Try this for that special occasion. Delicious and not as sweet as it looks.

Ingredients for the Chocolate Cake:

100g plain flour

40g cocoa

200g granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

60ml buttermilk

60ml vegetable oil

1 teaspoons vanilla extract

60ml hot water

10 quartered Oreos

 

For the Vanilla Cake:

180g plain flour

200g granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

110g butter, chopped into 1″ cubes

2 eggs

120ml milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

10 quartered Oreos

 

For the Oreo Filling:

230g softened cream cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla

200g icing sugar

480g double cream

 

Garnish:

crumbled Oreos (about 10)

Halved Oreos

Chocolate ganache

Star piping tip

 

Chocolate Ganache:

1 tablespoon butter

160ml double cream

225g dark chocolate chips/dark chocolate broken into small pieces

 

Preheat oven to 180C and grease and line two 8″ cake pans.

Chocolate cake:

In a stand or electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt and mix until combined.

Add the two eggs and mix.

While the mixer is beating, slowly add the buttermilk, oil and vanilla.

Then add the hot water slowly.

Once the batter is combined, add quartered Oreo’s and gently stir using a wooed spoon or spatula until the Oreos are evenly dispersed.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to sit on a wire rack before removing from pan and allow to cool completely.

Vanilla cake:
In a stand or electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and mix until combined.

While mixer is turning, add the cubes of butter one at a time and mix until the butter has broken up into tiny pieces and the mixture resembles sand.

Add eggs and continue to mix.

While mixer is turning, slowly add milk and vanilla.

Mix until batter is smooth. Once batter is combined, add quartered Oreo’s and stir a couple of times, being careful not to break up the Oreo’s.

Pour batter into prepared cake pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to sit on a wire rack before removing from pan and allow to cool completely.

While cakes are cooling, prepare filling. In a stand or electric mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the double cream until stiff peaks form.

Set aside in the fridge. In a clean bowl switch to a paddle attachment and beat the cream cheese until soft.

Add the icing sugar and vanilla and mix until smooth.

Next add the whipped double cream to the cream cheese mixture, and mix until smooth.

Ensure that both cake layers are even and level by trimming the tops if they are domed. Place the chocolate cake on a cake board and smooth about 100g of filling onto it in an even layer.

Next place the vanilla cake layer on top and repeat with another thin layer of filling (crumb coat).

 

At this point, I place the cake in the freezer for about 20-30 minutes, which helps to set the icing. Then once removed from the freezer apply a second coat to the cake with the filling. Place remaining filling into a piping bag fitted with a large open star tip and place in the fridge for later.

Chop up about 10 oreos or more if needed and place around the bottom of the cake.

To prepare the chocolate ganache heat the double cream in the microwave for about 1 minute. Then while the cream is still hot add the butter and chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate and leave for another minute.

Then start to stir the cream with the chocolate. It may look like the cream and chocolate has split but keep going until you have a thick dark ganache.

Using a spoon pour the chocolate ganache onto the edge of cake, a small amount at a time.

Place some crumbled Oreos in the centre of the cake, and using remaining cream cheese filling, pipe large open stars in a circle. Place a half Oreo between every star.