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Cookies and cream cake, topped with Oreos and buttercream swirls.

High Altitude Cookies and Cream Cake

Heather Smoke
This cookies and cream cake is made with a soft, buttery vanilla cake speckled with crushed Oreos, frosted with Oreo cookie buttercream.

All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.

5 from 18 votes
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings16

Equipment

  • Stand Mixer with Whisk Attachment

Ingredients
 

Cake

  • 3 ¼ cups (390g) cake flour, spooned, leveled and sifted
  • 1 ½ cups (324g) granulated sugar
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
  • 2 (110g) large eggs
  • 3 (105g) egg whites
  • 1 ½ cups (403ml) buttermilk, room temperature
  • ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, melted
  • ½ cup (112g) vegetable oil
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 5 Oreos, frosting removed, finely crushed
  • 5 Oreos, roughly chopped

Buttercream

  • 2 cups (452g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 4 cups (560g) powdered sugar
  • 1 tbsp (9g) meringue powder
  • ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2-4 tbsp (33-66ml) milk, only if needed for consistency
  • 5 Oreos, frosting removed, finely crushed

Instructions
 

Cake

  • Preheat the oven to 350 F, and spray the bottoms of three 8-inch cake pans with non-stick spray.
  • In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
  • Separately, whisk together the eggs, egg whites, buttermilk, melted butter, oil and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk for 10-15 seconds until well combined.
  • Briefly fold in the crushed and chopped cookies, being careful not to over-mix. You should have streaks of crumbs, but if you mix them in too much, your cake batter will turn gray.
  • Divide the batter between the pans. Bake on the center oven rack for about 25-30 minutes, until the tops of the cakes spring back when lightly touched and a cake tester comes out clean.
  • Set the pans on a cooling rack and cool completely before frosting.

Buttercream

  • In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute until smooth.
  • With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt and mix until combined.
  • Add the vanilla and beat on medium speed for 4-5 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally. Add the milk only if needed for desired consistency.
  • Gently fold in the crushed Oreos, taking care not to over-mix, or the frosting will turn gray.
  • When the cakes are cool, run a knife around the edges and remove from the pans.  Set one cake layer on a cake board or pedestal.  Stack and fill the cakes with the buttercream, then frost all over with a thin crumb coat of buttercream. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to set the crumb coat.
  • Frost the cake with a final layer of buttercream. If you like, decorate the top of the cake with Oreos and piped swirls of buttercream.

Notes

Leftover cake should be stored in an airtight container or cake carrier for up to 3 days.  The assembled and frosted cake can also be frozen for several months.
 
For extra cookie flavor, add chopped Oreos between the cake layers.
Keyword Cake, Cookies and Cream, High Altitude
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