Oreo Cupcakes!

For Valentine's Day Sam brought home this amazing Oreo cupcake from Ms. Delish's Bakery and since then I have been obsessed with Oreos. (Yes hubby, I am blaming you for my obsession!) I have bought Oreo cupcakes from Ms. Delish at the farmer's market more than once and at $3 a pop I figured I should just learn how to make them myself. The problem is, I'm an icing person and perfect buttercream icing has been an illusive challenge for me over the past 5 years (since I officially became obsessed with buttercream after tasting our wedding cake). And I'm of the opinion that if icing isn't buttercream, there is no point in even eating it. ANYWAY... I searched the internet for an Oreo cupcake recipe and found the following icing recipe on a food blog which I very slightly modified. I used a boxed Devil's food cake mix for the cupcakes and next time, if I have enough Oreos I will drop an Oreo in each cupcake before baking. I've made my own chocolate cupcakes before and somehow they never turn out as delicious as the box kind, so I just don't fight it anymore!

From myfoodaffair.blogspot.com
Oreo buttercream frosting (see note)
adapted from Nick Malgieri’s Perfect Cakes

4 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups of unsalted butter, softened
12 oreo cookies, coarsely crushed
6 oreo cookies, quartered for decoration

1. Whisk the egg whites and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer. Set the bowl over simmering water and whisk gently until the sugar is dissolved and the egg whites are hot (approximately 160 degrees).

2. Attach the bowl to the mixer and whip with the whisk on medium speed until cooled. Switch to the paddle and beat in the softened butter and continue beating until the buttercream is smooth. Stir in crushed Oreos.

Tip- you definitely need a candy thermometer to determine when the egg white have reached 160 degrees and are finished.

WARNING! This icing is daaaangerous! So good I could sit there and eat it with a spoon. Even Sam loved these cupcakes and he isn't a cake person at all. I think it is because there isn't loads of sugar in the icing so it isn't overly sweet. I did have to store the iced cupcakes in the refrigerator because due to the massive quantities of butter in the frosting, the frosting gets really soft if left out at room temperature.