VeganMoFo: Oreos and Cream Cake

One of my oldest friends is turning 19 next week, and to celebrate, she's hosting a big BBQ party tonight - and I'm making the cake. For 30+ people. Now, I didn't offer to make the cake because I'm a terrific baker or anything. I'm definitely not - I'm inexperienced and often impatient. (Don't fret if you're reading this and going to the party tonight! It gets better.) When I decided to make the cake, I was determined to actually work hard at making the best cake I've ever made, which wouldn't be too hard, I supposed.

The recipe I decided to use was the Cookies and Cream version of the basic Chocolate Cupcake from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I only had a 9x13 cake pan, so I doubled one recipe twice - in other words, I made two cakes - each cake equalling two recipes of the cupcakes - and glued them together in the middle. I also decided to trim the edges to get rid of the tougher, chewier exterior. I admit though that the two cakes were not level. The first cake was a little shorter, which might have been because of the possibility of overmixing the batter. I wasn't about to get down and dirty and try to trim something like 1/8th of an inch off the top of the second cake, so I just left it at that. The next step would fix everything. Everything!

The crumb layer:The frosting! Oh how I love frosting. It really does fix everything. I doubled the recipe, which also allowed me to frost between the layers. For the exterior, I did both a crumb frosting and a normal layer of frosting to finish it off. (Yes, I have never heard of crumb frosting before researching for this cake. Damnit, I want to sound professional!)

At the end of frosting, the cake was more or less level, and I had a teeny bit of frosting to pipe something fun. That didn't turn out too well.

Looks like a little oppsies! Honestly, what does that look like to you?

Next time, I'll go the next step and make another kind of icing for the words and decorations. I was too pooped from the all-over frosting to go that extra mile, so I used leftover Oreo crumbs to sprinkle in the lettering. Not that great of a time-saving idea! The stencils took a while to make and cut out, and then the crumbs were being rebellious.

I'm still really happy with the aesthetic results of the cake. I'm a total believer in the fluffy buttercream frosting now. As for how the cake will stand the test of the BBQ party tonight, that result still awaits, as the cake is in my fridge right now and will remind there until I leave for the party in a few hours. I'm pretty sure it's going to win over all the guests though. Their sad lifeless food is going to be pale in comparison with Oreos and Cream Cake.