Oreo Cake With Oreo Whipped Cream Frosting Recipe

This simple yet impressive chocolate cake is layered and topped with Oreo whipped cream.

By
Yvonne Ruperti
A photo of Yvonne Ruperti, a contributing writer at Serious Eats.
Yvonne Ruperti
Yvonne Ruperti is a food writer, recipe developer, former bakery owner, and cookbook author. She is also an adjust professor of baking at the Culinary Institute of America in Singapore.
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Updated December 22, 2022
Slice of oreo cake on a green plate

Serious Eats / Julia Hartbeck

Why It Works

  • Mixing crushed Oreo cookies into lightly sweetened whipped cream is a simple, flavorful filling and frosting for the chocolate layer cake.
  • Vanilla whipped cream and halved Oreos make for easy, fun decorations that don't require any additional ingredients.

There are very few reasons for me to be hanging out in the supermarket cookie aisle, contemplating the choices. Unless I'm looking for a box of my favorite Mallomars, I'm usually in a swift and purposeful (a.k.a. "frantic and rushed") search for a cookie to go into something I'm baking at home, such as graham crackers for a cheesecake, chocolate wafers for an icebox cake...or Oreo cookies. Though I can't actually remember the last time I ate an Oreo cookie on its own, I do use them regularly for my Oreo cake—a two-layered cookies and cream delight of chocolate cake with a thick layer of Oreo whipped cream filling and frosting.

I make this cake a lot. It's one of my favorite go-to cakes to make when I have to whip up something quick. Now it's not that it's an incredibly fast cake to make (it's about average), but it's the one I fall back on when I'm busy and just don't have it in me to think up a crazy creation. What's easier than folding chopped Oreo cookies into whipped cream?

"It's a winner every time, especially for kids who are thrilled to see their favorite cookie in cake form."

And instead of peppering the top with multicolored buttercream rosebuds or some other fancy decorations that require me to pull out my box of food colorings, decorating an Oreo cake is a no-brainer. Just top the cake with some spirals of whipped cream and Oreo cookie halves and you've got a fun, great looking cake. It's a winner every time, especially for kids who are thrilled to see their favorite cookie in cake form.

I figured that if I just halved the cake recipe for my chocolate birthday cake, I'd be able to get two layers of cake. For the Oreo whipped cream filling, however, it took me a few batches to get it right. I initially thought that whipping up two cups of cream with about 25 cookies would be plenty, but I was way off. So I whipped up another cup, and then another one, each time tallying up the number of chopped Oreos to toss in. I also kept the sugar at a minimum in the whipped cream because we all know the Oreos are quite sweet enough. As the cake is assembled, the cookie bits are still crunchy, so I always let the cake rest about 2 hours to let it all soften up.

August 2012

This recipe originally called for baking one cake and slicing it in half to yield two layers. After additional testing, this recipe has been updated to double the cake ingredients to yield two cake layers, which are not cut in half prior to assembling the cake.

Recipe Details

Oreo Cake With Oreo Whipped Cream Frosting Recipe

Prep 45 mins
Cook 25 mins
Active 45 mins
Chilling Time 3 hrs 15 mins
Total 4 hrs 25 mins
Serves 12 servings
Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

For the Cake:

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (about 7 1/2 ounces; 212g)

  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder (about 1 1/2 ounces; 42g)

  • 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

  • 1/4 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt; if using table salt, use half as much by volume

  • 1 cup plus 4 tablespoons granulated sugar (about 8 2/3 ounces; 244g)

  • 1 cup plus 4 tablespoons sour cream (about 8 1/2 ounces; 240g)

  • 2/3 cup (160ml) vegetable oil

  • 2 large eggs

  • 1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract

For the Oreo Whipped Cream:

  • 50 Oreo cookies

  • 4 1/2 cups (about 1L) heavy cream

  • 2 tablespoons (30g) granulated sugar

  • 1 tablespoon (15ml) vanilla extract

Directions

  1. For the Cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line bottoms of two 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper and lightly coat the insides with non-stick pan spray. Sift flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, sour cream, oil, eggs, and vanilla until smooth.

    Side by side image of dry and wet ingredients

    Serious Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  2. Whisk wet ingredients into dry ingredients until smooth. Divide batter evenly between prepared cake pans. Place pans together on one oven rack and bake until cake is just firm and toothpick inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs, about 25 minutes. If oven has uneven heat, pause to rotate the pans after about 12 minutes. Let cakes cool in pans for 15 minutes, then run a butter knife around the edges to loosen. Invert onto a wire rack, peel off the parchment, and return cakes right side up. Cool cakes completely on wire rack, about 1 hour.

    Two image collage of batter in baking tins before being baked and then cakes on wire rack after being baked

    Serious Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  3. For the Oreo Whipped Cream: Carefully cut 6 Oreo cookies in half; set aside. Chop remaining cookies into 1/4-inch pieces; set aside.

    Oreos chopped on a cutting board

    Serious Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whip 2 cups cream on medium-high speed until thick and fluffy. Transfer to a large bowl and place in refrigerator. In the same mixer bowl, whip remaining 2 1/2 cups cream, sugar, and vanilla until thick and fluffy. Using a flexible spatula, fold sweetened whipped cream into already whipped cream.

    Two image collage of whipped cream

    Serious Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  5. Transfer 1 cup whipped cream to a small bowl and refrigerate until ready to decorate cake. Fold chopped Oreos into remaining whipped cream.

    Oreos folded into whipped cream

    Serious Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  6. To Assemble the Cake: Level cakes with a serrated knife (full directions here) and set scraps aside for snacking. Place one layer on a heavy cast iron turntable. If you like, a waxed cardboard cake round can first be placed underneath, secured to the turntable with a scrap of damp paper towel. Top with about one-third of the Oreo whipped cream, using an offset spatula to spread it evenly from edge to edge. Top with second layer and then cover the top and sides of the cake with remaining Oreo whipped cream, spreading it as smoothly as you can (tutorial here). Refrigerate cake to let cookies soften, about 2 hours.

    Two image collage of oreo cake being assembled

    Serious Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  7. Re-whisk reserved whipped cream and transfer to a pastry bag fitted with star tip. Pipe 12 whipped cream rosettes around perimeter of cake and garnish with reserved Oreo cookie halves. Serve.

    Finished oreo cake

    Serious Eats / Julia Hartbeck

Special Equipment

two 9-inch cake pans, stand mixer

Notes

Make sure to only whip cream until thick and fluffy. Once the chopped Oreos soften, the cream will continue to thicken.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
851Calories
59gFat
75gCarbs
9gProtein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 12
Amount per serving
Calories851
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 59g75%
Saturated Fat 26g132%
Cholesterol 144mg48%
Sodium 389mg17%
Total Carbohydrate 75g27%
Dietary Fiber 3g9%
Total Sugars 45g
Protein 9g
Vitamin C 1mg4%
Calcium 97mg7%
Iron 8mg45%
Potassium 253mg5%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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