Chocolate Buttermilk Cake with Cookies and Cream Frosting

The masterpiece.

As I may have mentioned earlier, we have started a nice tradition of celebrating birthdays at my office with team lunches. It is a great way to spend some time with my coworkers and a great excuse to bake! I was feeling a little cupcake fatigue and decided to bake a cake. I really wanted a classic chocolate cake. I asked my mom to recommend a couple, and decided that chocolate whiskey cake might be a bit too fancy for such an occasion. I ended up going with the classic Hershey's Heritage Chocolate cake.

This recipe is pretty traditional in that it uses buttermilk, cocoa, flour, eggs, sugar, baking powder and baking soda. I tweaked the recipe slightly, substituting cake flour for the all-purpose. I think it resulted in a lighter, fluffier cake.

Fluffy, thick, cream cheese goodness.

After baking the cake I had to decide what kind of frosting I wanted to make. I was leaning towards a classic chocolate buttercream, but AJ called it B-O-R-I-N-G. So I asked him what he would suggest. Of course he said cookies and cream! He probably didn't believe there was a recipe for that. But the internet is a wonderful thing, and I came across a cream cheese cookies and cream frosting recipe. Seriously, what could be better than cream cheese frosting with crushed Oreos?

Crushing up the Oreos.

The fun part about this recipe is that you get to smash a bunch of Oreos. Baking can be very therapeutic. Once you have beaten the cream cheese, butter, and sugar together, you add the oreos. This step is critical in that you do not want to overbeat the mixture - otherwise you will end up with a gray mess.

Perfect color - you can still see the white of the frosting base.

The frosting is a little tough to spread as a result of the chunks of cookie. Just pile it on, it is easier to spread if you start with a lot of frosting in the middle and work your way out to the edges. This frosting was insanely delicious. I think I could have eaten the frosting just by itself (oh wait I did...)

Slice of perfection.

This cake got some rave reviews. AJ said it was the best cake I've ever made. I don't know if that is true, but I do love a happy customer. I would definitely recommend this cake, especially when left in the fridge. It tastes amazing cold. So go on - indulge your youthful love of the Oreo.