Chris's Birthday Cake

Let me start this post by telling you about Chris's birthday last year.  Well, let me actually start earlier than that:  In January 2012, we went to Springfield to celebrate Justin's (Chris's brother) birthday.  We went out to dinner with the family, then went to Chris's mom's house to have cake... a delicious HOMEMADE cake Chris's mom had made.  Later that year, in March, we went back to Springfield to celebrate Chris's birthday with his family.  When we arrived for the weekend, I asked Chris if I should get a cake for the weekend's festivities, to which he replied, "No, I'm sure my mom will have made me a cake."  I'm sure he was thinking about the cake she made for Justin and assumed he would get the same treatment.  Well, to his surprise, his mom had not made him a cake.  (In her defense, Justin had specifically asked for her to make him a specific kind of cake and Chris had not specified any such request).  Well, let the sarcasm begin... Chris jokingly for all of last year, gave his mom a hard time about how Justin got a homemade birthday cake and he didn't.  Now, fast forward to March, 2013:  Come hell or high water, Chris's mom was going to make him a homemade cake this year (out of both love and probably to shut him up:).  Of course, Chris was not going to make it that easy for her; he went online and found both a delicious and complicated recipe for her to attempt.  She came to visit this last weekend (Chris's birthday is on March 19th, but this weekend worked out for everyones' schedules) and successful made him his cake... a deliciously, deadly cake.  "Why deadly?" you ask.  Well, read the ingredients below.  While this is probably one of the most delicious cakes I have every had (since my gallbladder attack, sadly, I could only try one bite), I'm pretty sure you would have a heart attack if you ate this regularly.

Chris's multi-layered, Oreo Dream Cake

RECIPE

For The Cake

1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

For the Oreo Buttercream Icing

1 stick salted butter - room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter - room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 pounds confectioner's sugar
3-4 tablespoons very cold milk
25 Oreo cookies chopped

DIRECTIONS

For The Cake

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line the bottoms of (2) 9 inch round cake pans with parchment and grease pans thoroughly.
2.  In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mix, salt, vanilla, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs, and water.  Stir in chocolate chips and divide batter into the prepared pans.
3.  Bake for 25-35 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking time.  Bake until the top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Cool cake for at least 30 minutes before inverting. Allow to cool completely on wire rack.

For The Oreo Buttercream Icing

1.  Cream the butters in a bowl with an electric or stand mixer.  Add the vanilla and combine well.
2.  Begin adding in the sugar and mixing thoroughly after each addition.  After all of the sugar has been added and mixed thoroughly, begin adding the very cold milk one tablespoon at a time, combing well after each addition until you reach the desired consistency.
3.  Fold in chopped Oreo Cookies and frost your cooled cake layers.