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The Red Cat Cookies-and-Cream Cake Recipe

From: Mangoes & Curry Leaves: Culinary Travels Through the Great Subcontinent , by
The Red Cat Cookies-and-Cream Cake
Total Time: 1 hr 45 mins | Active Time: | Makes: 10 to 12 servings

Happy birthday! Or mazel tov! This cake is suitable for any occasion.

What to buy:
Use Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers and a good-quality unsweetened cocoa powder such as Valrhona or Scharffen Berger.

Game plan:
The cake can be made and assembled one day in advance and stored, covered, in the refrigerator. Remove two hours before serving to allow it to come to room temperature.

INGREDIENTS

For the cake:

  • 1 cup hot coffee
  • 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 3 cups cake flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the mascarpone cream:

For the chocolate buttercream:

  • 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
  • 3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 24 chocolate wafers, broken into bits for decorating (such as Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers
INSTRUCTIONS
For the cake:

  1. Heat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9-inch round cake pans. In a bowl, combine the coffee and cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. Add 1 cup cold water and whisk until combined. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
  2. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Continue beating at medium speed while slowly adding the eggs and vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture alternately with the cocoa mixture until well combined. Pour into the prepared cake pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 45 minutes.
  3. Allow to cool 10 minutes in the cake pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

For the mascarpone cream:

  1. Whisk the mascarpone, cream, and sugar until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in the cookie bits using a rubber spatula. Set aside.

For the chocolate buttercream:

  1. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over low heat; set aside to cool. Combine the butter, cocoa powder, and powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the vanilla and cooled chocolate. Beat until well incorporated. Set aside at room temperature.

To assemble:

  1. Trim both of the cake layers with a serrated knife until flat and uniform. Place one cake layer on a cake stand or platter, trimmed side up. Using a spatula, spread all of the mascarpone cream on top of the cake layer. Place the second layer directly on top, trimmed side down.
  2. Spread the chocolate buttercream over the top and sides of the cake, swirling it decoratively. Using your hands, lightly press cookie crumbs onto the bottom inch of the sides of the cake, creating a cookie crumb border.

This recipe, while from a trusted source, may not have been tested by the CHOW food team.

    Write a review | 16 Reviews
  • The Red Cat Cookies-and-Cream Cake Recipe
    5

    I've been making this cake for family birthdays for several years now. Thank you CHOW! This cake is wonderful. Everyone who tastes this cake loves it. I recently tried the triple chocolate malt cake and it did not compare to the The Red Cat Cookies and Cream cake. This cake it moist and decadent.

  • wazup1999 - do you really believe that? You get fat from excess calories. Fat has twice as many calories per gram as carbs do. And "refined, processed, blah, blah" may make you less healthy, but a calorie is a calorie, no matter where it comes from.

  • This cake looks absolutely gorgeous! Dark and moist and very chocolaty! I just had my own little chocolate cake adventure... sometimes things don't really go your way: http://christonium.com/culinaryreview...

  • fru: we have an icebox cake using those chocolate wafers, but ours combines mascarpone and blackberries. try it out: http://www.chow.com/recipes/10637

    chowser: do you have an oven thermometer in your oven? we tested this recipe quite a few times and it was a big hit here at CHOW.

  • I just made this cake and should have gone with my instincts--45 minutes seemed too long to bake the cake and it was. I don't know if I'll make it again but if I do, I'll start checking at about 25 minutes. I also didn't love the chocolate buttercream--three sticks of butter was too much (never thought I'd say something had too much butter). It gave my mouth an oily feel. With the mascarpone cheese, wafers, butter, it's not cheap to make and I don't think worth it. It is really pretty, though!

    Fru, I remember that ice box cake--we had it all the time growing up and loved it.

  • I made this cake and really loved it, but it made me feel like I was going to die. One guest said "I think this is outside of my comfort zone." ROFL!

    I NEVER thought I'd think of something as "too rich."

    I don't think I'd make it again, but I was glad to have made it the one time. It really did taste fantastic.

  • I'm going to make this ASAP. The Famous Chocolate Wafers are not necessarily in the cookie section of the market. Don't ask me why but they are typically with toppings, ice cream cones, etc.. I have always been able to find them at Vons, Gelsons, etc. Anyone ever try an old fashioned ice box cake which is essentially the chocolate wafers sandwiched between whipped cream? Still one of my absolute favorite desserts.

  • wazzup - you do get fat from fat. you get fat from excess calories of any stripe. A gram of fat has twice the calories of carbs or protein, therefore, in equal quantities , it will make you twice as fat. Diet trends do not change the facts of physics and math.

  • You do get fat from fat. You get fat from fat if you eat too much of it and don't do the exzercise to burn off the extra calories. As long as calories burned is equal to or more than calories taken in, you won't get fat.

    Aside from that

    This looks so fabulous! Would fresh vanilla from the pods work as well as vanilla extract for the frosting?

  • I couldn't find the elusive Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers, but the Chocolate Alphabet Cookies by Newman's Own Organics were a fine substitute.

  • made this for a friend's birthday. takes a bit of time, but definitely worth it. its super-rich - for serious chocolate lovers only! it was a big hit!

  • Thank you aidam ! :-)

  • Kadikadi: This recipe came to us via Rebecca Masson of The Red Cat restaurant-http://www.theredcat.com/redcat.html- in NYC. We have tested it here in the CHOW test kitchen and it is a big hit.

  • why is this called Red Cat ?
    and has anyone made this ?

  • you don't get fat from fat. you get fat from packaged, processed highly refined sugars and carbohydrates. besides . . . its a treat

  • 5 sticks of butter. Damn.

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