Chocolate Oreo Cake

New Year's resolutions about eating skinny are for the new year. For now I give you this scrumptious Chocolate Oreo Cake.

Early on in a new vegan's journey comes the delicious discovery that Oreo cookies-- yes, those gorgeous little black-and-white nuggets of chocolaty goodness-- are vegan. And life is never quite the same again.

We all can agree that Oreos aren't health food,  but it would have to be a true killjoy who does not enjoy eating one every now and then. And the holidays are a perfect excuse. My Chocolate Oreo Cake is two layers of moist, velvety, soft-as-a-cloud chocolate cake sandwiching a layer of white vanilla buttercream. On top goes an icing of chocolate buttercream and some Oreo cookies. Can you imagine more deliciousness in one place?





I had been wanting to share a vegan chocolate cake recipe for a long time but the recipes I've tried before (with my favorite, for flavor, being the one from the Candle Cafe Cookbook) tend to be too delicate and the cake almost always ends up falling apart while unmolding. For this Oreo cake I modified my chocolate cupcake recipe and it was perfect. The cake was tender but not too fragile, and it tasted better than any chocolate cake I've ever had.

The chocolate buttercream is a must-try: besides tasting divine, it looks really pretty too. I used mini Oreos as a topping and I left them whole, but you could always just use the regular-sized ones, crumble them up, and scatter them on top of the cake. Or you could leave out the Oreos altogether.

Here's the recipe.



Chocolate Oreo Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups almond milk (can use soy)

2 tsp vinegar

1 1/2 cups turbinado sugar (can use regular sugar)

2/3 cup canola or other flavorless vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp instant coffee powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or with a hand-held mixer, beat the sugar, vanilla extract and oil until fluffy, about two minutes.

In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, coffee, cocoa powder and salt.

Add the cocoa-flour mixture to the wet ingredients in three batches, alternating with the almond milk-vinegar mixture, beating 20 seconds after each addition. Scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl after each addition to ensure everything is mixed together. Don't overbeat.

Line two 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper at the bottom, and oil and flour the bottom and sides. Divided the cake batter evenly between the two pans.

Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 40 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the center of each cake comes out clean.

Cool the cake pans on a rack for 15 minutes. Then run a knife along the edges of the cake pans and unmold the cakes by putting a plate over the mouth of the pan and flipping it. Peel off the parchment paper.

Place the unmolded cakes on the rack to cool completely.

Buttercream Frosting (Chocolate and Vanilla)

Ingredients:

8 tbsp (1/2 cup) vegetable shortening

8 tbsp (1/2 cup) vegan "butter" like Earth Balance

2 cups confectioners' sugar (powdered sugar)

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp instant coffee powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

Have your butter and shortening at room temperature. Place them in a bowl and with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer with a whisk attached, beat until you have a fluffy mixture, about a minute.

Add the confectioners' sugar in batches of 1/4 cup at a time, beating about 20 seconds after each addition. As with the batter, scraped down the sides and bottom of the bowl after each addition to ensure everything is evenly mixed.

Remove 1/3rd of the frosting to another bowl. Add the vanilla extract and mix well. Set aside. This is your vanilla buttercream frosting.

Add the cocoa powder and instant coffee powder to the remaining buttercream and mix well. This is your chocolate buttercream frosting.

Place one cake on a cake stand or a plate and top with the vanilla buttercream. Using a table knife or a spatula, spread the frosting evenly on top of the cake.

Place the second cake on top of the first one. Top with the chocolate buttercream and spread it evenly on top of the cake and on the sides.

Decorate with mini Oreos, as I did, or crumble some Oreo cookies and scatter them on top of the cake.

Enjoy, all!