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Oreo Chocolate Layer Cake

Course Dessert
Keyword buttercream, chocolate cake, oreo, oreo buttercream
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Cooling + Assembly 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients

For Your Cake

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups cocoa powder I use Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa for a richer flavor
  • 1 tbsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 4 eggs large, room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups buttermilk room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups warm water*
  • 1/2 cup veggie oil
  • 3 tsp. vanilla extract

For Your Frosting

  • 2 cups unsalted butter room temp
  • 7 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 3-4 tbsp. heavy cream
  • 1 cup crushed Oreo cookies** + more for decorating

Instructions

For the Cake

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease three 8- or 9-inch round cake pans and line them with parchment paper for easier removal of the cakes.

  2. In a stand mixer, mix your flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt on a low speed.

  3. In a small bowl, whisk together your eggs, buttermilk, water, oil and vanilla until the eggs are incorporated. Slowly add to our dry ingredients with the mixer on low speed until smooth.

  4. Be sure to use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of your mixing bowl well. You don't want excess flour pockets hiding in your batter!

  5. Divide the batter evenly between all three pans. Tap the pans lightly on the counter to remove any air pockets.

  6. Bake the cake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven once complete and set aside to cool for at least 30-60 minutes.

For Your Oreo Buttercream

  1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat your room temperature butter on medium speed until smooth.

  2. Slowly add in your powdered sugar one cup at a time to the butter and mix on a low speed.*** Once combined, add in your pinch of salt and Oreo cookie crumbs. Scrape the sides of the bowls well to ensure there is no extra butter sticking to the sides.

  3. If the frosting is thick, add the heavy cream one tablespoon at a time to help smooth out the buttercream. It should be smooth enough to easily spread across the surface of your cake!

Assembling Your Cake

  1. Start by removing one layer of your cake an putting it on a cake stand or raised plate. Using a serrated knife or cake leveler, cut the top of the layer down so that it is nice and flat! You'll want to do this for each layer before assembling.

  2. Using a piping bag, scoop your frosting into the bag and pipe evenly over the top of your cake layer. Use an angled spatula to flatten the frosting across the cake.****

  3. Continue to alternate with the cake layers and the frosting, smoothing evenly after each layer. Once finished, you can add crushed Oreos over the outside layer of frosting for added decoration or add whatever toppings + decorations you'd like! For easier cutting, let the cake chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Recipe Notes

*You can sub half of this for warm coffee if you'd like a richer flavor. When using dark chocolate as the base of the cake, coffee can help pull out the richer notes of the cake!

**I use a food processor to grind the Oreo cookies for a finer crumb! The smaller you can crush your Oreos, the smoother and more integrated it will become with your buttercream for a better frosting + eating experience.

***To help prevent powder from flying throughout your kitchen, try putting a damp cloth over your mixing bowl. This will trap the excess powder in!

****To make smoothing the frosting easier, you can run some hot water over your spatula to heat it up. Dry it off before spreading the frosting.