Preparation Steps

• Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla extract.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in the hot water until the batter is smooth.
• For the cream cheese swirl, beat together the softened cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until combined.
• Pour half of the chocolate cake batter into the prepared baking pan.
• Dollop spoonfuls of the cream cheese mixture over the batter. Sprinkle half of the crushed Oreos over the cream cheese.
• Pour the remaining chocolate cake batter over the cream cheese and Oreos. Dollop the remaining cream cheese mixture and sprinkle the remaining crushed Oreos on top.
• Gently swirl the cream cheese into the batter with a knife or skewer to create the earthquake effect.
• Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs attached.
• Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting it onto a wire rack to cool completely.