High Altitude Oatmeal Cream Pie Cake

Name: High Altitude Oatmeal Cream Pie Cake
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 60 min
Ingredients: 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats, (finely ground); 2 3/4 cups cake flour, (fluffed, spooned and leveled); 1 cup granulated sugar; 3 tsp baking powder; 1 tsp coarse Kosher salt ((if using table salt, use half the amount)); 4 tsp ground cinnamon; 1 tsp ground ginger; 3/4 cup unsalted butter; 1/2 cup light brown sugar, (lightly packed); 2/3 cup vegetable oil; 2 tsp original (not blackstrap) molasses; 4 large eggs, (room temperature); 1 3/4 cups whole milk; 1 tbsp vanilla extract; 1/2 cup unsalted butter, (softened to room temperature); 1/2 cup vegetable shortening ((or you can replace with softened butter, but the shortening will make a whiter frosting)); 2 cups powdered sugar; 1 tsp meringue powder, (optional); 1/8 tsp coarse Kosher salt; 1 tsp vanilla

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This high altitude oatmeal cream pie cake features two layers of soft oatmeal cake spiced with cinnamon, sandwiched together with fluffy vanilla buttercream. Each bite tastes like an oatmeal creme pie in a slice of fluffy cake instead of a sandwich cookie.

You might also love these high altitude recipes for oatmeal cream pie cookie bars, oatmeal butterscotch cookies, and chocolate chip oatmeal cookie bars.

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Brown Butter and Spice. The oatmeal cookie recipes on my site have been favorites with those of you who follow my site, especially these homemade oatmeal cream pies and old fashioned iced oatmeal cookies. And what’s not to love? Oatmeal cookies are buttery and chewy, moist when they’re not over-baked, and pair beautifully with spices. Today’s oatmeal cream pie cake has so much flavor from the brown butter, a hint of molasses, and warming spices like cinnamon and ginger for the perfect amount of sugar and spice.

High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.

Semi naked oatmeal cream pie cake on a vintage black cake stand.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Ingredients

Oats. You’ll need old fashioned rolled oats, not quick oats or steel cut oats. Before adding the oats to the cake batter, you’ll be grinding them into an oat flour, which you can easily do with a food processor.
Cake Flour. Use cake flour, rather than all purpose flour, for a softer, fluffier cake crumb.
Butter + Vegetable Oil. Browned butter adds so much flavor, while the oil ensures the cake stays moist and tender.
Molasses. Just a hint of molasses adds a richer flavor.

Instructions

Cake

Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line the bottoms of two 9-inch round cake pans with circles of parchment paper. Lightly spray the paper with non-stick baking spray.
Using a small food processor or ninja, grind the oats into fine crumbs resembling oat flour. In a large bowl, whisk together the ground oats with the cake flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and ginger. Set aside.
In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Continue to cook the butter, swirling the pan occasionally, until nutty brown solids form at the bottom of the pan. This will happen right about the same time that the butter stops hissing and a layer of foam forms on top. Set the butter aside to cool for 10 minutes.
In a bowl, whisk together the browned butter with the brown sugar, oil and molasses, until well combined. Whisk in the eggs, milk and vanilla.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and whisk just until combined.
Divide the batter between the prepared pans. Bake the cakes for about 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, or with moist crumbs clinging to it. Do not over-bake these cakes, or they’ll end up dry and crumbly due to the addition of the oats.
Set the pans on a cooling rack, cover them loosely with a clean kitchen towel, and cool completely before frosting.

Buttercream

In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the softened butter with the shortening for one minute, until smooth.
With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar by spoonfuls, the meringue powder and salt, mixing until combined. Add the vanilla.
Beat the buttercream on medium speed for 4-5 minutes, stopping to scrape down the bowl several times, until very light and fluffy. Turn the speed down to “stir” and mix for one more minute.
Place one of the cooled cakes on a cake pedestal or serving plate. Using an icing spatula, frost the cake all over with a very thin “crumb coat”, scraping off any excess buttercream so that the cake shows through the frosting. Set aside the same amount of buttercream to use later for the top layer of cake.
Fit a 16-inch disposable piping bag with tip 1M, and fill halfway full with buttercream. Starting at the outer edge, pipe the buttercream onto the first layer of cake, working your way towards the middle. Refill the piping bag as needed, and then, if you have enough, pipe another layer of buttercream on top of the first to make a thick layer of filling.
Carefully place the second layer of cake on top, then use the reserved buttercream to frost the top layer of cake with a thin crumb coat. If you choose, you can also leave the cakes completely naked, and skip the crumb coat altogether. A naked cake will look more like a giant oatmeal creme pie sandwich cookie.

Step 7 for making oatmeal cream pie cake.

Step 8 for making oatmeal cream pie cake.

Recipe Variations

8-Inch Cake

Instead of two 9-inch pans, you can also use two 8-inch pans, as long as they have a 3-inch depth. Your cake layers will be a little thicker, and will need a few minutes longer to bake.

3-Layer Cake

For a three layer cake that’s frosted all over with buttercream, bake the cake in three 8-inch pans. Increase the buttercream recipe by 1 1/2 – 2 x, so you’ll have enough to fill and frost the cake. See this post for tips on stacking and frosting layer cakes.

6-Inch Cake

For a smaller cake, cut the recipe in half and bake the cake in two 6-inch cake pans.

Sheet Cake

For a “half sheet” cake, bake this cake in a 9×13 inch baking pan. The bake time will be approximately 22-30 minutes.

Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common questions with cake making, so that you can be successful in your own baking! I also suggest reading these comprehensive posts on making Perfect American Buttercream, How to Stack, Fill, Crumb Coat and Frost Layer Cakes and How to Use Piping Bags.

Frequently Asked Questions

How should I store leftover oatmeal cake?

Store the leftover cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the freezer for up to 3-6 months.

Can I use any type of oats for this cake?

Rolled oats (rather than quick oats) work best for this recipe. Steel cut oats are not suitable.

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Please check out my Amazon Shop for a curated collection of some of my favorite cake pans from trusted brands, baking tools, ingredients, pretty things and fashion finds. I recommend products that I buy and use every day!

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