Oreo Red Velvet Cake

I would never think of Oreo and red velvet as a good combination but some people commented on how their friends and family were raving about the red velvet cake with Oreo cream cheese frosting they've made. I shouldn't shut the door in the face of new things since experimenting with different and totally unexpected combination of flavours is necessary for creative growth. It shouldn't be so bad, after all, the experts at Kraft did produce a limited edition red velvet Oreo cookie. I think it's genius because, if you notice, red velvet doesn't have much flavour. It's basically a red cake with a little cocoa powder. So Oreo will be a breath of fresh air to plain old red velvet. 

I'm baking this red velvet because it's a special request from a friend. I've been baking so many red velvet and it's quite off putting to be baking yet another red velvet cake, but I also didn't want to give her a different cake when she was clearly looking forward to a slice of red velvet. This spruced up red velvet would be a nice halfway point. It's always nice to be baking something for someone, makes it more meaningful. 

I didn't want this red velvet to be just another red velvet with Oreo frosting. There must be something more to make it special. I'm still in my "Momofuku Milk Bar phase" so I thought why not do a Milk Bar inspired red velvet cake?

The construction of the cake involves making cookie crumbs from Oreo, buttercream frosting for the top of the cake and half-bake a cheesecake for the filling. And, just for fun, mix chocolate sprinkles in the cake batter before baking.

Oreo Red Velvet Cake

This is a fun red velvet cake with chocolate sprinkles and Oreo crumbs buried in half-baked cheesecake sandwiched in two layers of cake.

Preparation time: 3 hr + 1 day (to chill cake)
Cooking time:  1hr 20 minutes
Utensils: Two 8" round cake pans

Serves 12-14

Level of difficulty: **

Red Velvet Cake
115g butter, room temperature
200g caster sugar
40g brown sugar
3 eggs
90ml buttermilk
65ml sunflower oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tbsp red food colouring
190g SR flour + 40g cake flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
50g chocolate sprinkles 

1. Heat oven to 170C. Line two 8" pans with parchment paper and set aside.

2. In a mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars until mixture is light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and beat for 4 minutes to combine well. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add vanilla extract and continue beating for another 1-2 minutes. Stream in the oil and beat for 2 minutes.

3. In a separate bowl, combine the buttermilk, red food colouring and vinegar.

4. In another bowl, add the flours, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt and mix it up with a spoon. Sift the dry ingredients.

5. Fold in the dry ingredients in the batter, alternating with the buttermilk mixture. Continue folding until all the dry ingredients are well-incorporated. Add the chocolate sprinkles and give it a little stir to distribute evenly.

6. Pour the batter as evenly as possible into the two prepared cake pans. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the cakes spring back when pressed. Allow the cakes to completely cool before removing. If the sides of the cakes have browned during cooking, use a knife to trim off the sides to expose the red colour.

Liquid Cheesecake
250g cream cheese
150g caster sugar
1/2 tsp corn starch
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp milk
1 egg

1. Heat the oven to 150C.

2. Put the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed for 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add the sugar and mix for 1-2 minutes, until the sugar has been completely incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

3. Whisk together the cornstarch and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk in the milk in a slow, steady stream, then whisk the egg until the slurry is homogeneous.

4. With the mixer on medium low speed, stream in egg slurry. Paddle for 3-4 minutes, until the mixture is smooth and loose. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Oreo Crumbs
100g Oreo, crushed without filling
50g butter, melted
1 tbsp caster sugar
1/4 tsp salt

1.  Heat oven to 150C. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

2. Place crushed oreo, sugar and salt in a medium bowl and mix with a spoon. Add melted butter and mix until the mixture starts to come together and form small clusters.

3. Spread the clusters on the lined sheet pan and bake for 20 minutes. Cool the crumbs completely.

Buttercream Frosting
80g butter, room temperature
60g cream cheese, room temperature
45g icing sugar
a squeeze of lemon juice

1. Combine the butter, cheese and sugar in a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Cream until light and fluffy.

2. Add the lemon juice and beat for 1-2 minutes. Chill for 10 minutes before using. 

Milk Soak
30ml of milk

To Assemble the Cake
1. Place a layer of cake on a cake board. With a pastry brush give it a healthy bath of  1/2 of the milk soak. Spread 1/4 liquid cheesecake with a palate knife. Sprinkle 1/3 of the Oreo crumbs evenly over the frosting and using your index finger anchor them in place. Spread the second 1/4 liquid cheesecake to cover the crumbs.

2. Place the second layer of cake on top. Spread the buttercream frosting over the top. Sprinkle with the remaining Oreo crumbs. Chill the cake for 12 hours before serving.

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Red velvet could go with other things like chocolate fudge, marshmallow icing and coconut, raspberry jam and cream cheese, white chocolate frosting and chocolate sprinkles, just to name a few. The combinations are endless.

The process of baking this cake seems scarily long as it consists of putting up several parts and putting them together. Don't be deterred though, it's really easy and you will be rewarded in the end.







Goodbye boring ol' red velvet. Hello funtastic red velvet.

This is way better than the original Southern Red Velvet. No disrespect.

Happy Baking! xx