What’s a fun way to kick off your holiday season? You might say: Christmas music on the radio, fresh cookies baking in the oven, the soft glow of the Christmas tree glittering over your presents. Well, mine started very eventfully with a small oven fire which resulted in the destruction of my oven just days before Christmas. Here’s the story: It was the Thursday before Christmas when I decided to try out a new recipe. (Rice Krispie Ice Cream coming to a blog near you soon, I promise).
As a part of this recipe, I needed to toast some marshmallows to get the perfect marshmallow-based ice cream. Looking to save some time, I decided to throw them under the broiler for 3 quick minutes to help toast them up for the recipe. Unfortunately, I had my top shelf a little too close to the broiler. When the marshmallows swelled up as they inevitably do, they came in contact with the broiler and quickly caught fire. This means that just 3 minutes after putting the marshmallows in, I opened up my oven to big flames shooting out of my oven door.
Now, this admittedly is not the first oven fire that I’ve started, but my instincts still led me to yell “OMG ZACK FIRE!” to immediately alert my hardworking fiance to the impending danger in our kitchen. Unfortunately for him, this was his first oven fire so, unaware of what was in the oven, he went for the fire extinguisher to put out the flames that kept popping out. The fire was quickly extinguished, but our entire kitchen and oven were then coated in a light layer of metal-eating chemicals that took us the entire night to clean up.
Okay, maybe not the BEST way to start off a holiday weekend, but it definitely gave us quite an eventful evening and gave everyone a good laugh to share as we traveled to visit family for the holidays. PLUS, on the bright side, I did get a new oven out of it which I’ve spent about 1.5 years angling for.
Despite the tiny pre-holiday disaster, we made a fun date night out of it and I learned my lesson about proper oven positioning when using the broiler. Also, I learned to always make sure that at least one person in your household knows where the fire extinguisher is located AND that one person knows how to properly use it. Important: they do not always need to be the same person as we clearly demonstrated.
How do I get the perfect buttercream texture?
It’s alllll about the temperature of your butter! You want to bring your butter to room temperature, but if it gets too soft – it can cause your frosting to separate making for a gritty buttercream. When the butter is too soft, you end up overcompensating on powdered sugar to get the frosting thick enough to pipe which just ruins your entire balance!
To tell if your butter is at the right temperature, press your finger into the stick of butter with a little bit of pressure. It should give and leave a small indent from your finger, but still mostly hold it’s form. If you have to apply a lot of pressure to make a mark: it’s too cold. If you apply a little bit of pressure and it goes halfway through the butter: it’s too warm.
What is the best way to crumble my cookies?
Anytime I add cookies to a buttercream (or any recipe) – I highly recommend using a food processor to crumble the cookies. While the old rolling pin method can be fun, it leaves big chunks of the cookies in the mix. When your frosting a cake, having these chunks can make it hard to get a smooth or consistent texture. Creating more of a powder from your crumbs helps keep it smooth and creamy.
How do I get even layers on my cake?
When baking cakes, it’s natural for the top to rise slightly to create a domed top on your cake layer. To help your cake set better once assembled, you want to remove that domed top to create even, flat layers for the cake. If you don’t have a cake leveler handy, you can use a serrated knife to remove the top.
Using one hand, put some pressure on the top of the cake. Use the serrated knife, slowly start to cut the cake horizontally from the bottom of the dome. Continue to cut through the cake using a back & forth sawing method while remaining as level to the cake as possible. Once you’re the whole way through, remove the top and feel free to eat it up (or save it for some small cake pops)!
Oreo Chocolate Layer Cake
Ingredients
For Your Cake
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 cups cocoa powder I use Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa for a richer flavor
- 1 tbsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 4 eggs large, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups warm water*
- 1/2 cup veggie oil
- 3 tsp. vanilla extract
For Your Frosting
- 2 cups unsalted butter room temp
- 7 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 3-4 tbsp. heavy cream
- 1 cup crushed Oreo cookies** + more for decorating
Instructions
For the Cake
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Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease three 8- or 9-inch round cake pans and line them with parchment paper for easier removal of the cakes.
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In a stand mixer, mix your flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt on a low speed.
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In a small bowl, whisk together your eggs, buttermilk, water, oil and vanilla until the eggs are incorporated. Slowly add to our dry ingredients with the mixer on low speed until smooth.
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Be sure to use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of your mixing bowl well. You don't want excess flour pockets hiding in your batter!
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Divide the batter evenly between all three pans. Tap the pans lightly on the counter to remove any air pockets.
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Bake the cake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven once complete and set aside to cool for at least 30-60 minutes.
For Your Oreo Buttercream
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In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat your room temperature butter on medium speed until smooth.
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Slowly add in your powdered sugar one cup at a time to the butter and mix on a low speed.*** Once combined, add in your pinch of salt and Oreo cookie crumbs. Scrape the sides of the bowls well to ensure there is no extra butter sticking to the sides.
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If the frosting is thick, add the heavy cream one tablespoon at a time to help smooth out the buttercream. It should be smooth enough to easily spread across the surface of your cake!
Assembling Your Cake
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Start by removing one layer of your cake an putting it on a cake stand or raised plate. Using a serrated knife or cake leveler, cut the top of the layer down so that it is nice and flat! You'll want to do this for each layer before assembling.
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Using a piping bag, scoop your frosting into the bag and pipe evenly over the top of your cake layer. Use an angled spatula to flatten the frosting across the cake.****
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Continue to alternate with the cake layers and the frosting, smoothing evenly after each layer. Once finished, you can add crushed Oreos over the outside layer of frosting for added decoration or add whatever toppings + decorations you'd like! For easier cutting, let the cake chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Recipe Notes
*You can sub half of this for warm coffee if you’d like a richer flavor. When using dark chocolate as the base of the cake, coffee can help pull out the richer notes of the cake!
**I use a food processor to grind the Oreo cookies for a finer crumb! The smaller you can crush your Oreos, the smoother and more integrated it will become with your buttercream for a better frosting + eating experience.
***To help prevent powder from flying throughout your kitchen, try putting a damp cloth over your mixing bowl. This will trap the excess powder in!
****To make smoothing the frosting easier, you can run some hot water over your spatula to heat it up. Dry it off before spreading the frosting.
