Vegan chocolate cake with cookies and cream buttercream topped with mini Oreos and Oreo crumbs. You will not believe that this cake is 100% dairy free and egg free. This is one of my longer recipes, but the process is so worth the moist and chocolatey cake you’ll be rewarded with at the end!
Though I’m not a huge fan of chocolate, I have to say that this is one of the best cakes I’ve ever baked. The combination of fluffy vegan chocolate cake layers and cookies and cream vegan buttercream is a must-try if you love Oreos and all things chocolate! And yes, Oreos are vegan!
Craving more Oreo desserts? You might also like my Vegan Oreo Brownie Bites recipe!
Ingredients
For most baked goods, the ingredients are often separated into dry and wet. For the chocolate cake, the dry ingredients include:
- all purpose flour
- granulated sugar
- cocoa powder
- baking powder and salt
For the wet ingredients, we have:
- Plant milk ( I use unsweetened cashew milk or almond milk, since they’re on the thicker side in terms of the consistency. You can equally use soy or oat milk.)
- Apple cider vinegar, which will react with the baking powder create a nice and fluffy cake.
- Vegetable oil
For the cookies and cream buttercream, all you need is vegan butter, icing sugar and Oreo cookie crumbs.
How to make the chocolate cake
These are the more comprehensive steps to making the cake. You can find the simplified recipe below.
- Mix together the plant milk and apple cider vinegar. This technique is quite common amongst vegan recipes, as it is often a substitute for buttermilk.
- Sift the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl. The reason why we’re sifting is because it add volume to the cake and will prevent any clumps of dry ingredients. If the sugar doesn’t go through the sieve, you can just pour it in the bowl.
- Add the plant milk/acv and vegetable oil to the dry ingredients all at once and beat with a spatula until the batter is completely smooth. Be sure to look out for clumps of flour, though there shouldn’t be if you sifted the ingredients. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if need.
- Lightly oil a 5″ cake pan and pour in the chocolate cake batter. Try not to get any on the sides of the cake
- Bake for 45mins at 350ºF in the middle of the oven. To test if the cake is baked thoroughly, stick a toothpick into the middle of the cake and if it comes out clean, it is cooked. If the toothpick comes out with raw dough, add another 5mins.
How to make the cookies & cream buttercream
To make the cookies and cream buttercream, all you have to do is beat the softened vegan butter, sifted icing sugar and crushed Oreo cookies together until the volume has nearly doubled. You may want to start by beating the butter, then gradually adding the icing sugar and finally the cookie crumbs. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Assembling the cake
What are some equipment that you’ll need?
- Cake stand (bonus points if it spins)
- Cake plate (usually a round cardboard plate with a glossy top)
- Angled metal spatula
- Small bowl (for scraping off the crumby buttercream from the spatula)
- Medium piping bag
- Tip of your choice
I won’t go into too much detail on how to decorate a cake, since I’m no way an expert at the art of cake decorating, but I can give you a general rundown of how a cake is assembled.
- If your cake has a muffin top, slice off the top then slice the cake in half horizontally using a large serrated knife or a cake leveller.
- Smear some buttercream on a cake plate and place the first layer on top. Then, place the cake plate on a cake stand.
- Spread about 1inch of buttercream evenly on the first layer of cake.
- Coat the cake with a thin layer of buttercream for the crumb coat.
- Refrigerate the cake for 5 mins to allow the crumb coat to harden.
- Now coat the entire cake with more buttercream.
- To coat the sides with cookie crumbs, pick up the cake with your hand and using you dominant hand, press on the crumbs while holding the cake over a baking tray filled with crumbs.
- Pipe on the buttercream while alternating with mini Oreos.
- Refrigerate the cake for 10mins to allow the buttercream to set.
FAQs
No, you don’t! You can equally use a hand mixture. Just make sure you use the whisk paddle and frequently scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Absolutely you can! Instead of filling a 5″ cake pan, you’ll fill about 6-8 cupcake liners and bake them for 20-25mins instead of 40-45mins. Let me know if you make the cupcake version, as I would love to know how they turned out!
When frosting the cake and smoothing out the sides and the top, you’ll want to use an angled spatula, as stays flat and your hand doesn’t touch the cake in an awkward way. If you’re not looking to produce the cleanest cake, by all means use whatever is at your disposal! I’ve heard that spoons can work to create gorgeous wavy patterns.
Don’t worry, I’ve been there. You can make a DIY piping bag by using a large plastic bag and cutting patterns at the tip. If you search “DIY piping bag” on Google, I’m sure there will be many tutorial videos.
I tried to find a way to incorporate the fillings into a recipe, but failed, so feel free to just eat them!
There are a few different ways you can store a cake:
– cardboard cake box (I know Michaels has many sizes)
– Reusable plastic cake container
– Slice the cake and store them in smaller containers. This one is the best space saver.
Generally, you don’t want the cake to be exposed to too much air, as this will cause the cake to dry in the refrigerator.
If you have any questions, let me know in the comments and I’ll add the answer to my FAQ sheet. 🙂
Check out some of my other vegan dessert recipes:
See the notes and tips at the bottom of this recipe and please don’t hesitate to comment if you have any questions. If you do make this cake, leave a comment letting me know how it went and give this recipe a rating out of 5 stars!
Vegan Chocolate Oreo Cake
Ingredients
Vegan chocolate cake
- 1 cup plant milk
- ½ tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1¼ cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- ½ tbsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
Vegan cookies & cream buttercream
- 2 cups unsalted vegan butter at room temperature, (4 sticks)
- 1½ cup icing sugar, sifted
- 8 full size oreo cookies, filling removed
Topping
- 10~ mini oreo cookies
Instructions
To make the chocolate cake
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and set oven racks to the middle. Lightly oil a 5" cake pan.
- Whisk together the plant milk and apple cider vinegar to make vegan buttermilk. Set aside to curdle.1 cup plant milk, ½ tsp apple cider vinegar
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt.1¼ cup all purpose flour, ½ cup granulated sugar, ¼ cup cocoa powder, ½ tbsp baking powder, ½ tsp salt
- Make a well in the bowl of dry ingredients and pour in the curdled plant milk and vegetable oil. Mix well with a spatula. There should be no clumps in the batter.¼ cup vegetable oil
- Fill the oiled 5 inch cake pan with the batter.
- Bake for 40-45mins, or until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool for 10mins before carefully removing the cake from the pan. Transfer onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
To make the cookies & cream buttercream
- Place all oreo cookies (without the filling) into a large plastic bag and lay them out flat. Using a garlic crusher or a thick rolling pin, crush the oreo cookies until they are very fine crumbs. Transfer half of the crumbs into a small baking pan.8 full size oreo cookies, filling removed
- Using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer with the whisk, beat the vegan butter in a large bowl for 1 minute.2 cups unsalted vegan butter at room temperature
- With the mixer on low, gradually add the icing sugar ¼ cup at a time.1½ cup icing sugar, sifted
- Turn the mixer back onto high and beat the buttercream for 3-5mins. The buttercream should almost double in volume.
- With the mixer on medium, add the other half of the crushed oreo cookies and beat until fully incorporated into the buttercream.
Assembling the cake
- The cake should be removed from the pan and completely cool by now. Using a serrated knife or a cake leveller, slice the cake in half length-wise to create two layers of cake. If your cake has a muffin top, you'll need to carefully slice off the top as well.
- Stick a cake plate on a roatating cake stand. Smudge a little bit of buttercream on a cake plate and place the first layer of the cake on top. Dollop some buttercream on top of the first layer of the cake and using a angled spatula, spread on the buttercream evenly.
- Place the second layer of the cake on top, making sure it aligns with the first layer. Lightly coat the side and top of the cake with buttercream to "seal the crumbs". This is called the crumb coat. You should still be able to see the cake.
- Place the cake in the refridgerator for 5mins. Remove from the fridge to continue assembling the cake.
- Dollop buttercream on top of the cake and spread it out using the angled spatula. Spread buttercream on the sides as well.
- Once the entire cake is covered in buttercream, smooth out the sides and the tops with the spatula by angeling the spatula vertically next to the cake and spinning the cake stand. Occassionally scrape off excess buttercream from the spatula.
- To coat the sides with oreo crumbs- carefully pick up the cake with one hand and hold it over the baking pan of oreo crumbs. With the other hand, grab a handful of crumbs and carefully push them onto the side of the cake. Allow any excess crumbs to fall back into the pan. Rotate the cake and coat all sides.
- Topping the cake- Fill a piping bag with a tip of your choice halfway with buttercream. Pipe a small swirl on the top side of the cake and place a mini oreo cookie next to it. Pipe another small swirl next to the oreo cookie. Repeat until you have completed a circle.10~ mini oreo cookies
- Transfer the cake into a cake box and place the cake in the refridgerator immediately so that the buttercream can set.
Notes
- Store the cake in a cake box in the refrigerator for up to 1 1/2 weeks.
- Store unused buttercream in an airtight container for up to 1 month. If you’re using it again, take it out of the refrigerator for at least 1.5 hrs to allow it to soften.
- When beating the buttercream, be sure to scrape down the sides occasionally using a rubber spatula.
- If you’re planning on making this cake in the span of two days, you can bake the cake on day 1 and store it in an airtight plastic bag or container and make the buttercream/ decorate the cake on day 2.
- I would recommend searching up how to decorate cakes for beginners, as it would really help if you’ve never decorated a cake before!
- If you’re uncomfortable with holding the cake with one hand and coating the sides with Oreo crumb with the other hand, here’s a slightly messier alternative: Move the cake to the edge of the cake stand and place the stand right next to the baking pan of oreo crumbs. Grad a handful of oreo crumbs and gently push them onto the side of the cake. You will need to rotate the cake and not the cake stand to complete the coating.
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