Happy Birthday, Sam! My little boy turned 9-years-old last week, can’t believe how time flies. Naturally, I love every family birthday! I am always excited for an excuse to bake the most fabulous cake my loved one can possibly imagine. We spend lots of time during the year dreaming up complicated, exotic, and decadent variations. So what did my sweet little Sammy request this year? My most creative child, with the seemingly limitless palate? “The white bread cake with white frosting, please.” Yup, that translates to white cake with whip cream on top. Hmmmmm… not so exciting. Especially since Ashley, along with other long-lost family members, was coming to visit for the week. We had the chance to bake together in the very same tiny kitchen, and he requests white.
So, I explained to Sam that he’d get much more of the white birthday cake if he’d let me make one the following week after everyone was gone, and that sounded logical enough to him. We tried this Oreo Cake with Cream Filling instead, which came highly recommended from a very reliable source (shout out to Alyssa Whitney). I can tell you this one was a crowd-pleaser! (Everyone enjoyed it so much no one even noticed that I had run short on birthday candles–only seven were lit on the cake, oops!)
Chocolate Oreo (Birthday) Cake with Cream Filling
For cake:2 c. sugar1-3/4 c. all-purpose flour3/4 c. Hershey’s Cocoa1-1/2 tsp baking powder1-1/2 tsp baking soda1 tsp salt2 eggs1 c. milk1/2 c. vegetable oil2 tsp vanilla extract1 c. boiling water15-20 oreos twisted to separate cookies and reveal cream center15 oreos, chopped directly in half through cookie
For icing:1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, melted2/3 c. Hershey’s Cocoa3 c. powdered sugar1/3 c. milk1 tsp vanilla extract
For filling:2/3 c. whipping cream1 1/2 T powdered sugarsmall dash vanilla extract1/4 c. oreo cookie crumbs, made from reserved oreo sides
Directions:Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare two 9-inch round baking pans, lining with parchment. Place cookie halves that have been separated into the bottom of pans, cream side up.Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl.Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes.Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).Pour batter very carefully into prepared pans.Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans and place onto wire racks.Remove parchment and cool completely.
Meanwhile, make frosting:Stir melted butter into cocoa.Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency.Add small amount additional milk, if needed. -Stir in vanilla. (About 2 cups frosting.)
Meanwhile, make filling:In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the cream, sugar and vanilla until stiff.Gently fold in the cookie crumbs.Scoop the mixture into a piping bag (or gallon sized ziploc bag).When cake is completely cooled, make icing dam around the top edge of one cake layer.Fill icing dam with a layer of cream filling.Place other cake layer on top, and frost with chocolate frosting.Place oreo halves around bottom edge and top of cake.Serve or store in refrigerator.
(Thanks for the pic, Uncle Doughnut!)
