Oreo Extravaganza Cake
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Yield: One 8 or 9-inch round two layer cake; about 8 to 12 servings
 
Any basic vanilla cake or pure white cake (all egg whites) should work beautifully for this mega oreo bombshell of a cake!
ingredients:
  • Your favorite White or Yellow Cake Recipe (or Yellow Cake Mix) for a two-layer 8 or 9-inch round cake, or my recipe below. *
Cake
  • ¾ cup unsalted butter (12 tablespoons), softened
  • ¼ cup vegetable or coconut oil
  • 1½ cups granulated sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2½ teaspoons baking powder
  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1½ cups cake flour (make your own cake flour if you don't have any)
  • 1 cup buttermilk (make your own buttermilk if you don't have any)
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 28 oreo cookies, ground to fine crumbs in a food processor. You should have 2 cups oreo crumbs.
  • Extra oreo cookies to decorate top of cake
Vanilla Frosting
  • 1 cup solid vegetable shortening **
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 6 to 8 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb. Taste after 6 cups to make sure it isn't too sweet for your liking)
  • ¼ cup heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 10 to 12 Oreo cookies, placed in a sealed ziplock bag then broken up with a mallet or rolling pin so they remain in chunks
Dark Chocolate Ganache Topping
  • 6 oz.dark chocolate, chopped
  • ⅓ cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
directions:
For the Cake
  1. Grease and lightly flour two 8 or 9-inch round cake pans with butter or oil spray, then place a circle of parchment paper on the bottom of each, and grease and lightly flour those too. Preheat oven according to your recipe. (it's always 350 F, right? lol). It's 350 F for mine.
  2. In a bowl, stir together both flours, the baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a large measuring cup, stir together the buttermilk and whole milk. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl with a hand mixer, or in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle on medium high speed, beat the butter, oil and sugar together until smooth, fluffy and lighter in color. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until each one is incorporated. Do the same with the two egg yolks.
  4. Add a third of the flour mixture to batter and stir on low until incorporated. Next add half the buttermilk-whole milk mixture and stir until incorporated. Add another third of the flour mixture and stir until incorporated, then add the rest of the buttermilk-whole milk mixture until smooth and incorporated. Add the last third of the flour and stir until incorporated. Stir in vanilla extract.
  5. Into each prepared pan, pour/scrape ¼ of the cake batter, tapping the pans on the counter top to even it out. Sprinkle the batter in both pans with 1 cup of oreo crumbs each. NOW, if you want a pretty straight or close to straight Oreo ribbon, freeze the batter with the crumbs for about 20 minutes. I didn't do this, as you can see by my crooked zig zaggy ribbons. Remove from freezer and divide remaining batter evenly on top of each layer of Oreo crumbs in each pan.
  6. Tap pans on counter then place in oven and bake until the cakes spring back to the touch and a toothpick or skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean, about 25 minutes for two 8-inch pans, 30 minutes for two 9-inch pans, OR according to the instructions in your own recipe, if using.
  7. Remove cakes from oven when done and cool pans on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Remove the cakes from pans, peel off parchment circles, and place back on wire rack to continue cooling fully.If using your own yellow or white cake recipe; prepare your cake batter according to your recipe, then continue with instructions above for adding oreo crumbs to batter and bake to the time and temperature of your recipe.
For the Frosting
  1. In the bowl of your stand mixer or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, Cream together the butter and shortening until light and fluffy. Gradually add the sifted powdered sugar, one cup at a time, mixing until each cup is incorporated and the frosting is smooth. It will be thick and dry at this point.
  2. Slowly pour in heavy cream and then vanilla extract and salt while beating, until the frosting is smooth and of a spreadable consistency. Remove 1½ to 2 cups of the frosting to a separate bowl and stir in the Oreo chunks.
For the Dark Chocolate Ganache Topping
  1. Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl and set aside.
  2. In a saucepan, heat the cream, corn syrup, and butter just until simmering, then pour the hot cream mixture over the chocolate and let sit for a minute or so.
  3. Whisk the cream and the chocolate until smooth. Set aside while you frost the cake.
Assemble the Cake
  1. If there are any uneven humps on top of the cake layers, trim them off evenly. Place one layer, bottom up, on a cake plate or board. Spread with the reserved 1½ to 2 cups of frosting with the Oreo chunks in it. Place the second layer, bottom down, on top of the frosting and press to adhere.
  2. Frost the cake with a thin crumb coating, then chill for about 20 minutes in the fridge (You don't have to do this. This is only if you want a perfectly smooth frosting. Swirly frosting is great on this too!). After 20 minutes, remove the cake from the fridge and finish frosting it smoothly, so you have a nice, white, smooth coating. Place it back in the fridge for another 20 minutes or so. This chilling will help ganache drip nicely down the sides of the cake, remaining thick and fudgy. In the meantime, spoon the remaining frosting into a pastry bag with the tip of your choice. I used a large rosette tip for the top, and a small rosette tip for the bottom.
  3. Remove the chilled, frosted cake from the fridge and slowly pour the ganache over the top, letting it drip down the sides. Chill the cake for another 20 minutes, then decorate the top and bottom with whatever kind of piping you prefer. Stick an Oreo cookie in each piped mound of frosting on top of the cake.
notes:
* You can use your favorite chocolate cake recipe too, but you won't see the lovely oreo crumb ribbon as well.
** The reason I cut this frosting with shortening is because the filling in an oreo cookie is made with shortening. However, you can use all butter, or your favorite vanilla buttercream, if you prefer. The first time I made this cake, I made it with an Italian meringue buttercream, but It really needed a 'true' orea filling like frosting.
Recipe by parsley sage sweet at https://parsleysagesweet.com/2008/05/31/farnverhawkorf/