Cookies & Cream Cake
I think I’ve hit the jackpot with this cake! From the crunchy oreo crumbs throughout the icing to the moist and chocolatey but not too sweet chocolate cake, this is going to be your new go-to cake for celebrations or just a Friday night! ;) The simple swiss meringue buttercream makes the fluffiest, yummiest frosting you’ll ever have and my secret ingredients for a super moist chocolate cake will leave you slicing another piece because it’s just toooo good!
Moist Chocolate Cake
While many people, maybe you’re one of them, hate the word moist *cue the ews and yucks*, what’s worse than the word moist is a dry chocolate cake. Nobody wants a dry chocolate cake! I know when I think about the perfect chocolate cake, it’s fudgy, moist, and chocolatey, it’s not too sweet and it’s rich and decadent. To get that kind of chocolate cake I have a few secrets to let you in on.
The first secret is oil! Swap out butter for oil ideally olive oil in your next chocolate cake, the flavours work perfectly together and it is almost guaranteed to give you a less dry cake! Secret number two is to add more fat, I’m taking mayonnaise, sour cream, or yogurt, these foods are higher is fat which will again add moisture to your cake. My third secret for making an out-of-this-world chocolate cake is good quality cocoa or cacao powder. It’s up to you what you want to use, I like using cacao as it’s less processed, but you can also use Dutch Processed Cocoa powder. These will give you a super chocolatey, rich cake with loads of chocolatey goodness.
Okay now that we’re on the same page about getting the perfect chocolate cake, let’s talk icing!
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Woah, that sounds pretty darn fancy and complicated, right?! Swiss meringue buttercream is a bit of an elevated version of buttercream icing. Buttercream icing is typically just butter beaten until light and fluffy with icing sugar and flavourings like lemon zest, vanilla extract or melted chocolate. Swiss meringue buttercream just means we’re adding a meringue aka beaten egg whites to the icing. It sounds much more complicated than it is and the end product is incredibly delicious!
Swiss meringue buttercream starts with whisking your egg whites and sugar in a bowl over a pot of simmering water until the sugar is dissolved into the egg whites. Then, the egg white and sugar mixture gets beaten to stiff peaks. Stiff peaks are glossy, stiff, smooth with sharp points and they do not droop down. Jamie Oliver’s famous tip is to flip the bowl over, if your mixture stays put you’re good to go! To your stiff peaks, you’ll slowly add cool (not cold) butter and continue beating your icing. Last but not least, you’ll fold in oreo crumbs and there you have it, the most delicious icing on this planet!!
Okay, enough chit-chatting, let’s get to the recipe!!
Cookies and Cream Cake
Author: ElizabethServings: 6-inch 4 layer cake
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
2 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cacao powder or Dutch-processed cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 eggs
2 cups water
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
2 teaspoons vanilla
Cookies and Cream Swiss Meringue Buttercream
6 large egg whites
2 cups granulated sugar
1 and 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened but still cool and cut into tablespoon size pieces
12 oreos
1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions:
1. MAKE THE CHOCOLATE CAKE Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease two 6-inch round cake pans with butter or cooking spray. Cut round pieces of parchment paper to cover the bottom of your tins.
2. In a large bowl, sift together sugar, flour, cocoa/cacao powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together your eggs, water, oil, yogurt, and vanilla. Add your wet ingredients to your flour mixture and whisk together.
4. Divide batter evenly between two cake pans and bake for 40-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Let cool in the pans 5-10 minutes then turn your cakes out onto a cooling rack and let cool completely.
5. MAKE YOUR BUTTERCREAM Make sure all the tools you are using are completely cleaned, dried, and grease-free. A quick wipe with a little lemon juice or white vinegar is very helpful.
6. Whisk sugar into the egg whites, then set the bowl over a saucepan filled with just two inches of simmering water over medium heat. Do not let the bottom of the egg whites bowl touch the water. Whisk the whites and sugar constantly until sugar is dissolved and mixture has thinned out, about 4 minutes. The mixture will be thick and tacky at first, then thin out and be frothy white on top. To test that it’s ready, you can use your finger or an instant read thermometer. Lightly and quickly dip your finger (it’s very hot, be careful) and rub the mixture between your thumb and finger. You shouldn’t feel any sugar granules. If using a thermometer, the temperature should read 160°F (71°C).
7. Transfer mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or you can use a hand mixer instead. On medium-high speed, beat the mixture until stiff glossy peaks form and the meringue is no longer warm to the touch, at least 10-15 minutes. If it’s still not reaching stiff peaks after 18-20 minutes, stop the mixer, place the bowl–uncovered–in the refrigerator for 10 minutes, then return to the mixer and continue beating until stiff peaks form.
8. If the bowl and meringue still feel warm, wait until both cool to room temperature before adding the butter in the next step. Feel free to place it in the refrigerator. A warm bowl and meringue will melt the butter.
9. If you're using a stand mixture, switch the stand mixer to the paddle attachment. On medium-high speed, add the butter 1 Tablespoon at a time. Wait for the butter to fully mix in before adding the next tablespoon.
10. Put your oreos into a resealable bag and smash them up into pieces using a rolling pin, wine bottle, or mallet. Reserve 2 tablespoons oreo crumbs for garnish and add the rest of the broken up oreo crumbs to the buttercream. Fold into the buttercream using a rubber spatula.
11. ICING YOUR CAKE Take your two cooled cakes and using a serated knife, slice each cake in half horizontally. This will give you four layers.
12. Place one layer of cake on a plate. Evenly spread 3/4 cup icing onto the layer. Place the second cake layer on top and repeat with remaining layers. Spread the remaining icing over the whole cake, the sides and top. Garnish with remaining oreo crumbs. Store, covered, refrigerated for 2-3 days.
