Cookies & Cream Cupcake Comparison

This will be the last comparison post for a while - my poor Bouchon Bakery cookbook has been staring at me from the corner with tears welling up in his eyes because he's been neglected.  Between Ball Week and all the cakes I've been testing, he's been sad and alone.  But don't worry.... donuts are proofing and my bread levain is being revived as we speak

Now, let's talk about these little nuggets of Oreo goodness.  First of all, I don't buy Oreos.  I can't - they're evil.  They sit in the cabinet and knock on the door asking to be let out and eaten and we just can't have that going on in my house.  Every time I do buy Oreos for a recipe, even if I don't eat them, they mysteriously disappear...

Poor CA walked into the kitchen while I was making these cupcakes and went to grab an Oreo out of the bag while simultaneously asking "Can I have one of these?" and I (far too animatedly) yelled "NO!"  He snatched his hand back quickly and looked at me in a wounded puppy sort of way.  I got a hold of myself and said (much more nicely) "Sorry, I need them all for the cupcakes."  He moped away silently and I would have felt bad except that he was about to get to try two delicious Oreo cupcakes and frostings.  I can't feel bad for you when I'm making you something yummy.  I'm tough that way.

These two recipes are so ridiculously similar that it's hard to even call them a comparison.  The only difference is that #1 uses all milk and #2 uses a combination of milk and sour cream.  Other than that, it's pretty basic cake stuff... flour, sugar, butter, vanilla, baking powder, salt and egg whites.  I have a sneaking suspicion that these are just adaptations on the same recipe but I can't be sure.  The first of three cookie sightings in this cupcake comes when you put half an Oreo (with cream attached) at the bottom of each cupcake which is fun because you can see it after it bakes and creates assurances that there are actually Oreos in these jokers.

And if that's not enough Oreo goodness for you, cookie sighting #2 comes from chopped up Oreos in the batter. 

The batter for both came together really easily... cream butter & sugar, add egg whites and vanilla, add milk and/or sour cream alternating with the dry ingredients.  Nothing earth shattering or different between the two.

Can you see the difference between the two cupcakes?  The one on the left is #1 - milk only.  The one on the right is #2 - milk & sour cream.  Yeah, me either.  They look the same.
















They also look the same when I split them open.  Same texture, same color, same density same fluffiness.  They also taste the same - as in they taste good.  I'm not all that surprised - the recipes aren't different enough (not that that's stopped me from having totally different results in the past, remember the strawberry cupcakes?)  When it comes to which recipe to use in the future, I think I'd go with #1 because there are less ingredients with the same result.  I'm OK with easier as long as it still tastes just as good.

So, what do you do when you've got two sets of cupcakes that taste and look the same?  Well, you make two different kinds of icing, of course!

Remember how I used half an Oreo as the base for the cupcakes?  Well, I used all the other (non-creamy) halves in the frosting.  That would be cookie sighting #3 in case you're keeping track.  I'm pretty sure you can't look at or eat this cupcake without knowing it has Oreo in it... unless you're blind and you have no taste buds but then it would be a total waste of a cupcake.

I made two different versions of icing - both with Oreo crumbs mixed right in.  The first was a traditional buttercream and the second was a cream cheese frosting.

I had no doubts from the beginning which one I'd be using - cream cheese - obviously.  Cream cheese frosting makes everything better.

CA commented that the buttercream frosting tastes more like the filling of an Oreo which I agree with but it was too dense and a little too sweet for me.  However, if you're the kind of person who could sit and eat the filling out of an Oreo all day - this stuff's for you.  Both CA and I agree that we like the cream cheese frosting better because it's cream cheese frosting.  Hello!  Plus, it's a little bit lighter and tastes less sweet because of the tang of the cream cheese which we thought was a good combination with the cake.

Here are the cupcake recipes...
Recipe #1
Recipe #2

For the frosting... I kind of made it up so here are the recipes for those...

Oreo Buttercream
enough to ice 24 cupcakes

Ingredients
1 cup Unsalted Butter (2 sticks), at room temperature
5 cups Powdered Sugar
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 T Heavy Cream
2/3 cup Oreo Crumbs (about 24 halves)
Instructions
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter with the powdered sugar on medium speed until fluffy (4-5 minutes).  Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and add the vanilla and heavy cream.  Beat on medium speed until combined (about 1 minute).  Add the Oreo crumbs and mix on low speed until just combined (if you mix it too long the icing just turns black instead of having little black flecks in it).

Use to top your favorite cupcakes.

Oreo Cream Cheese Frosting
enough to ice 24 cupcakes

Ingredients
1/2 cup Unsalted Butter (1 stick), at room temperature
12 oz. Cream Cheese, at room temperature
5 cups Powdered Sugar
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 T Heavy Cream
2/3 cup Oreo Crumbs (about 24 halves)

Instructions
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese with the powdered sugar on medium speed until fluffy (4-5 minutes).  Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and add the vanilla and heavy cream.  Beat on medium speed until combined (about 1 minute).  Add the Oreo crumbs and mix on low speed until just combined (if you mix it too long the icing just turns black instead of having little black flecks in it).

Use to top your favorite cupcakes.

Enjoy!
Julie