Vanilla + Oreo Cake

It’s been a while since I’ve had the time to sit and edit a video and blog post – so glad to be back!

This week I’m starting with a video I recorded last August – it was a cake for my cousins 21st Birthday, if you’ve been around a while, you might remember me making a cake for her 18th Birthday!

My cousin isn’t big on flavours or decoration, so kept it simple. The bottom tier was a vanilla cake with a vanilla buttercream and the top cake was a chocolate cake with a Oreo buttercream, which is pretty simple but works well together.

If you’re looking to make a celebration cake, this will give you the basic framework you need to make a cake like this or similar.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

 

Ingredients:

Cakes:

8 inch vanilla cake:

525g butter, softened.

525g granulated sugar.

7 eggs.

525g self raising flour.

1 tsp salt.

2.5-3 tsp vanilla extract.

Milk (optional, only if needed).

 

6 inch chocolate cake:

350g butter, softened.

350g granulated sugar.

6 eggs.

300g self raising flour..

50g cocoa powder.

1 tsp vanilla extract.

 

Buttercreams:

Vanilla buttercream (for 8 inch vanilla cake):

500g granulated sugar.

125ml water.

140g egg yolks.

1,000g butter, room temperature.

2.5-3 tsp vanilla extract.

 

Oreo buttercream (for 6 inch chocolate cake):

250g granulated sugar.

62ml water.

70g egg yolks.

500g butter, at room temperature.

1 tsp vanilla extract.

50g Oreo crumbs.

 

Simple Syrup (optional):

300g grnauilastyed sugar.

300ml water.

 

White chocolate drip:

50g white chocolate (good quality).

50g double cream.

 

Decoration:

Oreo biscuits (whole and broken).

White chocolate chips.

Edible glitter (optional).

 

Method:

Cakes:

Before we get into the recipe, it’s best to do some prep. I personally like to start by weighing up all of my ingredients, lining my cake tins with parchment paper and like to get any equipment I may need ready – such as a stand mixer, paddle attachment and spatula. Now is also the ideal time to preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f.

To start todays recipe, I will be starting with making the cake sponges. Although there is two different recipes, its the same process (the same goes for the buttercream), so to make there process quicker and less repetitive, I will share one method and apply the variation at the end for you to use, if you use this recipe.

To get started on the cake batter, simply take a mixing bowl and place in the butter and sugar. Beat the two together until they are lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency – due to the amount of each ingredient, it will take a short while to achieve this consistency, around 7-10 minutes is my usual sweet spot (although this will vary, depending on where you are and the climate).

You can then gradually add in your eggs, one at a time, beating well in-between each addition. If you add the eggs too quickly, you will find the mixture may split or curdle – not ideal. Now is also the perfect time to add in the vanilla extract, mix until fully incorporated.

Add in the dry ingredients and mix on a low speed to start with, working your way up to a medium-high speed and continue to mix until you have a smooth cake batter with no traces of raw ingredients (unless its a little of the dry ingredients near the top of the bowl) – a minute or so usually works best for me with this recipe.

Take the cake batter and divide it between your cake tins – the recipes provided will make 3 layers of cake for each. you can eyeball the amount places into each tin but you could also use weighing scales to get a more accurate amount into each tin. Once the cake batter is in the tins, simply spread and level out the cake batter, this is to ensure consistent baking

Place the cakes into the oven and bake for 25-30 for the 8 inch cakes and 30-35 for the 6 inch cakes – or until a tester comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake.

Now that the cakes are baking its the perfect time to get the simple syrup and buttercream made.

Simple Syrup:

If you’re using simple syrup on the cake sponges, simply place equal amounts of water and sugar into a saucepan, bring to the boil and then cool fully before intending to use.

White chocolate drip:

The white chocolate ganache for the drips is super easy, simply heat the cream to almost a boil, pour it over the chocolate and allow it to sit for a minute or so. After that time, stir until smooth – you may find it’s very liquid and this is normal. Cover with clingfilm, allowing it to touch the top of the ganache and then place in the fridge and allow to firm up.

Once you want to use it, simply warm up using small bursts of heat from a microwave until you have the perfect consistency -this doesn’t take very long, so be careful.

Buttercream:

To start on the buttercream recipe, grab a small-medium saucepan and place in the water and granulated sugar and mix the two until combined, then place on the hob over a medium-high heat. You want this mixture to reach 121˚c, it takes a short while.

While you’re waiting for your mixture to come up to temperature, you can work on the egg part.

Whisk together the egg yolks and whole egg over a medium-high speed until everything is combined and the mixture is a pale yellowish colour and increased a significant amount.

Once your sugar mixture has come up to 121˚c, you can remove it from the heat and steadily pour it over the egg mixture over a low speed. Once all the mixture has been added, crank the speed upto a high and whisk until you can touch the bottom of the bowl with the back of your hand.

Now that the mixture has whisked together and is cool enough, you can start adding your butter, piece by piece. At first, you may notice the mixture looks quite loose and this is normal. As the butter is added and incorporated, the mixture will thicken and start looking like a buttercream.

Add in the vanilla and whisk until everything has been fully incorporated.

If you think the mixture is too loose, don’t worry. Continue to mix it over a high speed until it thickens and place in the fridge and chill until firm.

** For the Oreo buttercream, simply add the Oreo crumbs once the buttercream has been made. Mix until fully incorporated – it should become a speckled grey sort of colour.

Decoration:

Once you have everything made and ready, you can start the assembly of the cake. To start, take a cake stand/board/plate and place a small blob of buttercream into the centre, then place your first layer off cake onto it, pressing down to secure it in place. Pipe a ring of buttercream around the outer edge off the cake (and a thin layer for inside of the ring), then fill in the centre of the ring with the same buttercream and top with the next layer of cake – repeat the process until you have used all your cake layers.

I then like to pipe the buttercream around the cake, as neatly as possibly but it doesn’t need to be perfect, as when we are smoothing it out, it will fill many of the gaps. Take your scraper and scrape around the edge, until you have a smooth enough finish, this is really up to you but most like quite a neat finish.

Seeing as this is a two tiered cake, it’s easier to ice the cakes separately, then stack them. To make the stacking process even easier, chill the cakes in the fridge for a short while before you intend on stacking – trust me on this one.

Once the cakes are stacked, you can decorate and finish them. For me this was very simple but you can alter it to suit your occasion.

Around the bottom edge of the vanilla cake, take your sprinkles and make a boarder around, I used the Halo brand sprinkles but you can use whatever you like. I then apply the drip, which wasn’t perfect but I couldn’t change once it was applied.

Around the top of the Oreo cake and where the 2 cakes meet, I pipe shells with the vanilla buttercream – this isn’t required but I liked how it looked. You can do whatever you like – choose creatively!

I added a few whole Oreos around the side of the Oreo cake, then broke some Oreos into roughly quarters, then place on top of the Oreo cake, inside of the piped shells. I also add some white chocolate chips, just for decoration. As a finishing touch, I used the edible spray glitter and added a generous amount around the cake, to add a little shimmer (if you use this, be aware it gets everywhere).

Chill in the fridge until it’s needed, then enjoy. I do find allowing the cake to come to room temperature the best way to enjoy it!

That’s all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back soon with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my other social’s – Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. The YouTube tutorial will be linked down below.