***Update: I’ve included a complete nutrition facts table for you, eat at your own risk 😛 scroll to the bottom for the tables! 

C turned 21 last week!

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you may recall him from his birthday last year here! He has also appeared in all the posts for my birthdays: 18th, 19th, 20th.

We have this ongoing tradition where we have to arrive at each other’s house to celebrate when the clock strikes 12 on our birthdays. Great tradition right? I take full credit for this idea. Sorry C, but you know it’s true 😛

Since I’ve been kicking his butt on the playground in 2001, we’ve been reallly good friends, if not best friends. We just understand each other really well. Sometimes I don’t even have to say anything but he’ll know exactly what is on my mind.

A friendship like that needs to be celebrated… with cake! Months before his birthday (so that he won’t suspect a thing!), I asked him who his favourite superhero is. I thought he would say that it’s Iron Man, but nope it’s actually Spiderman! I was so relieved to hear that because a spiderman cake is much much much easier to make.

I also got him a spiderman poster which he absolutely loved! I spent quite some time deciding between a couple posters because I wasn’t sure where his poster tastes lie. Real glad he liked what I chose in the end. Phew.

Here’s our annual blurry-blue-background picture:

Spider-man, spider-man, does whatever a spider-man can

Spins a web, any size, catches thieves, just like flies. Look out! Here comes the spiderman!

Here’s how I did it:

1. Smash up some oreos to make the cookies and cream cream filling

2. Torte and fill 3 chocolate cake layers with cookies and cream frosting.

3. Cover with red fondant. Cut out 2 eye pieces from white fondant. (I used homemade marshmallow fondant) Then pipe the spider web design using black royal icing.

4. Eat!

And that’s it! Seriously, it is a lot simpler than it looks. Especially if you use commercial fondant and royal icing.

Ingredients

Cake

• 3 cups sugar
• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1.12 cups cocoa (any kind will do here, but use the best that you have on hand)
• 3 teaspoons baking soda
• 1.5 teaspoon baking powder
• 1.5 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs
• 1.5 cup buttermilk or sour milk*
• 1.5 cup strong black coffee OR 3 teaspoons powdered instant coffee plus 1.5 cup boiling water
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1.5 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cookies and Cream Frosting

• 4 cups heavy cream, COLD
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 27 Oreo cookies, crushed
• 2 tsp vanilla

How To

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 3 10-inch round baking pans

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes (Batter will be thin). Pour batter evenly into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes for round pans or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

4. Place the metal bowl of your mixer, along with whisk attachment, in the freezer for 5 minutes. Remove from freezer and add heavy cream, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Beat on high until you have whipped cream that forms stiff peaks (keep an eye on it….it can turn to butter if you let it go too long). Fold in crushed cookies.

5. Fill and cover cake with frosting right after you make the frosting. I made the mistake of using a whip cream based frosting. Whip cream doesn’t sit out too well, so I would recommend stabilizing it with some skim milk powder if you have it. It will save you a lot of pain later!

Cake adapted from Hershey’s and frosting adapted from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen

Nutrition Facts