Oreo Drip Cake!
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A 3-layer chocolate cake, with Oreo buttercream, a chocolate drip, and even more Oreos make a delectable & showstopping Oreo drip cake!
Oreo favourites
One of my dad’s colleagues recently had their last day at work, and because she has been one of my most enthusiastic taste testers (and just the loveliest person ever), I wanted to bake something properly special. Naturally… that meant a drip cake. You know I can never resist making a big showstopper, especially for an occasion.
And even though I didn’t actually get a slice of the finished cake (tragic, I know), I did “accidentally” taste-test several spoonfuls of the buttercream during decorating. Purely for quality control, obviously. The reviews from the office were glowing… apparently it disappeared within minutes!
I’ve been itching to make another Oreo bake for a while, and turning it into a full drip cake felt perfect. The Oreo buttercream alone is enough to convert anyone.
The sponge
I used the same idea for the cake from my Salted Caramel Drip Cake and my Biscoff Drip Cake, just using less self-raising flour, and adding in some cocoa powder to make it chocolatey and rich. The layers bake up soft, moist and sturdy enough to build a tall cake without collapsing, exactly what you want for a drip cake.
- Butter – unsalted butter or baking spread at room temperature is the best way to go for the perfect fluffy sponge
- Sugar – for most of my sponge recipes I use light brown sugar but you can use caster, golden caster or dark brown sugar
- Eggs – 8x medium eggs roughly translate as 400g of egg weight, most of my recipes run on medium eggs unless specially stated otherwise
- Flour – self-raising flour will provide the rise needed for three beautiful tiers of delicious sponge
- Cocoa powder – I replace 75g of flour with cocoa powder to give that rich delicious chocolate flavour throughout the sponge as well as the buttercream frosting
- Baking powder – an optional extra to provide a lighter texture to the sponge, many have said they don’t like adding the extra as it is already in the flour, I will leave that choice to you.
- Milk – If you’re mixture is slightly thicker than desired you can use whole milk to gradually loosen the mixture, use one tbsp at a time!
I know three-layer cakes often look a bit intimidating, but they truly aren’t any more difficult than two layers. They just LOOK ten times more impressive, the wow factor alone makes all the effort worth it and the taste matches the presentation perfectly.
Oreo buttercream
For the frosting, I stuck with the same Oreo buttercream recipe I use for my Oreo cupcakes because it’s simply perfect, fluffy, sweet, creamy, and packed with Oreo biscuit flavour. I used 300g of butter and 650g of icing sugar, then blitzed an entire pack of Oreos into a fine crumb and mixed them in. It makes enough to fill the layers, coat the outside, pipe on top, and still have a little leftover to sneak spoonfuls of.
The texture is dreamy. There’s something about adding the crushed biscuits that makes it so easy to smooth around the cake, I honestly don’t know why, but I’m not questioning it. This will boost the presentation of your cake from standard to spectacular, a smooth coating of Oreo buttercream really will look like an expensive showstopper by the time you’re finished.
The drip
I tried a new method of doing the drip on this cake, by using oil. I’ve seen people having a few problems making the ganache drip as ganache can be quite temperamental, so after reading up on the oil method I had to try it.
You only use between 1-2tbsp of oil for this amount of chocolatey, and you can’t detect it once its added. It just makes the chocolate runnier, and easier to use, whilst keep its shine. You can just use melted chocolate, but often this can be harder to use as its thicker, and it well set very solid. I’m surprised I didn’t eat some of it myself, but I resisted to make sure it look better.
If you wanted to use a ganache however you can, simply use 150g of dark chocolate and 150g of double cream! (Read about the ganache drip here… Caramac Cake)
Decoration
Once the drip had set slightly, I piped little swirls of Oreo buttercream around the top and added whole Oreos for decoration. A sprinkle of crushed Oreos finishes it off, because when you think you’ve added enough Oreos… always add a few more.
This cake is bold, chocolatey, and cookies-and-cream heaven. It’s fun to make, fun to decorate, and an absolute delight to present. I adored every minute of making this one, and the finished result brought so many smiles. I hope you love it as much as my dad’s colleagues did!
Two tier versions
I get asked all the time on my blog and social media if this cake can be made smaller, perfect for a more intimate family celebration or birthday. The good news? Absolutely! With a few simple tweaks, you can create a slightly smaller Oreo cake that’s just as delicious and impressive.
For a smaller version, I recommend using two 8″cake tins. You can adjust the ingredients as follows:
- 300g butter
- 300g sugar
- 245g flour
- 55g cocoa powder
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- 6 medium eggs
- 3 tbsp milk
Baking time may increase slightly, around 5–10 minutes longer, depending on your oven and tin. For the decoration, you can use roughly two-thirds of the original buttercream and toppings, which still makes for a gorgeous, indulgent cake.
This scaled-down version is perfect for smaller gatherings and still delivers all the Oreo, chocolate, and cookies-and-cream goodness of the full-sized drip cake. It’s a flexible recipe that adapts beautifully for any celebration
Tips & tricks
- You obviously don’t have to make straight edged buttercream if you don’t want to, but I just like the look of it. You can slather it on, and it’ll still taste damn delicious.
- However, if you do want to make it like this, I seriously recommend using a metal scraper for the decoration of the buttercream, and the disposable piping bags.. I wouldn’t be anywhere without them.
- All of the decorations are completely optional , but I love this style of cake.
- This cake will last in an airtight container for 3 days.
Oreo Drip Cake!
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients
- 400 g unsalted butter/baking spread
- 400 g light brown sugar
- 400 g eggs (roughly 8 medium)
- 325 g self raising flour
- 75 g cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 4 tbsp whole milk
Oreo Buttercream Frosting
- 300 g unsalted butter (room temp - not baking spread)
- 650 g icing sugar
- 154 g Oreos (1 pack)
- 2-5 tbsps whole milk
Decoration
- 175 g dark chocolate
- 1-2 tbsps vegetable/sunflower oil
- Oreos
- crushed Oreos
Instructions
For the Cake!
- Heat the oven to 180ºc/160ºc fan and line three 20cm/8inch cake tins with baking parchment – leave to the side.
- In a stand mixer, beat together the butter and light brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the flour, cocoa powder, beaten eggs, baking powder and beat again briefly till combined – try not to over beat the mixture! If its really thick, mix in the whole milk to loosen.
- Divide the mixture between the three tins and smooth it over – bake for 25-30 minutes until a skewer comes out clean when poked, and when the cake springs back.
- Once baked, leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, and then remove and leave to cool fully on a wire rack. If the cake has domed slightly, leave the cake to cool upside down to flatten it slightly.
For the Decoration!
- In a stand mixer, beat the room temperature butter with an electric mixer until it is smooth and loose and then beat in the icing sugar 1/3 at a time until its fully combined. Keep beating the buttercream for a few minutes so it starts to get fluffier and lighter.
- In a food processor, blitz the packet of Oreo’s to a fine crumb, and add into the buttercream. Beat the buttercream again till smooth, and use the Milk to loosen it to a smooth consistency.
- Once the cakes are cooled, put the first layer on the serving plate spread some of the buttercream onto the top of the first layer, add the second cake on top, and then top again with some of buttercream and then add the final sponge layer. Only use about 2 tbsps of buttercream per layer so that you have enough to decorate with!
- With the leftover buttercream, as you can see, I covered the sides (and top) too! Do a first layer of around the edge and top using a large metal scraper and refrigerate for 10 minutes. Repeat again with a slightly thicker layer of buttercream.
- I slather it on all over using an off -set spatula, and then run the metal scraper round until its smooth. If the Oreo’s were blitzed to a really fine crumb like you need, the buttercream can still be smooth around the edges even though there is biscuit in the mix!
- Once finished, melt the dark chocolate in a heat proof bowl until melted. Add in 1tbsp of oil and beat till smooth, continue to add oil till you get to a drippy consistency. I used 1+1/2 tbsps total. Using disposable piping bags, pipe it round the edge of the cake, edging over slight bits to create the drip.
- You don’t need to use too much per drip as it’ll drop quite far down by itself! Fill in the top in with the rest of the chocolate so the top is also covered. Refrigerate the cake for about 15 minutes.
- Using some left over buttercream, pipe little rosettes of buttercream onto the top and add a whole oreo – sprinkle on some crushed oreos and huzzah! You’re done! Enjoy!
Notes
- You obviously don’t have to make straight edged buttercream if you don’t want to, but I just like the look of it! You can slather it on, and it’ll still taste damn delicious.
- However, if you do want to make it like this, I seriously recommend using a metal scraper for the decoration of the buttercream, and the disposable piping bags.. I wouldn’t be anywhere without them!
- All of the decorations are completely optional – but I love this style of cake! To make a smaller version of the cake, use:
- Two 8″cake tins
- 300g butter
- 300g sugar
- 245g flour
- 55g cocoa powder
- 1.5tsps baking powder
- 6 medium eggs
- 3 tbsps of milk
- And it might take an extra 5-10 minutes to bake and use 2/3 of the decoration recipes!
- This cake will last in an airtight container for 3 days!
This is a full proof recipe. I made it today for my son’s 10th birthday. We all loved it. My son devoured it. It’s moist, perfect quantity of cream to cover the 3 layers.
Thanks Jane for a fantastic recipe.
Hi Jane, I forgot to add the baking powder to the cake will this be detrimental to the taste/texture
Thanks!
Made this for my nephews 16th birthday, looked fab, thanks for the recipe!
Note to other bakers if you’re attempting this cake.
I didnt have a food processor for the oreos so i just crushed them with a rolling pin, was fine for the butter cream on the outside but was a nightmare for the swirls on top as the biscuit kept getting caught in the nozzles.
definitely use a food processor if you can unless you fancy a melt down like I had
Hi Just Wondering if you can use olive oil for the drip?
I don’t tend to use olive oil myself as I find it can have quite a strong taste but if you don’t mind that then it should be fine!
Live this recipe 😋 Jane would this recipe be ok to split between 4 7inch tins as my nephew wants a four layered cake
Yeah I’m sure that would be fine! X
Hi Jane lovely looking cake. Making this now for my sisters birthday and the cakes have sunk a bit in the middle. Any ideas how I could salvage them? Shall I just use extra icing? Thanks
Yeah I would just cover the mistake in icing – sunken cakes often mean the oven door has been opened up too early during the baking process or the cakes needed a bit more baking time! x
Hey , I’m looking to make this cake and keep it in a cake box. Just wondered how tall the cake is once finished so I know what size box to get 🙂 thanks ! X
It can change depending on tins and stuff, but I usually say a standard 6″ tall cake box works!
Hi Jane,
I’m new to baking and I wanted to bake this cake for a friends birthday as it looks amazing. I wanted to know how do I ensure that all 3 tins with the cake mix are baked properly. Can I place 2 cake tins on one shelve in the oven?x
This depends on what type of oven you have – I have a fan oven, so I can use all shelves absolutely fine xx
Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful recipe!!! I’ve just made this gorgeous cake and I’m sure it will be one I make many, many more times!!
Make in the UK 🥰🍪❤
This cake looks fab! I’ve tried the Oreo cupcakes which were amazing and I’m thinking about being adventurous with this. If I wanted to make it a two layer cake, would I just make a third of the recipe? Thanks!☺️
Sorry I meant two thirds of the recipe!
Yes you would! X
Hi Jane, this cake looks fabulous and delicious. My boyfriend loves Oreo’s so I want to make this for his birthday this month. I have a 8 x 4-Inch cake pan. Just a short question, should I add a bit more ingredients or keep it the same as the above? Meg x
Hey! So do you only have one cake tin? x
made this for my daughters 19th birthday went down a storm! best cake ever she said. All her friends thought it was a professionally made cake – it was so easy to get a really effective cake. I had just made cupcakes for my other daughter’s’14thbirthday using the butter cream recipe as a topping on the top and half an Oreo – amazing results again. She took them into school as due to lockdown no parties allowed. Thanks for the lovely recopies on this site.
Amazing!! made it for fathers day. it was gorgeous thank you for the recipe!
Looking forward to trying this cake. How do you do the drip? Is there a particular size piping nozzle?
For drips I just use a small disposable piping bag and snip the end off xx
would I be able to bake the cakes the day before decorating? if so, shall I leave them wrapped and at room temp?
Yes – if I ever bake the sponges before decorating I always wrap well in clingfilm and leave at room temp xx
Hi!
Just wondering did you do a crumb coat? Xx
I actually didn’t for this one when I made it, but you definitely can if you want to x
Hi, my daughter tried this and it was delicious!
Hi I really want to make this for my partners birthday but we are stopping in a hotel overnight. Will the cake last in the room or in the boot of my car do you reckon or does it need to be put in the fridge for the night?
Hey! So the cake is best kept at room temperature so just in a cool place would be best (as it’s summer the car may be a bit hot!) x