Insane Oreo Cake (eggless)

Before I delve into why the cake recipe featured in this post is truly insane(ly fantastic), I have a very important question for the food blogosphere.  Does anyone have an honest-to-goodness deliciously delectable eggless lemon square recipe to share?  I would love one that has a creamy lemon topping - unfortunately I think that can be attributed to the egg in traditional recipes - rather than jelly-like.  The only potential candidates that I have come across contain tofu and I am a bit skeptical about the results.  However, if somebody can vouch for a tofu recipe, I am willing to try it (I am a tofu lover in savoury dishes, I have yet to bake with it)!  Let me know in the comments or email me :)

Are you ready for the insanity?

Making an insane Oreo cake has been on my radar for months now, ever since I saw a layered chocolate cake with an Oreo cheesecake centre at a local coffee shop.  Then I came across this post by Bakerita and was re-inspired to attempt this cheesecake/cake monstrosity masterpiece.  (The Bakerita cake looks like it would be much lighter, as it is a whipped-cream based centre and the cake is not fudgy.  It happens to be an eggless recipe too! I haven't tried hers myself, but I would recommend checking it out, she has some gorgeous looking dessert recipes.)  Basically my insane cake has three rich components that marry beautifully: fudgy chocolate cake layers, a cream cheese and oreo filling, and a sweet creamy frosting that attempts to mimic an Oreo's creme centre (but is actually several times more delicious).  As you can tell, I am pretty proud of this one ;)  Also, it is the kind of cake that you can have way too much fun decorating!

Way too much fun decorating. (Okay, okay... I admit that I'm no Picasso!)

 
Part of the reason I am so proud of this recipe is that I was finally able to adapt an eggless cake recipe to be fudgy and moist!  I originally made a larger cake (9inx13in tin) for this recipe but found that the ratio of cake to filling was too large.  The pictures for this post were taken with the larger size cake cut to a smaller size, but the recipe calls for a smaller cake (9in square/round tin), so expect to see a larger stripe of filling in your final product.

So, without further ado, here is the recipe (final disclaimer: it is rich):

Insane Oreo Cake (eggless)

Makes 10-12 servings

Cake
Adapted from Taste of Home

• 1 cup plus 2 tbsp flour, sifted
• 1/2 cup cocoa, sifted
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup cold brewed coffee
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil (my preference is canola)
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Filling

• 500g/16oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup plus 2 tbsp powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 10 Oreos, chopped

Frosting
(double amounts to frost entire cake)

• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease a 9-inch cake tin and line the bottom with parchment paper.
2. Combine flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. 
3. Combine coffee, oil, vinegar, and vanilla in a medium bowl.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix until combined and smooth.  If desired, use a hand blender to blend out any lumps.  Pour into prepared tin.
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes.  Use the toothpick test to confirm doneness.  You do not want to overbake this cake!
6. Cool cake for ten minutes in the pan and then let it cool to room temperature.
7. While the cake is cooling, make the filling.  Beat the cream cheese in a medium bowl until it is smooth.  Mix in the salt and vanilla extract.
8. Add the powdered sugar to the cream cheese mixture a couple of tablespoons at a time, mixing until incorporated after each addition.
9. Add the flour to the cream cheese mixture and mix until just incorporated. Mix in crushed Oreos.
10. Prepare the frosting.  Whip the cream with the vanilla until hard peaks form (the consistency of whipped cream).  
11. Add the powdered sugar to the cream a couple of tablespoons at a time, mixing until incorporated after each addition. 
12. Time to assemble the cake!  Carefully cut the cooled cake in half horizontally so that you have roughly equal sized, level top and bottom layers.  Spoon the cream cheese filling on top of the bottom layer and spread so that it covers the cake layer evenly.  Place the top layer of cake on top of the cream cheese filling.  Spread the frosting over the top of the cake (and along the sides, if you have doubled the frosting recipe).
13. Refrigerate the filled and frosted cake for at least an hour before serving. (Keep leftovers stored in the refrigerator.)  Serve!

I hope you enjoy :)