Chocolate Peanut Butter Oreo Birthday Cake

There is a frozen yogurt shop in Pittsburgh called Oh Yeah!—possibly the most genius name because it’s a phrase uttered all the dang time—which Joey and I visited with my sister about two years ago. There are something like 150 different mix-ins and maybe ten or so basic yogurt flavors to choose from, after which your choices are shoved into a machine that crunches everything together and swirls it out into a cone. Katie and I took about two minutes each to determine flavor combinations, ordered, paid, and were eating before realizing that Joey was still poring over his selection sheet. Naturally we made fun of him, then watched on incredulously as he ordered the fully most inspired combination of mix-ins that put our puny fig-honey-coffee combos to shame. His cake batter yogurt included pretzels, coffee grounds, and caramel, along with few other things that I can’t recall, and so I wasn’t at all surprised when he said to me last week that he wanted a “Joey cake." I totally get what that means. 

Inside party shot! Still learning essential camera functions, such as focus.

Making birthday cakes for friends is the best, and birthday cake for a boo is an especially fun thing to be able to give, particularly when said boo is into ridiculous desserts. Dude loves a little salty with his sweet (in love and in desserts—har har). Originally I was planning to riff a Mississippi mud pie, but I realized that it was not crazy enough—obviously—and why on earth didn’t I think of making a chocolate peanut butter caramel pretzel cake until just this very second!? This here Oreo cake is probably tame compared to the ideal birthday cake of Joey’s dreams, but for the rest of us, it’s a totally worthwhile celebration cake, with towering super chocolatey layers and truly the taste of Oreos; it's like dirt cake, but bigger and better. It proved just the ticket for Joey's happy birthday, and thus begins the planning for his next personalized cake monstrosity.

Happy birthday to the best dude on the planet (left) with best brother on the planet (right)!

Chocolate Cake Layers + Assembly

This is my favorite chocolate cake recipe! It hails from the Internet (possibly originated on All Recipes) and reminds me of Bruce Bogtrotter. It will yield three nine-inch layers, as seen here, or two fatty ten-inch layers, with adjusted baking time.

3 ounces good semisweet chocolate
1 ½ cups hot brewed coffee
3 cups granulated sugar
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutched)
2 teaspoons baking soda
¾ teaspoon baking powder
1 ¼ teaspoons fine-grain sea salt
3 large eggs
¾ cup vegetable oil
1 ½ cups shaken buttermilk
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 15.5 ounce box of Oreos, for assembly

1.  Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.  Butter three nine-inch pans. Line bottoms with rounds of parchment paper and butter the paper.

2.  Finely chop chocolate and combine with hot coffee in a bowl. Let stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.

3.  Into a large bowl, sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl and using a hand-mixer, beat eggs on medium until thickened slightly and lemon colored, about three minutes with the stand mixer, or five with the hand mixer. Slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs, beating until combined well. Add sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined.

4.  Divide batter evenly between pans and bake in middle of oven until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 45 minutes to one hour. As usual, start checking your layers around the 30-minute mark. If your oven is like mine, it’s impossible to have all three layers finished baking at the same time, so better to make sure that none will overbake.

5.  Cool layers in pans on rack for an hour, or until mostly cool. Invert layers onto rack, carefully remove parchment paper, reinvert, and let cool completely. Cake layers can be wrapped in plastic and left at room temperature for a day, or wrapped in triple plastic and frozen for a few days before frosting.

6.  To assemble, crush two-thirds of the pack of Oreos. I did this by putting them in a paper lunch bag and smooshing them with a rolling pin. Set aside. Put your first cake layer right-side-up on a plate or cakestand. Tuck strips of wax paper underneath the edges to protect plate from frosting. Spread two-thirds cup of frosting (recipe below) on top of this layer, then cover with about half your smashed Oreos, leaving a half-inch border all the way around. Cover with second layer, two-thirds cup more frosting, and remaining smashed Oreos. Top with third layer.

7.  Get yr crumb coat on! Put about two cups of frosting in a separate bowl (to keep the main bowl free of crumbs) and coat the cake completely, on all sides and on top, in a thin layer of frosting. Use more frosting if necessary. Put the cake in the fridge for 20 minutes to let the crumb coat set. Using an offset spatula, swathe cake in the rest of the frosting, making as smooth a layer as possible. Set frosted cake in fridge to cool for about an hour. Make chocolate glaze (recipe below) when you’re ready to proceed.

8.  Pour chocolate glaze onto the top of the cake, and use an offset spatula to push it to the edges. It should flow down on its own, but it’s okay to give it a nudge with your spatula. I used about ten smashed Oreos to make a ring around the edge of the cake, but you can use more or less or none as your taste determines. Put cake back in fridge to let glaze set for about 30 minutes, and remove about an hour before serving.

Vanilla Buttercream
Adapted from Martha Stewart

1 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 pounds powdered sugar, sifted
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
¼ - ½ cup milk, at room temperature
Big pinch fine-grain sea salt

1.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or in a very large bowl with a hand-mixer, cream the butter until it’s an even, smooth consistency. Gradually add in the sugar, a cup or two at a time, and beat on medium until frosting is light and fluffy, about three minutes. Add the salt and vanilla. Slowly stream in the milk until frosting is smooth and spreadable--you likely won’t need all of the milk.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Glaze
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Do not make this glaze until you have cooled the frosted the cake!

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 Tablespoons smooth peanut butter
2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
½ cup half-and-half

1. In a heat-safe bowl set over simmering water, combine the chocolate, peanut butter, and corn syrup. Cook, whisking often, until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat and whisk in the half-and-half, beating until smooth. Use while still warm and flowy. If you let it sit for too long, rewarm in the microwave in ten-second bursts.

Cake guts.