Chocolate Oreo Cake

This Oreo cake is for my daughter's 17th birthday while we were shelter in place at home during COVID-19 pandemic.

Ingredients

【Cake】
All Purpose Flour - 2 Cups 
Sugar - 2 Cups 
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder - 3/4 Cup
Baking Powder - 2 tsp 
Baking Soda - 1 1/2 tsp 
Salt - 1 tsp 
Vanilla extract - 2 tsp 
Eggs - 2 (replace with 1/2 cup apple sauce for egg-free)
Milk - 1 Cup
Vegetable Oil - 1/2 Cup 
Boiling Water - 1 Cup 
【Buttercream】
Unsalted butter - 3 Sticks  (I use salted, but you can use unsalted and add about )

Salt - 1/4 tsp 
Powdered sugar - 5 Cups 
Crushed OREO cookies (with cream ) - 3 Tbsp 
Heavy Cream - 3 Tbsp 

Steps

【Make the Cake】

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Add all of the dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. Whisk together for about a minute.
3. Add in all wet ingredients EXCEPT the water. Stir to combine.
4. Finally, add in your boiling water, and start slow, and slowly increase the speed to high. Whisk on high for about 1-2 minutes. It should be bubbly! 

5. Prepare (3) 6″ or (2) 8″ baking pans (see cake goop recipe above). Then divide the batter equally into each pan.
6. Bake in the middle of the oven, in the middle of the rack for about 25-30 minutes.
7. Remove form the oven and allow to cool. 

【Make the Buttercream】

1. While your cakes are cooling, make your buttercream.
2. Add in your room temp butter to a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Beat the butter until light and fluffy. Mix for about 2-3 minutes.
3. Add in your powdered sugar one cup at a time. It will look dry.
4. Add in cookie crumbs and cream. Mix for about 4-5 minutes, scraping the sides ever so often. If you fill that the buttercream is too thick, add in a little more cream, one tbsp at a time! 

【Assembly】

Level each layer. Place one layer down, and top with buttercream then add another layer of cake, and continue until you are out of cake. Cover the whole cake with buttercream, and add final touches such as ganache or crushed Oreos!