Dorothy KernThis Cookies ‘n Cream Oreo Cake is FULL of chocolate and Oreo flavor. Dark Chocolate Cake filled with marshmallow buttercream and tons of Oreos! You’re going to learn how to make an Oreo cake in this post – and it’s amazing.
(Also, the cake itself is egg- and dairy-free!)
I can vouch for how good this cake is because I made it twice in a week. The first time, I was going to a party and just felt like making a cake. Normally I go with cookies or brownies for a party because they’re just easier, but I was totally craving cake.
BEST Oreo Cake Recipe
Now, normally when I crave cake I crave vanilla. So something must have been going on with my hormones because I really wanted a CHOCOLATE cake (guys, I don’t even like chocolate cake) and I wanted Oreos too. (If I could get pregnant I’d be worried, lol.)
I decided to make a rich, deep, dark chocolate cake using my favorite recipe and then sort of turn it into a giant Oreo by making a frosting that tastes like an Oreo filling. I also crammed in a bunch of Oreos because why not, and I was taking it to a party so calories don’t count, right?
Okay, so I made it that one time. At the party everyone raved about it. Coincidentally, I was making a birthday cake the following weekend for one of the little girls at the party and she loved the cake so much she wanted it for her birthday.
(How special is that? When a kid takes a bite of your cake and gets this huge bright smile and says “THAT IS WHAT I WANT?”)
Twice in a week – this cake recipe is proven to one, actually work, and two, to taste like the best thing ever. That means you probably need to go make it right now, I think.
Table of Contents
Cake Recipe
The cake is made super dark by using Hershey’s Special Dark Unsweetened Cocoa Powder. They sell it pretty much everywhere these days. You can use regular cocoa powder but it won’t be as Oreo-like.
The cake itself is also EGG-FREE and DAIRY-FREE. The rise is created by a mixture of baking soda and vinegar. I also use coffee in the cake to bring out the chocolate flavor, but you can skip that and just increase the water if you don’t want to use coffee.
Baking Pans Needed
You have choices for how you bake the cake:
- I baked the cakes in two 8″ round cake pans.
- You can also bake this as a 9″ round or
- Use a 9×13″ rectangular pan
- Or make cupcakes
Frosting and Filling for Oreo Cake
The BEST part of this cake is the filling. The frosting really does taste like the center of an Oreo cookie – sweet and fluffy! It’s made by using a combination of butter, shortening, AND marshmallow fluff, which gives it that telltale Oreo filling taste. It’s a super easy frosting I like to eat with a spoon.
Basically it’s like MARSHMALLOW frosting and it’s SO good.
I kept my cake “naked” because I’m lazy, but if you double the frosting you’ll have more than enough to frost the entire thing. (The birthday cake I made was done that way.) Or frost the top of a 9×13″ or cupcakes. Just don’t forget to drown it in crushed Oreos!
However you make this cake, it’s so good. Be sure to share it!
FAQ
Yes, I think so. With the fluff and the powdered sugar this is a sweet frosting and the salt helps. Just make sure to use UNSALTED butter.
It’s an American product – like gooey melted marshmallows. You can make a sub but I’ve never tried it (find it here).
Yes, just add another ½ cup hot water.
It won’t taste as much like Oreo filling, but you can do an equal sub with butter.
I’m not sure about the marshmallow cream, but you can use Earth’s Balance Vegan Butter Sticks for the butter and non-dairy milk for the heavy cream.
Read more about lining your cake pans here and be sure to check out my BEST Chocolate Cake recipe!
Have you made this recipe?
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Extreme Cookies ‘n Cream Oreo Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened DARK cocoa powder I used Hershey’s Special Dark
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups hot water
- 1/2 cup hot coffee see note
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
For the frosting:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
- 1 7 ounces jar marshmallow cream/fluff
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2-1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1-2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 10 Oreos crushed
Instructions
Make the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 8” or 9” round cake pans. (I also like to line the bottom with parchment paper for easy removal.)
- Whisk flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Whisk hot water, coffee, oil, vinegar, and extract in a large measuring cup or bowl. Slowly stir the wet ingredients into the dry, stirring or whisking until smooth.
- Pour batter evenly into pans. Bake for 34-38 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean 3” from the side (the middle may still have a few crumbs stuck to the toothpick). These dome quite a bit (in an 8” pan).
- Let the cakes cool completely before removing from pans and frosting.
Make the frosting:
- Beat butter and shortening with a hand mixer in a large bowl until smooth. Mix in fluff until smooth. Slowly mix in the powdered sugar, the add ½ tsp salt, vanilla, and 1 tablespoon of the cream. Mix on medium speed until smooth, adding more cream as needed for consistency. Taste and add more salt if the frosting is too sweet.
- To assemble the (naked) cake: remove layers from the pans. Level them as needed using a serrated knife. Place one cake layer on a serving plate, top with half the frosting and smooth it to the edges. Top with half the crushed Oreos. Add the second layer and repeat with the frosting and crushed cookies. Serve room temperature but store loosely covered in the refrigerator.
- Note: to coat the cake completely with frosting, double the frosting recipe.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Sweets from friends:
Chocolate Oreo Cake by Life, Love, and Sugar
Oreo Cake by 365 Days of Baking
Ultimate Brownie Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake by i am baker
All text and images © DOROTHY KERN for Crazy for Crust. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe. Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be accurate.
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Published on: October 16, 2016
I just made this cake and when I got the cakes out of the pans to my cooling racks they completely cracked in half! I let them cool in the pans for 30 minutes and then put them on cooling rack to make sure they were good and cool before I frosted them. Was I not suppose to do this? I have never had this happen before and I am thinking that’s because there are no eggs in it?
Do you have an oven thermometer by chance to check the temp of your oven? Cakes often crack as they cool when the oven is too hot (so they bake too fast on the outside then crack as they fall).
Making this cake now! Is it supposed to be watery? And for the frosting, is the unsalted butter supposed to be room temp? Thanks! Will review again when finished!
The cake is very liquid, yes. And room temp butter – yes!
Well it is wonderful!!!!
Great cake to make!!!!!
What role does the vinegar play in the cake mix?