Cookies and Cream Cake

And the final piece of yumminess for the evening was a cookies and cream cake.  My family is cookies and cream crazy!  We love everything cookies and cream so I thought I would make it into a cake.  I started with a dark chocolate fudge boxed cake mix (gasp! a boxed cake mix, there will be more short cuts, but the end result is delicious!) and 1 C. of white chocolate chips and mixed them into the dry cake mix, coating the chips with the mix before adding my water, oil and eggs.  This way all my chips would not sink to the bottom.  I mixed my cake according to the box directions and poured into and greased and floured 9x13 pan, ( I highly recommend using 2 - 8" round or square pans for this, it will make your life a whole lot easier), I gave the cake a light tap before putting it in the oven, to level it out and baked according to package directions.  I removed it from the oven and let sit in the pan for 5 minutes, no more, no less! VERY important! At 5 minutes, get that sucker out of the pan and flip it onto a cooling rack and let it cool completely.  Once the cake has cooled, place one layer on a cake board or plate and spread a container (yes the whole container) of vanilla icing on top of the layer.  You will then crush about 15 chocolate sandwich cookies either in a food processor or in a sandwich bag with a spoon and place on top of the vanilla icing.

Then place the next layer of cake on top of this.  You will then use another container of store bought icing, ( I used whipped chocolate) and ice the whole cake.  I had a little left over so I put a border around the top of the cake.  I had some cookies and cream candies that I put on top of the cake.  I underestimated the amount I had, that is why they are neat on one side and spread out on the other.  The kids love them, the hubby and I decided it would be better with more crushed cookies on top.  Your choice.  I hope you enjoy this recipe.  This is a rich and decadent cake that definitely needs a glass of milk with it.