Oh, oh, oh, O-R-E-O

My great niece Allison (great both genealogically and otherwise) turned the ripe ole age of 9 a few days ago. Today is the family party. Allison thinks I can make anything. I dread the day she discovers otherwise. This year she wanted a cake that looked just like an Oreo. If she forgives the fact that it doesn't say "Oreo" on top, I think she'll be happy.

When I didn't need this cake pan, every store around here had them. Now that I wanted one...ha! After four failed attempts to locate one, I let my fingers do the walking online, ready to order one if necessary. Aha! Bed, Bath and Beyond had them and that was a store I hadn't visited yet. Armed with a $5 off coupon, I headed to the store. They not only had the pan, it was on sale for $9.99 from the original price of $19.99! In order to use the coupon, my purchase had to total $15. Two birthday cards took care of that. Don't you love a good deal?

The cake isn't really cake like, it is a brownie, but don't let that stop you from grabbing a fork. I tested the cake a few weeks ago and it was a hit. The only drawback is that I didn't want to write on it so I have a small plastic sign on a pick to stick in the cake later that gives Alli the proper birthday greeting.

The cake/brownie is very rich so smaller than normal sized cake servings work and make this large enough to feed the clan. I have some dark cocoa that I used when dusting the greased pans which gave the cake a more Oreo-like appearance. Some of the indentations didn't get much of the dark cocoa and you can see the difference in color here.

I did that on purpose you know, just so I could show you how effective the dark cocoa is on this cake.

I covered Oreo cookies in chocolate too, using molds from Wilton and Wilton's candy melts. The cookies didn't release as easily as molded chocolate. I don't know if the cookie was the cause of that or if I should have set them in the freezer rather than the refrigerator to set. I did get them all unmolded which is all that matters in the end.

Some of the cookies with a white background are actually speckled. This is a new candy melt option to me. I had wanted to outline the heart in red and fill in the center with white chocolate but my food-safe paintbrushes have disappeared. I fully expect they will show up tonight, snickering at me because I no longer need them.

We'll be celebrating Alli's birthday, then belatedly wishing her uncle a happy birthday, and then stopping at a surprise birthday party for our neighbor who is turning 40. I remember when 40 was old. Thank goodness that isn't the case anymore! 40 is practically just teenage now!