Cookie monster cake

בס"ד

For a long time, this idea was running through my mind- a cookie monster cake filled with candies, like a piñata cake for the blue creature lovers.

So far, I didn't make the cake because I wanted an alternative for artificial food coloring. I tried cooking cabbage and get blue color using baking soda (as I read online), and I did get a blue liquid, but when adding it to the cream with the instant vanilla pudding, it came out greenish pale. When adding more color, I eventually ended up with still kind of green color with a not so nice taste of cabbage cream.

I looked for natural food coloring in stores but wasn't able to find any, so this time I have decided to use an artificial blue food coloring. I highly recommend not using artificial food coloring so often because they are just not healthy. And especially for kids (You can find on the Internet articles about the subject indicating that food coloring contributes to ADHD (attention deficit disorder), so use just the right amount).

I made my cookie monster cake with a juicy and delicious on its own chocolate cake, which was a great start to making this cake. I spread between the layers cookie cream that is really tasty and filled inside with a small cookie (as suitable for the cookie monster) and M&M's - Fill as many as you can to make the piñata effect, I didn't have many candies, so my piñata was lame.

I coated the cake with sweetened cream, and using a grass nozzle piped the cookie monster's hair. And here's a free tip for you - just after finishing piping, take the nozzle out of the disposable piping bag or otherwise you might find in the garbage and will need to buy a new one, yeah that's what happened to me folks :-)
An amazing cake and scrumptious that is suitable for birthdays or cookie monster fans out there :-)

Cookie monster cake recipe/con delight
The measurements were made using universal cups

Ingredients

For 24cm round pan/9 or 10-inch pan (You need to make two of those):

1 1/3 cups flour

1 cup of cocoa powder

2 cups of sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

4 L eggs

1 cup oil

1 cup of water

oil spray for greasing the pan

Sugar syrup to brush the cake:

1 Tbsp. sugar

1/3 cup hot water

Cookie cream:

137 gram/ 4.8 oz. Oreo cookies

200 gram / 7 oz. butter, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

chocolates/ m&m's / mini cookies to fill the cake

Cream coating:

750 ml whipping cream / 3 cups

1 cup instant vanilla pudding

blue food coloring, add drops as needed

Eyes and mouth:

White chocolate covered Oreo cookies

Edible black ink

a bit of the cake leftovers to make eyes

Store-bought chocolate chip cookies or homemade

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 180C/350F, turbo.

Mix the dry ingredients, add the wet and mix well. Transfer to a greased 24cm/9inch round pan. Bake for about 40 minutes on middle rack or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the cake or with wet crumbs.

Remember to make two of those, so if you have extra room in your oven, you can make them simultaneously. Let cool completely.

When cooled, make the cookie cream: In a food processor, process the cookies finely. Add the butter and blend. Add the powdered sugar and blend until unified.

Cut each cake into two rounds using a serrated knife. The tops will be used as the base and the inside and not the top. Lay one of the circles as the base, brush with the sugar syrup (dissolve the sugar in hot water and let cool before brushing), coat with a thin layer of cookie cream, and take another layer of cake. 

Cut with a smaller ring inside the cake—set the smaller cake aside and place the larger layer on the layer with the cream. Brush with sugar syrup, coat with a thin layer of cookie cream and do again with the next layer (cut a small circle and use the larger layer to your cake, brush with syrup, spread with cookie cream on the layer and inside the hole). Fill the void with candies as much as you can (Fill as much m&m's as possible to get a beautiful piñata and not a lame one like in my case). 

Place the last layer on the cake and brush with sugar syrup. Cover the cake with the remaining cookie cream on the sides and top. Whip the whipping cream with instant vanilla to a steady cream and coat the cake with a white coating, no need to have a smooth and clean layer. Then add food coloring to the cream and whip again till steady. Transfer to a piping bag with a grass nozzle and pipe on the entire cake. Take the white Oreo, and you can draw on its eyes with the edible ink or create eyes using the cake leftovers. Add chocolate chip cookies as mouth, and that's about it.

Enjoy and if you make it, please come back and let me know :-)