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By Sarah Condley

Columnist

I mentioned last week that our friend Shiela was about to have a birthday, and she came over for supper and dessert. Today’s recipe is for the dessert we had. I’d asked Shiela if she had any requests for her birthday dessert and she said Biscoff cookies (you know, the ones Delta Airlines hands out when you fly – Yum), which are one of her favorite things.

I didn’t want to serve just store-bought cookies, so I went to the internet and looked up dessert recipes using Biscoff cookies. Several recipes popped up, and I settled on one called Lotus Biscoff Cake with Biscoff Buttercream from the Bluebowlrecipes.com website. I chose this particular recipe because it could be made in a square baking pan and because there would not be lots of leftover cake if 1) we didn’t like it, and 2) if we did liked it (none of us needed lots of leftover cake).

The recipe has many ingredients and steps that seemed a bit overwhelming, but hey, this is a close friend and she deserved for me to put some effort into this dessert.

I turned on the oven to preheat, greased and floured a 9×9 inch baking pan, and then crushed up some Biscoff cookies (I just about always have these cookies on hand because not only are they Shiela’s favorite, but Brad and I like them too). After whisking the dry ingredients together, I used a handheld mixer to cream the softened butter in a separate bowl. Once it was nice and fluffy, I added the cookie butter and turned on the mixer again. The sugar was added, and I let the mixer do it’s work for two minutes, then added the eggs one at a time. The recipe mentions using half of an egg, and the way I divided the egg was to crack it into a small bowl, scramble it, and then measure out half.

Along with the last egg (half egg), I poured in the vanilla. I continued beating the mixture until everything was combined, then poured in the dry ingredients and beat on low speed until the dry ingredients were mixed in. Last but not least, the oil and sour cream were added to the batter and remixed until combined.

I poured the cake batter into the prepared pan, and into the oven, it went. The cake baked for 50 minutes before I removed it from the oven to cool for ten minutes. I inverted the cake onto a cooling rack and then inverted it onto another cooling rack, so it was top-side up and let it finish cooling.

I don’t have piping bags, so when the cake was cool I melted 1/2 cup of the Biscoff cookie butter in a liquid measuring cup in the microwave. I poked holes all over the top of the cake (careful not to poke all the way through the cake) and poured the liquid cookie butter into the holes. This was not a pretty sight and I’m not sure how much cookie butter ended up on those little holes (I suggest if you make this cake, you use a wooden spoon that has a bigger around handle than I did because my holes weren’t that big around). I slathered some of the remaining melted cookie butter over the top of the cake.

Now it was time to put the icing together. I creamed the cream cheese and butter, then added the cookie butter and powdered sugar and vanilla. Once the mixture was creamy, I added the salt, cinnamon, and heavy cream. The icing was soft, so I let it cool in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes and then iced the cake. There was still a little bit of the melted cookie butter left and I poured it over the icing and gave it a swirl. For an added touch, I sprinkled some Biscoff cookie crumbs over the top.

Shiela arrived, we had supper and then I pulled the cake out. After making her blow out the lone candle on the cake, we cut ourselves pieces and gave it a try.

Brad, Shiela, and I all agreed the cake was good, but it sure didn’t taste like Biscoff cookies, even with almost a whole jar of the cookie butter in or on the cake.

We debated whether this recipe was a Nailed It or a Failed It and we finally agreed that though I nailed the cake, it wasn’t what we expected, and none of us were left with the feeling that we wanted it again the next time Shiela comes for supper. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good cake, not what I’d call Biscoff-worthy.

Lotus Biscoff Cake with Biscoff Buttercream

Ingredients

For the Biscoff Cake

• 1/2 cup salted butter, softened at room temperature

• 1/3 cup Biscoff cookie butter

• 1 and 1/4 cups granulated sugar

• 3 and 1/2 large eggs, at room temperature

• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1 and 1/3 cups cake flour, spooned and leveled

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

• 1/2 cup full fat sour cream, at room temperature

• 1/2 cup Biscoff cookie crumbs

For the Cookie Butter Filling

• 1/2 cup cookie butter

For the Cookie Butter Frosting

• 6 Tablespoons butter, softened at room temperature

• 6 ounces cream cheese, softened at room temperature

• 1/2 cup Biscoff cookie butter

• 2 cups powdered sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 Tablespoon heavy cream

• Pinch of cinnamon

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9-inch cake pan with shortening.  Dust the pan.

• Make the Cake Batter:  In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, including the Biscoff crumbs.  In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter well with electric mixer on high speed.  Cream the cookie butter into the butter until completely combined.  Add the sugar and cream for 2 minutes on high speed.  Add the eggs one at a time, mixing on low speed just until each egg disappears into the batter, adding the vanilla with the last egg.  Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until just combined, scraping the sides of the bowl to get everything incorporated.  Add the oil and sour cream and mix on low speed just until they disappear into the batter.

• Pour cake batter into prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until toothpick comes out with some moist crumbs, but not wet batter.  Let cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack (do this twice to get it right side up) and let cool completely before frosting.

• Make the Frosting: Place cream cheese and butter in a medium mixing bowl and cream on high speed with an electric mixer, for 2 minutes.  Add the cookie butter and mix until well creamed.  Add the powdered sugar and vanilla, and mix on medium speed until creamy.  Mix in the salt, cinnamon, and heavy cream.  If the frosting is too soft, chill it until it sets up and re-mix to smooth it back out.

• To assemble the cake: Poke holes in the top of the cake with the end of a wooden spoon.  Melt the 1/2 cup of cookie butter in microwave for 10 seconds, until pourable.  Use a piping bag to fill the holes, and spread any overflow over the top of the cake.  Frost the cake adding a few dollops of cookie butter towards the end and swirl it into the frosting lightly with the back of a spoon.

• Serve immediately and store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.