The unconventional bake

I did it! My first bake here in Singapore. :) I finally plucked the courage to use my MIL's Halogen conventional oven to bake a cake, an Oreo butter cake specifically. :) Not being able to bake is making my life a little dull lately. :P And it's almost like an itch that I must scratch it off to satisfy myself, hahaha! So tonight while my in-laws were out for a charity concert, I decided to get a little adventurous in the kitchen (which is not even mine!). To attempt a new recipe, using a "new" oven, heehee. :D "New" oven here refers to me being fresh to using this Halogen conventional oven to bake cakes or cookies. The only time I used it was for roasting pork...pretty different I must say! But I was so glad I did...to be able to get myself whipping, measuring and stirring, and of course finally smelling freshly baked cake in the kitchen again...priceless!This Oreo butter cake recipe is actually quite popular among the food bloggers out there. I googled and found at least a good 8 to 10 bloggers that has attempted this recipe which is originated from My Kitchen:My Laboratory. Thanks Angie! :) And frankly speaking I have been wanting to attempt it for a long time. And since my girls got back to Singapore, they suddenly went "Oreo craze" which they kept asking for it! So I figured what better recipe then this to satisfy their craving!

I have modified the recipe due to some limitations I was facing at that point, so here is my version:

Ingredients for Oreo Butter Cake:
200g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
95g salted butter, room temperature
155g sugar
2 eggs, beaten
220ml nonfat unsweetened yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
80g Oreo cookies without the cream, crushed

Oreo cookies for decorating ( I too removed the cream for these)

Method:

• In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together and set aside.
• In another mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy. Then add the beaten eggs slowly, about 1 tbsp at a time till everything is combined.
• Add in 1/2 of the sifted flour mixture into the butter mixture, stir well. Then add in 1/2 of the yoghurt and stir well. Add in vanilla extract and mix well. Then add in remaning 1/2 pf the flour mixture and stir to combine, follow by the remaining yoghurt, stir to incorporate well.
• Add in the crushed cookies and stir till well mixed in. Pour into a 10" tub pan which has been greased.
• Since I was using a Halogen conventional oven, preheating only takes like 1 to 2 minutes and I set it to 170°C. But the usual will be preheating the oven to 180°C.
• Bake for a good 40 minutes until toothpick test comes out clean. As for my Halogen oven, it only took me 20 minutes! How efficient is that!
• Let cool on rack for at least 15 minutes before removing from pan and slice to serve.
  

As you can see from the photo, the cake was still nicely baked with a golden brown crust on the outside. I was really surprised that the Halogen conventional oven took only half the time to bake! And the result was as good as any normal oven. :) It was a good thing I went to check 10 minutes into the baking....because it looks almost done by then!
Wondering if the cake is even cooked inside? Let me show you a the inside...
Convinced? Yeah, I know I am...:) And I am so happy that I can bake with this conventional oven from now on and not having to buy another one. But I have to be careful with the temperature setting plus the size limitations...yup, no square pans! :D But you know what, it's a small hurdle and I don't mind a bit. So you probably will see some bakes from me in months to come...yippee! BTW, if you have noticed, I am using a different camera this time. Yes, my dear husband bought me the latest IXUS200 Cannon Powershot! It is much better in focus and the pictures turned out much sharper too. ;) Yeah...I know, got to remove the time stamp next time, hahaha!

Overall, I was pretty happy with the taste of the cake, slight crust on the outside and soft moist cake on the inside. Not too sweet because I did reduce the sugar and the buttery taste was great! The Oreo cookie bits was a pleasant bonus to the buttery cake. :) A keeper I must say. :) If you are an Oreo lover like my girls and I, why not give this popular recipe a try, I bet you'll love it. Good luck and have fun!