I usually place one photo at the top of my post…but how was I to choose….
Ok, I need a moment….
Seriously, this cake is what dreams are made of….
My girls love cookies-and-cream-Oreo-anything and spring brings both their birthdays…so I set off to make a delectable cookies and cream cake. The first version (served at Sam’s actual birthday) was a bundt cake with an Oreo cream filling. It was tasty but the filling melted into the cake and there was so much cake batter it flowed over the edges of the pan like a chocolate Niagra Falls. Oops!
Cake Test #1 Chocolate Niagra Falls
Cake # 2 “The Case of the disappearing Oreo Centers”
I revised the recipe by replacing the cream filling with the centers from a pack of Double Stuff Oreos and bought the largest bundt pan I could find. I was hoping to cut into the cake and be dazzled by creamy white Oreo filling chunks studding the moist chocolate cake. But alas, when I cut the cake for my daughter and her friends, the Oreo centers had melted into the cake during the 70 minute bake time. (Boo!) I was determined to have more Oreo flavor and a cake studded with unmelted Oreo centers.
I decided to ditch the bundt and go for a sheet cake as a thinner cake would have a shorter bake time and hopefully unmelted Oreo cream centers. To increase the Oreo flavor I lined the 9″x13″ pan with an Oreo crust, which when baked and inverted would crown the cake in a layer of pure Oreo goodness. Mmm…delicious moist chocolatey cake, studded with unmelted Oreos, topped with an Oreo crust, drizzled with icing and sprinkled with more Oreos. Ding, ding, ding – we have a winner!! Lauren even requested this cake for her next birthday shin-dig – I feel honored ( :
Oreo Upside Down Sheet Cake Recipe: Step-by-Step Photos:
Make the Oreo crust
Pulse Oreos in chopper or food processor and drizzle in melted butter
Press in greased 13″ x 9″ x 2″ pan and bake for a few minutes
Make the cake: Pour boiling water over cocoa powder, chocolate chips and espresso powder
Stir until smooth and melted
Cream butter and sugars
While it’s creaming…
…cut Oreos into fourths
Try not to eat them all ( :
Stir buttermilk into cooled chocolate mixture
oooh!
Add eggs to creamed butter and sugar mixture
Alternately add chocolate mixture…
…and flour mixture
Fold in half the Oreos
Pour batter over crust
Bake
Have a tray or platter ready to flip cake onto
Lay tray/platter over cake…
…and gently flip – hold your breath as you pull off pan ( ;
YAY! Allow cake to partially cool
Stir together glaze and drizzle over slightly warm cake…mmm
Sprinkle with remaining Oreos and crumbs
How to Decorate the Oreo Upside Down Cake for a Birthday?
Since it’s not a traditional birthday cake, you can get creative with the decorating! You can find these fun birthday banners at grocery and craft stores! Add a few candles and you’re good to go! You can make and decorate your own signs too with index cards, markers, toothpicks or skewers! Or… if the cake is on a large platter, you can pipe a birthday message around the cake on the platter.
Perfect Picture for Pinning: ⬇
Oreo Upside-Down Sheet Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- non-stick baking spray with flour
- 1 package Oreo Double Stuff cookies divided
- 1/3 cup +2 tablespoons unsalted butter softened, divided
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder optional
- 1/3 cup boiling water
- 1/2 cup buttermilk regular milk fine too!
- 1/2 + 1/3 cup (113g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs room temperature
Glaze:
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup confectioners' (powdered) sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Arrange oven rack to center position. Spray 13” x 9” x 2” pan (I used shiny metal) with non-stick baking spray with flour.
- In food processor or chopper, crush 18 of the cookies into crumbs. Melt 2 tablespoons butter and add to the crumbs. Pulse a few times for mixture to come together.
- Sprinkle crumb mixture over bottom of prepared pan and press to form a crust. Bake for 6 minutes. Remove and allow to cool. Keep oven hot.
- Chop the remaining cookies into fourths and set aside.
- In heatproof bowl combine cocoa, chocolate chips and espresso powder. Pour in boiling water and stir until mixture is melted and smooth. Allow to cool, then stir in buttermilk.
- In a medium bowl stir together flour, salt and baking soda.
- Using stand mixer with flat or flex beater or hand mixer, cream on medium-high speed 1/3 cup butter, granulated sugar, light brown sugar and vanilla, until light and fluffy.
- Beat in eggs one at a time.
- Lower speed and mix in the following ingredients until just combined: 1/3 of the flour mixture, then ½ the chocolate mixture, 1/3 of the flour mixture.
- Scrape bowl. Then add the rest of the chocolate mixture and the rest of the flour mixture.
- Fold in half of the chopped cookies and pour batter over crust.
- Bake for 25 -30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out with just a few crumbs.
- Allow cake to cool for 15 minutes.
- Place a rectangular platter over the pan and invert to release cake to the platter.
- Make Glaze: Whisk or use mixer to combine butter, confectioners' sugar, and milk - Stir until smooth.
- Drizzle glaze over cake when still slightly warm. Sprinkle the cake with the remaining chopped cookies and crumbs.
This looks absolutely amazing! Your step-by-step instructions are always so helpful and appreciated. I’m afraid when I make this I’ll eat the ENTIRE cake! 🙂
Thanks Brett! Yes – this cake is hard to resist! I will confess to nibbling a little bit here and there…and here and there…and here and there… ( :
I love the story behind the recipe development of this cake. What a delicious reward for such focused determination! 🙂 Bravo! I also love the step-by-step slideshow. Technical question: Is that a plug-in? How’d you do that? It’s so cool.
Thank you Lise! Recipes make me a little crazy until I get them just right – I know you understand!! ( :
The slideshow is one of the image options in Squarespace – the website platform I use. They are great with photo integration – but don’t have all the recipe/food blog friendliness of other platforms – yet – I keep bugging them!
This looks scrumptious. You know how partial I am to chocolate. I’m going to need to make this when I can share with others. Having it in the house with just hubby and I would not be good for the waistline. Hahaha.
I hear you Becky! Hope you both are doing well! I may or may not have had a little piece with my coffee a little while ago – lol!! But hey calories are on hold indefinitely right? LOL
Making today! can’t wait to try it!!
I saw your photo of the cake!! Looked perfect!! YAY! Hope the family loved it!
Oreos are my son’s favorite cookie, so I made this cake for his birthday. Wow – what a hit! The directions were clear and easy to follow, and the finished cake looks exactly as pictured. Everyone loved it, Thank you for helping to make this such a special birthday.
Thanks so much Evelyn! So glad everyone enjoyed the cake!
I have a twin sister and one of her favorite flavors is cookies and cream so made this for our birthday. It was such a hit my nephew requested it for his birthday in August!
Hi Latrica! So glad you enjoyed the cake! Happy Birthday to you all!! Yes, my other daughter just requested it for her birthday next month!
My 14 year old daughter Molly is the baker in our house. When I saw this recipe it looked so yummy I passed it along to her. She finally made it the other day and the pictures lived up to my expectation and more. It was so moist and delicious. It was so good we hid the leftovers so we wouldn’t eat it all in one day and then forgot about it. When we found it days later it was just as moist as ever! Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe with directions so well written a teenager could follow! Next up for Molly is the Cinnamon Chip Snickerdoodle Bars. I can’t wait!
What is the difference in the cake if the espresso powder is left out?
You can totally leave it out – just adds a little “something, something” to the chocolate flavor. You don’t taste coffee.
My family loves this cake! I’m wondering if I could make a version with golden oreos and white chocolate powder and chips. My father’s favorite is the golden oreos and he is staying with me next month. Do you think it would work?
Hi Trish! I can’t say for sure, but sounds delicious to me! I’ve never seen white chocolate powder – where do you find that??
Ghirardelli White chocolate powder on Anazon. I have it to make white hot chocolate.
The golden oreo cake turned out great. I might tweak it a little more next. The white chocolate chip, white chocolate powder, Buttermilk mixture was quite a bit thinner than for the regular cake. It took 15 to 20 minutes longer to bake and the cookie pieces dissolved into the batter. I think next time I’ll increase the amount of chocolate chips and flour.
Are you able to make this cake in an actual “Texas” sheet cake pan or does it have to be 13 x 9? Thanks!
Hi Beth – The recipe is sized for the 13 x 9″ pan. I know for sure the crumb cookie layer just covers the bottom of the 13 x 9, so I think you’d have to play around with doubling the recipe. I’d also be cautious of the sides of the pan if they’re not as deep as a 13 x 9 – which is generally 2″ deep or more. Thanks for reaching out – happy baking!