Six decadent layers of Oreo cake, Oreo buttercream, and a dark chocolate ganache. Perfect for the cookies and cream lover in your life!
Hello Oreo lovers! Do I have your attention? Good, because this cake is for you. This Oreo Cake is actually an update of one of my older recipes (from 2016!). The photos were in dire need of a refresh, and I wanted to tweak the recipe a bit.
As you know, Ryan tends to be my go-to guy for ideas when I’m stuck on something to bake. Naturally, he gravitates to things that he already loves and asks me to turn them into cakes. Hence the Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cake, the S’mores Cake, and the Turtles Cake, to name a few.
When he suggested an Oreo Cake my arm didn’t need much twisting. I am a HUGE fan of Oreos. Though, truthfully, I prefer Golden Oreos to the original. Something about that vanilla cookie flavour goes so well with the Oreo filling! I’ve had a Golden Oreo Cake on my radar for years (literally), so look for that to happen sometime soon (I hope!).
How to make this Oreo Cake
This cake is packed with Oreo cookie flavour in the best ways possible. I modified my favourite chocolate cake recipe, and made a couple key modifications to Oreo-ify it:
- I swapped out some of the all-purpose flour for Oreo cookie crumbs
- I swapped out some of the cocoa powder for black cocoa
The Oreo cookie crumbs are very easy to get in Canada. You can literally find them in almost any grocery store, right next to the graham cracker crumbs. I hear they aren’t as easy to find in the US (is that right?). Really though, any chocolate cookie crumbs will do.
If you can’t find chocolate cookie crumbs, you can just make your own by separating Oreo cookies from the filling and pulsing the cookie parts in a food processor. Be sure to separate them — do not attempt to pulse whole cookies and use those in the cake batter.
Black cocoa powder is one of my favourite things ever. It’s what gives Oreo cookies that deep rich color and flavour. Black cocoa powder is a super dark Dutch-process cocoa, which basically means it’s had even more acid stripped from it.
It’s not recommended to replace all of the cocoa in a recipe with black cocoa powder, due to it’s very low fat content — it can make baked goods dry. Substituting half or so should be more than enough to get the flavour and color to come through.
I used Oreo cookie crumbs again in the Swiss meringue buttercream frosting. This added both flavour and color in just the perfect way. For additional flavour and texture I added some chopped up Oreo cookies between each of the cake layers, and finished the whole thing off with a dark chocolate ganache drip for good measure. I’ve been back on the drip cake trend lately, and I think that’s a good thing.
I tried to darken the dark chocolate ganache by adding some black color gel to the cream before microwaving it all. This worked okay, but it made the ganache a bit dull. At least I assume that’s what it was.
The only other difference was that I used the ganache later the same day instead of leaving it overnight and nuking it a bit in the morning to thin it out. But I think it was the color gel. It’s not shiny, but I think this color looks better than a brownish ganache would have.
What is the difference between an Oreo Cake and a Cookies and Cream Cake?
Nothing, honestly. They are basically one and the same. Some people prefer to call them cookies and cream desserts, and some people Oreo. There are a ton of companies out there that produce cookies and cream desserts. There is some debate about which came first (kind of a chicken and egg thing happening).
I didn’t spend a ton of time researching it, but basically it seems that everyone is claiming to have created the sandwich cookies. It’s the Oreo brand that popularized them, so they’re the ones we know today.
This Oreo Cake has been a popular recipe here on Liv for Cake over the years. If you’re a cookies and cream fan or have one in your life, you will LOVE this cake!
Looking for more Oreo desserts?
Tips for making this Oreo Cookies and Cream Cake
- The recipe as-is will also work in two 8″ pans. For three 8″ pans, 1.5x the recipe.
- You can do this as a 3 layer cake instead, but you will have some buttercream left over.
- To make cupcakes, all you need to do is reduce the baking time — start checking at 15mins or so.
- To enhance the chocolate flavour of the cake, use strong hot coffee instead of hot water.
- If you don’t have black cocoa powder, you can substitute more Dutch-process or regular cocoa powder. It will affect the color and flavour slightly.
- I added a couple drops of black color gel to the ganache to darken it. This is optional.
- The cake layers are easiest to frost when they are chilled, as they are a bit firmer and help the buttercream set quicker.
- Be sure to check my Swiss Meringue Buttercream post for tips and troubleshooting.
- Learn how to keep your cakes moist using Simple Syrup.
- To help ensure your cake layers bake up nice and flat, check out my Flat Top Cakes post!
Oreo Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup Oreo cookie crumbs sift first then measure to remove larger chunks
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 6 Tbsp Dutch-processed cocoa powder sifted
- 6 Tbsp black cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 3/4 cup hot water or hot coffee
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
Oreo Buttercream:
- 6 large egg whites
- 2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups unsalted butter room temperature, cubed
- 1 tsp clear vanilla extract optional
- 1 cup Oreo cookie crumbs sifted
Dark Chocolate Ganache:
- 3 oz good quality dark chocolate chopped
- 3 oz heavy cream
- 1-2 drops black color gel optional
Assembly:
- 10 Oreos chopped
- mini Oreos optional
Instructions
Oreo Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F, grease three 6" round baking pans and dust with cocoa powder. Line bottoms with parchment.
- Place all dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Stir to combine.
- In a medium bowl whisk all wet ingredients (pour coffee in slowly as not to cook the eggs if very hot).
- Add wet ingredients to dry and mix on medium for 2-3 mins. Batter will be very thin.
- Pour evenly into prepared pans. I used a kitchen scale to ensure the batter is evenly distributed.
- Bake until a cake tester comes out mostly clean. A total of 30-35mins.
- Cool 10minutes in the pans then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, cut each layer in half horizontally to get 6 layers.
Oreo Buttercream:
- Place egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk until combined.*
- Place bowl over a hot water bath on the stove and stir with a whisk until the mixture is no longer grainy to the touch (approx. 3mins).
- Place bowl on your stand mixer and whip on med-high until the meringue is stiff and cooled (the bowl is no longer warm to the touch (approx. 5-10mins)).
- Switch to paddle attachment. Slowly add cubed butter and mix until smooth.
- Add vanilla and whip until smooth.** Remove about 1 cup of buttercream and set aside.
- Add Oreo cookie crumbs to the remainder of the buttercream and whip until smooth.
Dark Chocolate Ganache:
- Add cream to a medium microwave safe bowl. Add 1-2 drops of black color gel and stir to combine (optional). Add chopped chocolate and microwave in 10second intervals, stirring in between, until completely smooth and shiny. Set aside to cool completely and thicken before using as a drip.
Assembly:
- Place one layer of cake on a cake stand or serving dish. Top with about 2/3 cup Oreo buttercream and sprinkle with chopped Oreos. Repeat with remaining layers. Do a think crumb coat all over the cake and chill for 20mins.
- Frost and smooth the outside of the cake with the remaining Oreo buttercream. Chill for 30mins until firm.
- Using a small spoon, place dollops of ganache around the top edges of the cooled cake, allowing some to drip down. Fill in the top of the cake with more ganache and spread evenly with an offset spatula. Allow to set for a few minutes.
- Fit a piping bag with a 1M piping tip. Fill with the white buttercream that was set aside. Pipe rosette dollops on top of the cake. Place a mini Oreo in the center of each dollop if desired.
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Notes
** The buttercream may look like it's curdled at some point. Keep mixing until it is completely smooth.
Stacey says
I’m attempting this cake for my mum’s birthday, but I can’t find black cocoa, only a huge bag of it! What can I use instead? I can get 100% cocoa chocolate bar?
Olivia says
Hi Stacey! I talk about this in the Tips section above the recipe: If you don’t have black cocoa powder, you can substitute more Dutch-process or regular cocoa powder. It will affect the color and flavour slightly.
Amber Ellis says
What’s the purpose of parchment if the pans are already greased and dusted?
Olivia says
Hi Amber! Even with greasing and dusting the cakes can sometimes stick to the bottom. The parchment is just an extra layer of protection from that.
Allyson says
This cake is so delicious and so pretty. I always feel intimidated by Swiss meringue buttercream but it really is quick and easy to make, and is so smooth and creamy and not too sweet. My family LOVED it.
Olivia says
Hi Allyson! So happy everyone loved it. Thanks for the feedback!