Peanut Butter Oreo Cake
What’s better than chocolate and peanut butter? Chocolate + Peanut butter+ Oreos! This Peanut Butter Oreo cake has three layers of chocolate cake filled with peanut butter cookies and cream buttercream and a chocolate ganache drip.
This Peanut Butter Oreo cake recipe is written for 8″ cake pans, but you can also adjust to make 4 6″ layers (bake for 33-35 minutes).
I rarely bake and decorate the same day. A day or two before I need to serve the cake I bake the layers and then freeze overnight. See the instructions below for making cake layers in advance.
For this cake I am using a board (or acrylic disk) on top of my cake to get even coverage and sharp corners. I have more info in the Recipe Notes at the bottom of the page and you can also check out my Geode Cake highlight and Ruffle Cake highlight to see how I use a disk.
my baking schedule
2-3 days before serving: Bake the cake layers
I bake all of my cake layers a few days before I plan on decorating and serving. I do this for a few reasons: one it breaks up the process into a few days so I’m not doing everything the day of the event. Two, I find that frosting a cold cake is less crumbly and therefore easier and less messy. And lastly, freezing the cakes while they are still slightly warm makes for a moister end product.
Once the layers are out of the oven, let the cool a few minutes in the pan. You can let them cool completely to room temperature before freezing, however I tend to let them cool about 5 minutes and then wrap them while warm to trap some of that moisture in the layers.
Wrap each layer in plastic wrap and freeze!
Day before or morning of serving: Decorate
To thaw, take the cake layers out of the freezer and allow to rest at room temperature. I use the time while they are thawing to make my buttercream or fillings and prepare everything else I need for decorating. You want the layers to still be cold so they won’t crumble as much, but thawed enough that you can level the cakes safely.
After decorating the cake if you are serving it the same day you can leave the cake covered (under a cake dome or cake carrier) at room temperature. However if you are serving the following day or plan on transporting the cake you should refrigerate it. Transporting a cold cake is much easier. Remove and let come to room temperature a few hours before serving.
key ingredients
- Chocolate – the majority of the time I bake I use chocolate chips, just out of convenience and cost efficiently. That’s what I am using in my chocolate cake recipe. Ganache however is something I usually splurge for better chocolate on such as baking bars, baking disks or just higher quality chocolate chips. Guittard makes great chips,wafers and baking bars.
- Coffee – anytime you’re baking something chocolatey adding coffee doesn’t hurt. I often add espresso powder to brownies and for cakes such as this one I add freshly brewed hot coffee. The coffee just enhances the chocolate flavor, the baked cake will not have a coffee flavor. If you don’t have coffee or prefer to to use it you can substitute boiling water.
- Cocoa powder – If there’s one ingredient I usually go for a higher quality on its cocoa. My favorite is Guittard Cocoa Rouge. Another good one, slightly cheaper is Ghirardelli Unsweetened cocoa.
- Buttermilk – If you don’t have store-bought buttermilk you can easily substitute with milk and lemon juice. Add one tablespoon of lemon juice to a measuring cup and then add enough milk until you have 1 cup total. Let sit for about five minutes before adding to your batter.
cake tips
- Always grease your pans. When using 6” pans I find that a non stick baking spray is enough, when I use 8” pans (or larger) I usually line the bottom with parchment paper. Alternatively if you don’t have baking spray or parchment paper you can rub the pans with butter and dust with cocoa powder.
- Don’t over mix your batter! You want to mix just until everything is combined and smooth. For this batter I often just use a whisk and mix by hand. You can use a stand mixer just make sure to not over mix.
- Before placing your layers in the oven, tap them a few times on the counter to get the air bubbles out.
- If your layers bake relatively flat then you don’t need to level them. I level all my cakes by gently trimming a small amount off the top with a long serrated knife.
- I only bake with salted butter. Especially when making buttercream salted butter helps to cut the sweet. There can be some discrepancies in how much salt is in different brands but I have yet to come across a brand of butter that is too salty. Just taste the buttercream and add more salt as necessary to get it to your liking. For the buttercream I call for softened butter. You can leave buttercream out on the counter for an hour or so before you need it, or what I often do is microwave my butter between 12-18 seconds. It should be soft enough that you can easily indent it with your finger, but not melted. Enjoy your cake with a cup of coffee.
Looking for more cake recipes? Try my Triple Chocolate Cake or my Mint Chocolate Chip Melting Ice Cream Cone Cake.
my go-to cake tools
Peanut Butter Oreo Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup dark or semisweet chocolate (chopped baking chocolate or chocolate chips)
- 1 cup hot coffee can sub hot water
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 lb salted butter, softened
- 7 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 3-4 tbsp heavy cream
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 20 Oreos, divided
- 1 cup dark or semisweet chocolate (chopped baking chocolate or chocolate chips)
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350. Spray three 8” cake pans with non stick spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
- Place the chocolate in a medium bowl. Pour the coffee over the chocolate and allow to sit while you prepare the rest of the batter.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugars, cocoa, salt and baking soda. Whisk in the eggs, vanilla oil and buttermilk. The batter will be thick.
- Return to your bowl of chocolate and coffee and stir until smooth. Pour the coffee mixture into the batter and whisk until fully incorporated.
- Divide batter evenly between the cake pans. Bake for 25-28 minutes.
- Allow to cool a few minutes in the pan and then carefully, using oven mitts invert the cake onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Wrap tightly and place in the freezer until you’re ready to assemble your cake. I store layers in the freezer for up to a week.
- Using a food processor crush 12 Oreos to fine crumbs. (remaining Oreos will be used later)
- In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Slowly add the powdered sugar a cup at a time. *See Notes Below*
- Add the vanilla extract and then add the heavy cream a tablespoon at a time until you reach a spreadable consistency. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the peanut butter.
- Using a rubber spatula, mix in the Oreo crumbs.
- In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream over medium-low heat until it starts simmering. You can also heat in the microwave for 45-60 seconds.
- Put the chocolate chips in a bowl and pour the cream over top. Allow to sit for a minute or two to melt and then whisk until smooth.
- Remove the cake layers from the freezer about 30 minutes before you want to assemble the cake. I take them out to thaw while I am preparing my buttercream and ganache. You want the layers to be cold, but not completely frozen to decorate.
- Roughly chop the remaining Oreos and set aside.
- To assemble the cake, place a dab of buttercream on your cake board or plate and then place the first layer of cake on top. Spread a layer of buttercream on top. Arrange half of the chopped Oreos on top of the buttercream. Stack the next cake layer on top and repeat, ending with the final layer of cake, top side down.
- Using an offset spatula add a thin layer of buttercream on the sides and top of the cake, scraping off any extra with a bench scraper or icing scraper. This is your crumb coat. It’s ok if it looks messy, the goal is to trap the crumbs in this layer so that the final layer of buttercream is crumb-free and smooth. Refrigerate the crumb-coated cake about 15 minutes or until firm to the touch.
- Now frost the cake with a thicker layer of buttercream. Smooth with a bench scraper or offset spatula. Chill the cake for 15 minutes to set the buttercream before adding your ganache drip. *See Notes below about using an acrylic disk or cake board to frost your outer layer*
- I like to do a test drip, either on the back of the cake or the side of my cake scraper or even just a plate held vertically. You can add more cream if you want thinner drips or allow the ganache to rest a bit to thicken up if you want thicker drips.
- Using a spoon, guide your drips around the sides of the cake and then pour some additional ganache on top of the cake and smooth out with an angled spatula or the backside of a spoon. Chill the cake to set the ganache.
- If you have remaining buttercream you can pipe a border or decorations on top. I used an Ateco 868 tip to pipe a large shell border. Sprinkle with additional Oreo crumbs.
- This cake is best served at room temperature. It can be stored at room temp 1-2 days or in the refrigerator 3-4 days, then let come to room temperature before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
2 Comments
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mindyjohnson
Hi Jordan, you can use this same cake recipe with no changes for cupcakes. Just bake 18-20 minutes. I also have a butter based chocolate cupcake recipe on my site you can use and then frost with the peanut butter Oreo buttercream http://mindycake.com/tie-dye-hi-hat-cupcakes/
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Jordan
How would you adjust the batter to make this recipe for cupcakes?