Oreo Cake

Two weeks ago, my little one turned two.

The day before his birthday, we invited family and friends over and had a wonderful Nautical Party complete with cookies and cupcakes.

Since we had about 8 cupcakes and a handful of cookies leftover, we planned to celebrate Little One’s actual birthday with another cupcake.

But my sweet little 4 year old was very upset about his brother not getting an actual cake.  He kept telling me, “But Mama, he needs a birthday cake!”

How can you say no to compassion like that?

So as Little One slept in, exhausted after his birthday party, his brother and I set to work on his birthday cake.  And you know what?  It was totally worth it!

Recipe Notes:

*Since this was a last minute cake, I used a plain cake mix in this recipe.  However, you can use any doctored cake mix or your favorite scratch cake instead.

Oreo Cake

An Amy’s Cooking Adventures Original Recipe

1 chocolate cake, mixed according to packaging

10 Oreos, broken

1 recipe chocolate frosting (recipe follows)

1 recipe Oreo Buttercream (recipe follows)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spray two 8-inch pans with non stick spray.

Pour enough batter in each pan to cover the bottoms.  Sprinkle the broken Oreos on top of the batter.  Cover with the remaining batter and cook according to package instructions.

Remove the cakes from the oven and cool completely.

To assemble, torte each cake.  Place once layer onto a cake plate.  Spread half of the Oreo Buttercream on top of the layer and top with a second layer.  Spread a layer of Perfectly chocolate frosting on that layer.  Add the third layer and spread the remaining half of the Oreo Buttercream on top.  Add the final layer and frost the entire cake with the remaining Perfectly Chocolate frosting.  Sprinkle with finely crushed Oreos, if desired.

Recipe Notes:

*Though I’m usually a stand mixer type of girl, I’ve found that I get a smoother frosting mixing this one by hand.

*I like to use half salted butter to help cut the sweetness.

Perfectly Chocolate Frosting

Adapted slightly from Hershey’s

¼ cup salted butter

¼ cup unsalted butter

2/3 cup Hershey’s Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 ¼ cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup lowfat milk

Melt the salted and unsalted butter.  Set aside to cool slightly.  Mix in the cocoa powder and vanilla.  Alternate mixing in the powdered sugar and milk until the frosting is smooth and spreadable.

Oreo Buttercream

An Amy’s Cooking Adventures Original Recipe

½ cup Crisco vegetable shortening

½ tsp clear vanilla extract

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tbsp meringue powder

Pinch of salt

3-4 tbsp water

8 single stuff Oreo cookies, finely crushed

Place the shortening, vanilla extract, powdered sugar, meringue powder, salt and water into the bowl of a stand mixer.  Mix on low until the ingredients are combined.  Then, turn to medium and beat for an additional minute or so until the frosting is smooth and fluffy.  Turn the mixer off and stir in the crushed Oreos.

Makes one 8-inch cake