Cookies and cream layer cake
Serves: 12
Prep time: 50 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Stuart West
Cookies and cream layer cake
Moist, buttermilk-rich vanilla sponges are flecked with chunky cookie pieces and then layered up with a cookie crumb cream cheese frosting. The perfect celebration cake for any cookie monster
Serves: 12
Prep time: 50 minsTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
899Kcal
Fat
51gr
Saturates
28gr
Carbs
100gr
Sugars
69gr
Fibre
2gr
Protein
10gr
Salt
1.6gr
Sarah Akhurst
Our Food Director Sarah is a food obsessive, and spends most of her time scoping out the latest food trends, experimenting in her own kitchen, or making her family wait to eat while she photographs every dinner she makes for the 'gram! A complete Middle Eastern food junkie, she is never far from a good shawarma marinade, a pinch of Aleppo chilli or a sprig of dill
See more of Sarah Akhurst’s recipes
Sarah Akhurst
Our Food Director Sarah is a food obsessive, and spends most of her time scoping out the latest food trends, experimenting in her own kitchen, or making her family wait to eat while she photographs every dinner she makes for the 'gram! A complete Middle Eastern food junkie, she is never far from a good shawarma marinade, a pinch of Aleppo chilli or a sprig of dill
See more of Sarah Akhurst’s recipes
Ingredients
- 175g butter, softened
- 325g caster sugar
- 60g light brown sugar
- 4 medium eggs
- 150g buttermilk
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 325g plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- 1 x 154g pack Oreo cookies, roughly chopped
For the Oreo buttercream
- 100g Oreo cookies
- 200g butter, softened
- 250g icing sugar, sifted
- 450g full-fat soft cheese
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
To decorate
- 100g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
- 75ml double cream
- 75g Oreo cookies
Step by step
Get ahead
The sponges can be made ahead and frozen. Assemble the cake up to 24 hours before serving; leftovers will keep in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4. Grease and line two deep 18cm diameter sponge tins.
- In a mixing bowl, beat the butter with both types of sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Whisk together the buttermilk, oil and vanilla extract in a jug then add this mixture to the bowl and beat gently until combined.
- Carefully fold in the flour, baking powder and salt. When fully combined, stir through the chopped Oreo pieces. Divide between the prepared tins and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tins for 15 minutes, then turn out on a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
- To make the buttercream, put the Oreo cookies in a food processor and blitz to a fine crumb. Set aside. Beat the butter until creamy, then add the icing sugar and mix until combined. Discard any liquid from the soft cheese, then beat the soft cheese through the buttercream, plus the vanilla, until well combined. Finally, mix through the Oreo crumbs.
- Slice both cakes horizontally and then place one layer on a cake stand or plate. Cover the top with a layer of the buttercream and then place another sponge layer on top. Repeat until you have layered all four sponges. Cover the rest of the cake with buttercream, saving some for piping on the top. Use a palette knife to smooth the sides.
- Chop the chocolate into small pieces and put into a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream to just steaming and pour over the chocolate. Leave to melt for 5 minutes, then beat until you have a glossy ganache. Leave to cool until the chocolate is a pouring consistency; don’t let it set too much. Pool some on the top of the cake and allow it to drip down the sides. Put the remaining buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle and pipe some swirls on top. Reserve one of the Oreo cookies, then stand the rest upright in the swirls of buttercream. Roughly crush the remaining cookie and scatter the crumbs over the swirls of buttercream.
