Triple Layer Oreo Cake

When Hubby and I get invited to a party, a lot of times, the host will ask me to bring a dessert. I always enjoy sharing my baked goods with friends and family members, so I’m happy to oblige.

When Hubby’s mom mentioned that she wanted me to make a cake for a surprise birthday celebration, I knew I needed to put my thinking cap on and come up with something special. I threw out a couple ideas for some layer cakes that I had in mind and it was decided to go with the Oreo/chocolate combination.

Now I can’t claim complete credit for the concept of this cake. I actually got an email from Jessica at Finance Foodie a couple months ago. She wanted to turn my Oreo Cupcake recipe into a cake. As she described her plan to me, I was instantly jealous that I hadn’t thought of it myself!

I’m so glad Jessica sent me that email to spark this idea. This cake is amazing and decadent and just delicious. I used Ina Garten’s Beatty’s Chocolate Cake recipe for the chocolate layers. I had never tried this recipe before but wow, is this a chocolatey cake. I can’t wait to make it again soon. Since I knew the Oreo layer would be pretty dense, I threw in some Oreo chunks to help give the chocolate layers some heft.

For the filling, I whipped up some cream with cream cheese and added more Oreos. And last but not least, I covered the entire cake with a decadent chocolate frosting that Hubby described as mousse-like. I do still need to work on my frosting-the-side-of-cake skills, but I’m getting there.

The cake got a little smooshed on the drive to Connecticut since it was a towering triple layer cake, but that’s ok it was still a huge success and the birthday boy was surprised! It was such a success in fact, I’m already trying to come up with another excuse to make it again. I mean, seriously, just look at it!

One Year Ago: Mixed Berry and Cream Cheese Filled King Cake and M&M Cookies
Two Years Ago: Crockpot Red Curry Chicken with Butternut Squash and Vegan Chocolate Banana Caramel Cupcakes

I’m using this cake as my monthly What’s Baking challenge. The theme this month is Baked with Love! Be sure to check out With a Cherry on Top for the roundup later this month.

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Triple Layer Oreo Cake

Ingredients:

For the Oreo Chunks
1 package Oreos

Oreo Cake Layer
1/2 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup + 2 Tbsp + 2 tsp sugar
1.5 egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 package Oreos, cut into quarters

For the Chocolate Cake Layers
butter, for greasing the pans
1 3/4 cups flour, plus more for pans
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
1/2 package Oreos, cut into quarters

For the Oreo Filling
4 ounces softened cream cheese
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 package Oreos, cut into quarters

For the Chocolate Frosting
6 ounces semisweet chocolate
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 egg yolk, at room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbsp instant coffee powder

Directions:

Plan for Making this Cake
1. Bake the cake layers. The cake layers can be made in advance and refrigerated or frozen. Layers should be completely cooled prior to assembling the cake
2. Make the Oreo filling
3. Stack the cake
4. Make the chocolate frosting
5. Frost and decorate the cake

For the Oreo Chunks
Remove 4 Oreos from the package for decorating the top of the cake.

Chop one row of the Oreos (1/4th of them), and set aside for the filling.

Chop one row of Oreos (1/4th of them), and toss with 1 Tbsp flour for the Oreo Layer and set aside.

Chop the remaining two rows of Oreos (1/2 of them), and toss with 2 Tbsp flour for the chocolate layers and set aside.

Oreo Cake Layer
Preheat over to 350F.

In a large bowl cream the butter until fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add the milk and vanilla and mix to combine.

In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Add the dry ingredients to butter mixture. Mix until integrated. Stir in sugar. With an electric mixer on low speed, beat for 30 seconds. Turn the mixer up to medium speed and beat for 2 minutes. Add the egg whites. Beat for 2 more minutes. Stir in the quartered cookies.

Bake for 25-30 min. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

For the Chocolate Cake Layers
Preheat the oven to 350. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined.

In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.

With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Stir in the Oreo chunks.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

For the Oreo Filling
Using an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese, vanilla, and sugar until light and creamy. Beat in 1/4 cup whipping cream until smooth. Add the rest of the cream and beat until it has the consistency of whipped cream (don’t overmix).

Reserve 1/2 cup to use to decorate the top of the cake. Place in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Stir in the reserved Oreo chunks into the remaining whipped cream mixture. Immediately spread filling on top of the Oreo layer and one of the chocolate layers.

For the Chocolate Frosting
Chop the chocolate and place it in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until just melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating for 3 minutes.

Turn the mixer to low, gradually add the confectioners' sugar, then beat at medium speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until smooth and creamy.

Dissolve the coffee powder in 2 teaspoons of the hottest tap water. On low speed, add the chocolate and coffee to the butter mixture and mix until blended. Don't whip! Spread immediately on the cooled cake.

Oreo cake layer from Me, Chocolate cake layers and Frosting from Ian Garten, Filling from Me

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36 Responses to “Homemade Ding Dongs or Ring Dings or whatever you call them”

  1. #
    1
    SimplySweeter — May 24, 2010 at 12:37 pm

    Jen, I think I just died and went to heaven! Long live the Ring Ding!! LOL

    http://www.simplysweeter.blogspot.com

  2. #
    2
    Cara — May 24, 2010 at 1:22 pm

    Love this theme, so fun! The whole menu sounds delicious 🙂

  3. #
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    Jane — May 24, 2010 at 1:30 pm

    Hi Jen,
    Wow! These babies look really authentic. I’ve seen a lot of faux Ding Dongs in my day, and yours rank right up there. Very nice job!
    🙂 Jane

  4. #
    4
    bridget {bake at 350} — May 24, 2010 at 2:16 pm

    Oh, I LOVE Ding Dongs!!! And yours look fabulous!

  5. #
    5
    roxan — May 24, 2010 at 3:04 pm

    Even at 8a on a monday morning, I feel like I could eat a whole stack of those. Great job, they look delicious!

  6. #
    6
    Kasey — May 24, 2010 at 7:11 pm

    There is a local baking partnership here in the Los Angeles area that makes individual sized cakes and treats. They also recreate classic favorites such as the Ho-Ho. Thought you might enjoy the link. http://www.cakemonkey.com/

  7. #
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    Memória — May 24, 2010 at 8:01 pm

    Oh your Ding Dongs look perfect. Absolutely perfect!! They make me want to jump up and make them now. Goodness!! Thanks for sharing the photos and recipe with us. I’ve yet to make the 7-minute frosting, so I’m looking forward to that.

  8. #
    8
    Katherine — May 24, 2010 at 8:11 pm

    Oh my, what a great recipe!

  9. #
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    Kara — May 24, 2010 at 11:31 pm

    You’re killing me! Now I have to think about when I can fit Ring Dings into my schedule this week! They’d be so much better from scratch than they would out of the box…

  10. #
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    ellysaysopa.com — May 25, 2010 at 1:15 pm

    These & oatmeal creme pies were my absolute favorite as a kid. I think they were called King Dons when I ate them. I definitely need to try this!

  11. #
    11
    oneordinaryday — May 25, 2010 at 3:32 pm

    Oh, how fun. WIsh I had a couple right now.

  12. #
    12
    Ingrid — May 29, 2010 at 1:44 am

    Ring Dings! :)But that’s what they were called when Drake’s made them and we lived in NYC. Once we moved to FL they were Ding Dongs. Or do I have that backwards, hmm now I’m not exactly sure. Either way it wasn’t I that ate them but my Mom. I’ll have to give them a whirl for her and score some brownie points, hee-hee!

    Hope you have a safe and Happy Memorial Day weekend!
    ~ingrid

  13. #
    13
    hannah! — May 29, 2010 at 3:44 pm

    omigosh YUM!! they sure do remind me of hostess cupcakes

  14. #
    14
    Katherine — July 4, 2010 at 1:30 pm

    Your ding dongs look perfect! Great job!

    I’ve been thinking of making these for my mother for her birthday next week…but since she LOVE chocolate peanut butter, I thought I would fill the cakes with a peanut butter version of the white cream. Any suggestions on what peanut butter cream I should fill them with??

    I would love your input, I trust you more than myself in this matter, haha.

  15. #
    15
    GadgetGirl — January 4, 2011 at 8:22 pm

    FYI for anyone interested, I made mine into cupcakes since I don’t have round cake pans. The cupcakes take about 25 minutes to bake at the same temp. Really good but tons of work! Oh yeah I got 32 cupcakes using 1/4 cup batter in each cup. I had plenty of filling but I had to made a little more ganache, BUT I was a little heavy with it in the beginning so if you keep that in mind you could have enough.

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    Souffle Bombay (Colleen) — January 6, 2011 at 2:42 pm

    Love these…I am an East Coat gal and I knew what you meant lol! I will NOT buy these for my kids with what is used for ingredients, but you have inspired me to make them! Thanks!

  17. #
    17
    Carol — February 12, 2012 at 2:35 am

    Sorry to say but mine fell apart and it was entirely to much work. Much better to just go to the store and buy them.

  18. #
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    Kari@Loaves n Dishes — January 5, 2013 at 7:26 pm

    These look just like the original, but I bet they’re so much more tasty. Great job!

    • beantownbaker — January 5th, 2013 @ 11:44 pm

      They sure are better than the original – a lot more work though, but definitely worth it!

  19. #
    19
    Anna — January 17, 2013 at 9:38 am

    Can the coffee be substitutes with anything else?

    • beantownbaker — January 17th, 2013 @ 4:51 pm

      The coffee just enhances the chocolate flavor. You can just use water instead if you don’t have any coffee or don’t like coffee.

  20. #
    20
    jennifer — February 2, 2013 at 4:11 pm

    I just made these for my mothers birthday(ring dings are the only dessert she enjoys) they came out great! Awesome recipe

    • beantownbaker — February 3rd, 2013 @ 9:46 pm

      So glad you enjoyed them. Happy birthday to your mother!

  21. #
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    Kathy — February 21, 2013 at 1:51 pm

    hey.. made these.. testing recipes for a summer camp job I start this June.. so good, but might stick with cupcakes for kids..
    took cake chunks and extra frosting.. made cake balls! Rolled in melted peanut butter then dripped chocolate over… YUM… love your site.. looking for more camp ideas.. kid friendly!

    • beantownbaker — February 24th, 2013 @ 10:28 am

      Cupcakes definitely would be less messy for kids. I really like the portability of bars and brownies. I have tons of those on my blog too.

      Making cake balls with PB and chocolate on top sounds amazing!

  22. #
    22
    Carmen — July 24, 2013 at 8:30 pm

    Never had these before but look good! I might just use the whole cake and cut out rings with the cutter and fill them up in the whole cake then cover in choc. What if you put marshmallow filling? Do you think it would be to soft to cut into pieces of cake?

  23. #
    23
    Virginia — August 3, 2013 at 9:26 pm

    OMG Jen, just saw this recipe linked from HuffPo article! Sorry, can’t get the link on my phone. 🙁 Slide show on manufactured foods that taste better homemade.

    • beantownbaker — August 4th, 2013 @ 6:43 pm

      Thanks for letting me know! I found the post.

  24. #
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    Trisha — August 26, 2013 at 11:01 pm

    Amazing results. Rarely do I find the recipes that claim to be “just like” the original actually live up to those claims. This one did. LOVE.

    • beantownbaker — August 27th, 2013 @ 7:58 am

      So glad you enjoyed them!

  25. #
    25
    Jody — March 13, 2014 at 2:00 pm

    The recipe says to use filling same day. I need to make the cakes a day or 2 ahead of party. If I fill them right away, will they hold for a day or so in the refrigerator ? I don’ t want them to get soggy.

  26. #
    26
    Chaya — October 22, 2014 at 9:44 am

    Can these be frozen?

  27. #
    27
    Lynmarie — January 26, 2015 at 1:27 pm

    Made these for a friend’s birthday party. Definitely time intensive…assembly took me forever. I made 16 cupcakes and 24 mini-cupcakes and had lots of extra cake batter. The cake is amazing, super moist and flavorful…but fally-aparty so hard to work with when dipping in ganache or spreading ganache over it. After I spent hours making these, they ended up smashed together in one side of the pan that I packed them in to the party. i would highly recommend transporting them in a cupcake tin or something where they will not move. The ganache never “dried” for me so mine were gooey on the outside too, and pretty much a mess to eat. Don’t get me wrong, they taste amazing and everyone enjoyed eating them…but if I was to do it over again, I would just use the ingredients to make a cake.

  28. #
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    Kimberly Westervelt — March 31, 2015 at 4:15 pm

    Do you have to use hot coffee? Can you just use plain hot water.

  29. #
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    Colleen — May 7, 2015 at 7:52 pm

    I don’t know what happened. I made Red Velvet “Fwinkies” (fake Twinkies), but covered them with chocolate so basically a hybrid or a Fwinkho. I have a delectovals pan. After piping in the 7-minute frosting, I dipped the bottoms in melted chocolate to seal and then covered the top in chocolate. The next day, I took them to a sorority luncheon as a treat. Well, the cream filling disappeared and I have to wonder did sealing the bottoms with the warm melted chocolate basically disintegrate the cream filling? I want to make something like this for a gender reveal next week, but I may have to change up the cream filling because I can’t leave the bottoms bare. Any advice?

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    30
    Stan — September 1, 2021 at 8:58 am

    Thank you!

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