Samoas Cake
All the flavors of the Girl Scout cookie packed into a delicious Samoas Cake! Features a caramel chocolate double drip and a ring of cookies!
Servings: 16 servings
Calories: 778kcal
Equipment
- 1 10 inch cardboard cake circle (an 8-inch circle would work; I've just found transporting cakes easier on larger circles)
- 2 Squeeze bottles or piping bags (for cake drips)
- large piping bag + star tip (for decorating)
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake layers
- 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour (350g)
- 2 ¼ cups granulated sugar (450g)
- 1 ¼ cup cocoa powder (100g)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¾ tsp salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks/250g; softened)
- 4 large eggs (at room temperature)
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk (350mL)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese (one package; softened)
- 1 cup butter (two sticks, softened)
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 1-2 Tablespoons milk
- 2 Tablespoons caramel topping (you can purchase this online – Smuckers Salted Caramel is the thickest I’ve found and one of my favorites – or make your own!)
- 1 Tablespoon clear vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt (if using unsalted butter)
Chocolate ganache drip
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (12 ounces)
- 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream (12 ounces)
Decorations
- ¼ cup caramel topping
- 1 box Samoas Girl Scout cookies (I chopped about 16 to fill the cake and used almost as many to decorate the top)
Instructions
Chocolate Cake layers
- Preheat an oven to 350℉ (180℃). Grease 3 8-inch cake pans with baker's floured spray and/or line pans with parchment rounds.
- Mix together dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt) in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle (or hand mixer or whisk) until well combined. Add in bits of softened butter, mixing until no lumps of butter are visible and the mixture looks crumbly.
- Whisk together eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and mix until no dry ingredients are visible. Scrape down the bowl and beat for another 20 seconds.
- Fill the three pans evenly - I find a kitchen scale helpful for this part, and each of mine weighed out to about 550g. Bake for 30-35 min or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow cake layers to cool for 10-15 minutes on a wire cooling rack before removing from pans, and cool completely before frosting. Set in the fridge or freezer to accelerate the cooling process if desired. (While you’re waiting, make your frosting and ganache for the filling and drip!)
Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
- Beat together softened cream cheese and butter; slowly add in powdered sugar alternating with milk, caramel, and vanilla until frosting reaches a spreadable consistency. Add vanilla and salt and beat until well combined.
Chocolate ganache drip
- Place chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Add whipping cream and microwave on half power in 30-second intervals, stirring in between until fully melted and smooth.
Assembly
- Once your cakes are cool, level them (if needed/desired). This can be done with a cake leveler or a large serrated knife and a ruler. Place a smear of frosting or ganache on your cake circle (to keep the cake from sliding while you decorate it) and center your first cake layer in the center of the circle. Spread the layer with frosting.
- I piped a rim of frosting around the outer edge and filled the cake with chopped Samoas and a drizzle of chocolate ganache and caramel. Optional but absolutely recommended! Repeat the process with your remaining cake layers – I like to flip the last one upside down to make the top edge of the cake easier to frost.
- Now you're ready to crumb-coat . If you're unfamiliar with crumb-coating, it's just what it sounds like - a thin layer of frosting over the entire outside of the cake to keep crumbs out of your final layer.
- Once your crumb coat has set (this takes about 5-10 minutes in the fridge), add your final layer of frosting and smooth. I like to use an offset spatula and bench scraper for this part. Once your cake is covered, place it into the freezer to set the frosting and to chill the cake in preparation for adding the ganache drip!
Okay - the fun part! Decorating!
- When your ganache has cooled to a moderate temperature – it should feel slightly warm but still be fairly liquid – transfer to a squeeze bottle or piping bag. A spoon will work if you don’t have either of those, I've just found spoons to be a bit more difficult to work with.
- Slowly drizzle ganache around the upper edge of your cake, pausing every couple of inches to let more ganache fall in a drip down the side of the cake. Repeat the process with caramel sauce and return cake to the fridge or freezer to set the drips.
- Now – options! I chilled the rest of my ganache and used that to decorate the top, but frosting will work as well. Add a swirl of ganache or frosting and tilt a Samoas cookie against the frosting swirl. Repeat this process around the top edge of your cake. Sprinkle on a few more chopped cookies and add another drizzle of caramel/ganache if you like – do whatever you think looks the best! More cookies = more better in my book. :: wink::
- And you’re done! Enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 778kcal | Carbohydrates: 100g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 38g