This brown sugar layer cake recipe bakes up so moist and flavorful! It's filled with an edible oatmeal cookie dough and frosted with a silky brown sugar buttercream frosting.
Cake always feels like a good idea. Especially when celebrating! This week marks two sugar bugs' second birthday so of course, I am making cake! And I'm decorating with one of my favorite styles; the semi-naked cake.
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This brown sugar cake can be made as a three layer 6" cake or a two layer 8" cake. It's filled with a super easy edible oatmeal cookie dough and frosted with a dreamy brown sugar buttercream. This cake is decadent and sweet.
why use brown sugar in a cake?
Brown sugar is essentially granulated sugar with the addition of molasses. When we bake a cake with brown sugar, it adds moisture to the cake. And moisture in a cake is rarely a bad thing! The brown sugar also adds a bit of softness to the texture of the cake.
what is a semi-naked cake?
A semi-naked cake is decorated with minimal frosting on the sides. This gives an elegant and rustic appearance and it allows the cake layers to show through. It is an approachable and simple style; perfect for people who don't consider themselves cake decorators. It's the method of decorating that first gave me more confidence in my cake decorating skills. A semi-naked cake is more or less a crumb coat.
what tools do I need to decorate a semi-naked cake?
- Cake turntable - I have an Ateco turntable and love it, but they are not inexpensive {mine was a wedding gift!}. I bought this cake turntable for my mom and it works great!
- Bench scraper - I have two that I use regularly. The one I use most frequently is a smaller bench scraper and the other is a cake smoother from Wilton.
- Off set spatula - I also use two different sizes of spatulas, one is smaller and it is the one I use the most. The second one is a larger version and is my husband's favorite to use.
let's make brown sugar cake!
This cake comes together in a very traditional fashion. You start by creaming together butter and the sugars. Then add the oil and vanilla, followed by the egg whites. The addition of the egg whites will make the batter look curdled, don't let this worry you. The batter will come together as you continue to beat the batter and add the additional ingredients. See the recipe card for step by step instructions.
The baked cakes have a nice golden hue to them and are done when a cake tester comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. The edges of the cake will also be slightly darker and will have pulled away from the edges of the pan. This recipe bakes fairly flat and I did not have to trim any domed tops off any of my test cakes.
how to make edible oatmeal cookie dough
This edible oatmeal cookie dough comes together in a few minutes with the help of a food processor. I love my Cuisinart; it's over 20 years old and still going strong.
First add the cold butter, salt and both sugars to the bowl of a food processor and process for about a minute, until the butter and sugars are mostly combined. Add the milk and vanilla and pulse about 30 seconds. Scrape the bowl and add the quick oats and process about 20 seconds. Scrape the bowl again and process another 10-20 seconds. And just like that, edible oatmeal cookie dough.😋
I have you save out about a half cup of the cookie dough to create the cookie dough balls that garnish the top of the cake. You will want to chill this dough while you put the cake together.
Easy brown sugar buttercream
This easy American buttercream also comes together in a few minutes. I use a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, but a hand-held mixer would work too. The brown sugar buttercream has a silky and light texture. You may notice a very slight graininess to the frosting due to the addition of brown sugar, but this should become less noticeable the longer the frosting sits.
how to decorate a semi-naked cake
- Start by smoothing frosting over the top of the cake; an off-set spatula works great here! It's fine if the frosting "falls" over the sides as you work as you will be adding frosting to the sides of the cake as well.
- Next add buttercream to the sides of the cake. You will be scraping much of this off, so the layer doesn't need to be very thick.
- Once the sides have been covered with buttercream, smooth with a bench scraper, while turning the cake on the turntable. You will want to hold the bench scrape angled towards you; many tutorials say at a 45° angle, but I find I am often closer to a 30° angle when I work.
- After several turns, you will likely need to add buttercream to any gaps. Then continue smoothing until some cake is showing through and you are happy with the look.
- To finish, use your (clean) off set spatula to smooth any frosting that is showing above the top of the cake. Smooth from the outside towards the center of the cake. It is helpful to clean the spatula between each swipe.
to finish the cake
I used a Wilton 1M tip to create swirls of the frosting along the outer edge of the top of the cake. Then take the reserved and chilled cookie dough out of the refrigerator and roll the dough into 1-2 teaspoon sized balls and place on top of the swirls. It's helpful to chill the cake for a couple hours to help it "set". You can serve the cake chilled or allow it to sit at room temperature for 30-60 minutes before serving.
Remember to snap a picture and tag me @twosugarbugs on Instagram if you make this Brown Sugar Cake with Oatmeal Cookie Dough Filling. It warms my heart to see you bring these recipes to life! Thank you for being here and happy baking!
more cake recipes to try ~
- Cookie Butter Cake
- Homemade Raspberry Cake
- Perfect Coconut Cake
- Homemade Apple Spice Cake with Mascarpone Frosting
- Vanilla Snack Cake
If you make this recipe {or any recipe!} from two sugar bugs please come back and leave a review and a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star rating. I read every comment, and I LOVE hearing from you!
Brown Sugar Cake with Oatmeal Cookie Dough Filling
This brown sugar layer cake recipe bakes up so moist and flavorful! It's filled with an edible oatmeal cookie dough and frosted with a silky brown sugar buttercream frosting.
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour (313g)
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, room temperature (168g)
- 1 cup dark brown sugar (200g)
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100g)
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil (45mL)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2 large egg whites
- 1 ¼ cups buttermilk (310g)
Oatmeal Cookie dough
- ½ cup unsalted butter, cold and cut in pieces (113g)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100g)
- ⅔ cup dark brown sugar (135g)
- ¼ cup milk (60mL)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups quick oats (188g)
Brown sugar buttercream
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (226g)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup dark brown sugar (100g)
- 3 cups powdered sugar (360g)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream (60mL)
Instructions
- For the brown sugar cake: Preheat oven to 325°F and prepare either 2 - 8” baking pans OR 3 - 6” baking pans. Butter the pans well, then place a parchment round into the bottom of each pan and butter again.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a medium - large bowl and set aside.
- Cream together the butter and both sugars on medium-high in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment for 3 minutes. Scrape up and down the bowl and add the vegetable oil and vanilla, beat 1 minute more. Add the egg whites and beat until incorporated, scraping the bowl as necessary. Then add the whole eggs and beat until light and fluffy, another 1-2 minutes. Scrape up and down the bowl and then add the flour mixture and milk on low speed in alternating additions (⅓ flour, ½ milk, ⅓ flour, ½ milk, ⅓ flour) until just combined. Divide the batter evenly between the pans (I use my scale to make sure they are even). Bake 30-35 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 15 minutes or so and then remove from the pans to cool completely.
- For the oatmeal cookie dough: Add the butter, salt and both sugars to the bowl of a food processor and process for about a minute, until the butter and sugars are mostly combined. Add the milk and vanilla and pulse about 30 seconds. Scrape the bowl and add the quick oats and process about 20 seconds. Scrape the bowl again and process another 10-20 seconds. Remove about a ½ cup of the cookie dough and refrigerate while you make the butter cream and build the cake.
- For the brown sugar buttercream: Using a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk the butter and salt on high for one minute. Scrape up and down the bowl, add the brown sugar and beat another 2 minutes. Again, scrape up and down the bowl and add the powdered sugar on low 1 cup at a time, scraping a few times during the process. Add the vanilla and heavy cream with the 3rd cup of powdered sugar and whisk on high 4-5 minutes more. The buttercream will have a soft, almost soft serve ice cream or mayonnaise consistency.
- To build the cake: Place one layer on a cake board or serving plate, flat side down (I like to place a small dab of frosting on the cake board to “glue” the cake onto the board so it doesn’t slip around while you are putting the cake together).
- For the three layer 6”cake, spread 1 cup of the oatmeal cookie dough evenly over the first cake layer followed by the second cake cake layer, another cup of cookie dough and the final cake layer. For the two layer 8” cake, use all the cookie dough on the first layer and then add the final cake layer.
- To achieve the semi-naked look, add buttercream to the top of the cake and smooth it with an offset spatula. Then apply buttercream to the sides of the cake. Since we are going for a semi-naked look, it doesn’t have to be a very thick layer. Once the sides are covered, use a bench scraper to smooth the sides of the cake. You want to see the cake layers peeking through. If you have areas that need more buttercream, just add a little more and smooth it until you like the way it looks.
- Remove the reserved and chilled cookie dough from the refrigerator and roll the dough into about 1-2 teaspoon size balls. You should get 6-8 of them.
- Take the remaining buttercream and place it in a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 1M or an open star tip. Pipe tall swirls of buttercream around the outside of the top of the cake. Top each buttercream swirl with an oatmeal cookie dough ball.
- Refrigerate the cake for a couple of hours to firm up the layers and buttercream. You can serve the cake chilled or allow it to warm at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour before serving.
Notes
Cover and store any leftovers at room temperature for a couple of days or for up to one week in the refrigerator.
Cake recipe adapted from Life Love and Sugar.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
16Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 615Total Fat: 31gSaturated Fat: 18gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 97mgSodium: 397mgCarbohydrates: 79gFiber: 1gSugar: 58gProtein: 6g
The nutrition information is an estimate and may not be entirely accurate.
Josiah - DIY Thrill
This cake looks so yummy!
Tasia
Thank you Josiah! We really enjoyed it!
Zoe
Amazing cake!! Are there any weight differences within brown and granulated sugar...in grams persay?
Tasia
Thank you Zoe. No, brown sugar or granulated sugar are both 200g per cup. If purely going by cup, you will want to pack the brown sugar into the measuring cup.
Jenny Pink
I've been trying to experiment more with oatmeal so this is a timely recipe for me to stumble across! Thank you for sharing!
Tasia
Thank you Jenny! I hope you get a chance to try and enjoy this cake recipe!
Christie
Wow that brown sugar cake with that cookie dough filling is honestly making me salivate! I love how pretty you styled it Tasia! Happy 2 year anniversary to Two Sugar Bugs! So happy to have come across your blog 🙂
Tasia
Thank you so much Christie, I am happy to have connected with you as well! This cake combination came out even better than I had hoped and was perfect for celebrating!
Heidi | The Frugal Girls
Your scratch made brown sugar cake looks absolutely heavenly. It even looks perfect when sliced. Those cute little cookie dough balls are adorable!!
Tasia
Thank you Heidi! The brown sugar cake is amazing all on it's own, but is pure heaven when combined with the cookie dough and frosting!
Dennis Yannakos
Will make this as a treat meal for my wife. Thanks!
Kitchen Utensils
Tasia
Thank you Dennis! I hope your wife enjoys this cake!