To mimic the fluffy buttercream they use in the supermarkets, I made an Oreo swiss meringue. I found this to be the best choice because American buttercream always seems to be too sweet for my choice and it can be very dense. With a swiss meringue buttercream, the texture is always fluffy and smooth and it is just sweet enough.
Having realized I did not make enough buttercream to both fill and ice the cake, I decide to fill the cake with a chocolate whipped cream instead. To do that, I just whipped up some cream and added melted chocolate and some crushed Oreos. I think that was a good mistake on my part. The whipped cream added an even lighter texture to the entire cake and really made it that much better!
Here's what the entire cake consists of: Three chocolate cake layers, chocolate whipped buttercream with crushed Oreo filling, Oreo swiss meringue buttercream exterior, Oreo rim, chocolate ganache topping. It's heavenly, to say the least.
Recipe Review:
Taste: Rich chocolate flavor from the cake and a mildly sweet swiss meringue buttercream
Texture: The cake is very moist and the buttercream is so smooth and fluffy, as well as the whipped cream.
Appearance: Just look at the pictures ;)
Level of difficulty: Very easy, but time consuming with all the components.
Chocolate cake:
yields 3, 8-inch cake layers
ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cocoa powder
2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
2 1/4 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup hot coffee
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray and line 3, 8-inch cake pans.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch and salt. Set aside.
In another bowl, mix together buttermilk, coffee, oil, eggs and vanilla.
Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Divide the batter evenly among 3, 8-inch cake pans.
Bake the cakes for 20-25 minutes, rotating halfway. Cool completely.
Oreo swiss meringue buttercream
yields approx. 3 1/2 cups
ingredients:
5 large egg whites
1 1/2 cup sugar
4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
10 Oreos, finely crushed
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------directions:
Combine egg whites and sugar in a small bowl and place it over simmering water. Make sure the bowl does not touch the water. Heat mixture to 160°F while whisking constantly.
Transfer mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a whisk attachment and beat on medium high speed until mixture cools, doubles in volume and forms stiff peaks. This will take 8-10 minutes.
Slowly add in the butter, mixing to incorporate after each addition. Don't be afraid to add in big clumps at a time. At this point, the mixture may appear clumpy and almost curdled looking at first. Don't worry, this is to be expected. Just keep mixing and it will become even and smooth again.
Once the mixture is completely smooth, add in the crushed Oreos and mix until combined. Set aside until ready to use.
Chocolate Oreo Whipped Cream
ingredients:
1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
6 0z. chocolate, melted and cooled
6 Oreos, finely crushed
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
directions:
In the bowl of a stand mixture, fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the heavy cream and powdered sugar on high speed until the mixture forms stiff peaks. Add the melted chocolate and crushed Oreos and beat until just combined.
Assembly:
Put a dollop of buttercream in the center of a cake board. Lay the first layer of cake on the bottom. Pipe a buttercream rim around the edge of the cake and spread half of the chocolate whipped cream within the rim, spread evenly. Lay another cake slice on top and pipe another rim and spread the remaining whipped cream on the second layer. Place the third layer on top. Spread the swiss meringue buttercream all over the cake until completely covered. Using an Ateco#827 tip, pipe 6 swirls around the border of the cake. Top each swirl with half of an Oreo cookie. If you wish, pour some lukewarm chocolate ganache in the center and give it some help to drip over the sides.
Viola! You now have the most delicious cookies and cream cake ever. What is so fantastic about this cake is that even though it looks extremely sweet with the Oreos and buttercream and whipped cream, it really isn't at all. I would say it's appropriately an "adult" cake because it isn't so sweet. It's perfect for adult parties and kids' parties as well. Everyone will be satisfied with a big slice of this delicious cake. So go! go! go! What are you waiting for?
As always, happy baking!
