This cookie butter cake is tender, moist and loaded with lovely hints of cookie butter.
Servings 2layer eight-inch cake
Author Tasia ~ twosugarbugs
Ingredients
Cookie Butter Cake
2cupsall-purpose flour
6ground Biscoff cookiesyields a shy ½ cup
2 ¼teaspoonsbaking powder
½teaspoonsalt
¾cup(1½ sticks) unsalted butterroom temperature
1cupgranulated sugar
½cuppacked dark brown sugar
2extra large eggsroom temperature
1teaspoonpure vanilla extract
¾cupbuttermilkroom temperature
Filling
6Biscoff cookiescrumbled
¾cupcookie butter
Cookie Butter Swiss Meringue Buttercream***
5extra large egg whites
1 ¼cupsgranulated sugar
½teaspoonsalt
¾pound(3 sticks) unsalted butterroom temperature*
½cupcookie butter
Instructions
For the cake:
Preheat your oven to 350°F.
Prepare two 8-inch round baking pans; butter the pans, line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper, butter again and dust lightly with flour. Set aside.
Place 6 Biscoff cookies in your food processor and pulse several times to reach a flour-like consistency. This will yield a shy ½ cup of ground cookies.
In a medium bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, ground Biscoff cookies, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and both sugars on medium-high until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes. Scrape down bowl, add your eggs and vanilla extract and mix until well combined.
With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture and buttermilk in three alternating additions, beginning and ending with the dry, being careful not to over mix your batter.
Divide your batter equally between the two prepared pans and bake 30-35 minutes, until tops are lightly browned and a toothpick or cake tester comes out mostly clean. Cool cake layers in pans placed on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes before turning them onto the wire rack to cool completely. Be sure to leave them topside up.
For the buttercream:
Wipe the bowl and whisk of your stand mixer with vinegar or lemon juice to make sure it is grease free or your egg whites may not stiffen.
Whisk egg whites, sugar and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer. Whisk and heat mixture over a saucepan of simmering water until hot to touch, sugar is fully dissolved (you should not feel any granules when rubbed between your fingers) and it’s a bit frothy, approximately 3 minutes.
Remove the bowl from the saucepan and wipe the bottom dry. Place on your stand mixer and whisk on medium-high until the mixture is cool and the meringue holds a stiff peak (the bottom of your bowl should also be cooled), approximately 10 minutes.
Switch to the paddle attachment, reduce the speed to medium and add the butter, one tablespoon at a time, letting the butter fully incorporate before adding more. ** Once all butter is incorporated, scrape down sides of the bowl and add cookie butter and whip until a thick, whipped consistency is reached.
Assemble the cake:
Once the cakes are cool, level with a large serrated knife or cake leveler, if needed.
Place one layer on a serving plate, cake stand or a cardboard cake round, topside up. Spread ¾ cup of cookie butter evenly over the layer. Add about 1 cup of buttercream and spread evenly over the cookie butter. Then sprinkle the 6 crumbled Biscoff cookies over the buttercream and gently press into the frosting.
Place the second layer, topside down, on top of the filling. Lightly frost the cake to create a crumb coat. This does not have to be perfect, it is meant to lock all the crumbs into the thin layer of frosting. Chill cake for 30 minutes to set the crumb coat.
Frost with remaining buttercream, smoothing evenly over the top and sides of the cake. Decorate with swirls of frosting around the top edge of cake, if desired. Wilton 1M is my favorite tip. You can also embellish with extra Biscoff cookies between the swirls and sprinkle crushed cookies around the base of the cake.
Notes
* Your butter only needs about 1 hour of time (depending on temperature of your kitchen) to get to room temperature. You want the butter still slightly cool to the touch and not overly warm or soft.** At some point your buttercream is going to be a sloppy mess. It may even look curdled. Do not fear, just keep whipping and it will magically come together into a beautiful whipped frosting. If you feel it is too soupy, place the mixture in the refrigerator for 20 minutes and then re-whip.***Buttercream recipe slightly adapted from livforcake.com