Oreo Kahluha Birthday Cake

So, the hubster turned 50 yesterday!

We could have gone one of two ways with this... the classic "Over the Hill" party

or something a little more creative.

His absolute favorite treat in the world?

Cookies!

We decided on a Cookie Monster Party and told everyone to bring a package of cookies for a gift.

He loved it!

You already saw the Cookie Monster Cupcakes I made for the little people (and some big ones...)

This is an Oreo inspired cake. 

 

I scored these cake pans at Target last year, on clearance - of course. 

I used a plain box of Devil's Food cake mix - with a few changes.

I used melted butter instead of oil (same amount).

Instead of water, I added an extra egg and milk. (egg+milk = same as water amount).

I baked it 50 degrees lower than the box called for and 10 minutes longer.

 

Those changes make it incredibly rich and moist -- a trick from the catering days.

First though -- I greased and "floured" the cake pans with cocoa powder.

I forgot one thing - to "tamp" the pans a few times to get the air bubbles out.

{sigh}

 

The finished cake had a bunch of "holes" in it, when it was flipped out.

Those are from the air bubbles baking in the cake.

Not pretty...

A quick filling of creamy goodness in between the two layers was all I had planned.

1 Pack of cream cheese (softened) whipped with 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract.

Then I folded in a container of Cool Whip and few bags of crushed mini Oreos.

OK. Time to make the top all pretty!

Chocolate Ganache is SUPER easy to make -- but it intimidates a lot of people.

First, grind/chop up some chocolate. Some recipes say Bittersweet, some say Semisweet.

I do half and half... about 4 ounces of each.

Then I added 2 Tablespoons of Kahlua.

Now, 1 cup (half pint) of heavy cream in a sauce pan. You want to slowly heat this - to bring it to a boil. Once it starts to boil, take it off of the stove and pour it over the chocolate.

 Keep stirring it until the chocolate is fully melted.
You will want to let this cool a bit, before pouring it over your cake.
The longer you let it cool, the thicker it will get.
I let it set about ten minutes.

Before -- not so pretty top...

After the Chocolate Kahlua Ganache was poured over it.

I made the chocolate "curls" with my veggie peeler along the sides of a Hershey candy bar.

 

That is it -- soooo simple and the entire cake vanished!