the oven to 350. All the baking happens at 350, so don’t worry if you don’t see temperatures listed for each item.

Combine the Oreos and melted butter in a food processor and process until the Oreos are totally crushed. Pour the crumbs into one of the prepared pans and press down evenly. Using the bottom of a glass or small ramekin can help smooth out the surface of the crumbs easily. Bake for 10 minutes and then set aside to cool.

While the crust is baking and cooling, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt for the cookie in a bowl and set aside. Cream the stick of butter with the sugars and vanilla until light and fluffy.

Add the room temperature egg and beat until blended, followed by the dry goods, then the chocolate chips. Spread the dough evenly in the parchment lined pan that doesn’t have the Oreo crust.

Bake 25-30 minutes, until it looks firm, then set aside to cool in the pan.

For the cake, first separate the eggs. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks just begin to form, and set both parts aside. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.

In another bowl, beat the room temperature butter on high speed until light and creamy. Beat in the vanilla, then gradually add the sugar, beating until again light and creamy. Add the yolks and beat another minute or two, scraping the sides of the bowl.

With your mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with halves of the room temperature sour cream.

Gently fold in the egg whites with a spatula until there are no streaks of white left, then pour into the pan with the Oreo crust, smoothing the top.

I was using extra tall cake pans. I think even with the crust your cake should still fit in a regular 1″ tall cake pan, but just in case it would be a good idea for you to put your cake pan on a baking sheet to catch any runover. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then turn out to cool on a rack.

By now, your cookie will probably still be warm, but not super hot. Take the ice cream out of the freezer and let it thaw for several minutes while you turn the cookie out onto a plate or wire rack to finish cooling, and rinse and dry the pan.

Spread the slightly thawed ice cream in the cake pan and put it in the freezer. Using the bottom of a glass or small dish is again a good way to smooth it out. When the ice cream has frozen for at least an hour and when the cake is room temperature, you’re ready to put things together.

Put the cookie on your serving dish. Fill a large bowl with hot water and push the bottom of the ice cream filled cake pan in the hot water for about ten seconds, until you can easily rotate the ice cream in the pan.Flip the loosened ice cream out onto the cookie layer and top with the cake. Press together, then put in the freezer briefly to firm up.

Make the frosting by whisking together all the frosting ingredients. Pour over the top of the cake, pushing the excess down over the sides a bit.

Cut slices immediately, and put the leftovers in the freezer. It’s a bit of a hassle cutting through the cookie layer when it’s frozen, but worth it for this!

This cake, halved from a Cookie Madness recipe, can definitely stand on its own as a real nice yellow cake, and the cookie recipe is adapted from Rosie’s Bakery All-Butter, Fresh Cream, Sugar-Packed, No-Holds-Barred Baking Book. Combined, they make a heck of a thing!

Ice Cream Cookie-Cake

Oreo Crust:

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 15 double stuff Oreos

Cookie:

• 1 cup plus 1/2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• scant 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup plus 1/2 tablespoon lightly packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Sour Cream Cake:

• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup plus  2 tablespoons cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature

Frosting:

• 1/3 cup margarine or butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 4  tablespoons milk

• Plus 1 1/2 quarts vanilla ice cream

Grease two 9″ round cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment circles, and grease again. Preheat the oven to 350.

Combine the Oreos and melted butter in a food processor and process until the Oreos are completely crushed. Pour the crumbs into one of the prepared pans and press down evenly. Bake for 10 minutes and then set aside to cool.

While the crust is baking and cooling, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt for the cookie in a bowl and set aside. Cream the stick of butter with the sugars and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add the room temperature egg and beat until blended, followed by the dry goods, then the chocolate chips. Spread the dough evenly in the parchment lined pan without the Oreo crust. Bake 25-30 minutes, until it looks firm, then set aside to cool in the pan.

For the cake, first separate the eggs. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks just begin to form, and set both parts aside. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.

In another bowl, beat the room temperature butter on high speed until light and creamy. Beat in the vanilla, then gradually add the sugar, beating until again light and creamy. Add the yolks and beat another minute or two, scraping the sides of the bowl.

With your mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with halves of the room temperature sour cream. Gently fold in the egg whites with a spatula until there are no streaks of white left, then pour into the pan with the Oreo crust, smoothing the top. Place cake pan on a baking sheet and bake for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then turn out to cool on a rack.

By now, cookie will probably still be warm, but not super hot. Take the ice cream out of the freezer and let it thaw for several minutes while you turn the cookie out onto a plate or cutting board to finish cooling, and rinse and dry the pan.

Spread the slightly thawed ice cream in the cake pan and put it in the freezer. When the ice cream has frozen for at least an hour and when the cake is room temperature, you’re ready to put things together.

Put the cookie on your serving dish. Fill a large bowl with hot water and push the bottom of the ice cream filled cake pan in the hot water for about ten seconds, until you can easily rotate the ice cream in the pan. Flip the loosened ice cream out onto the cookie layer and top with the cake. Press together, then put in the freezer briefly to firm up.

Make the frosting by whisking together all the frosting ingredients. Pour over the top of the cake, pushing the excess down over the sides a bit. Cut slices immediately, returning leftovers to the freezer.