CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE CAKE
Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake! Everyone’s favorite cookie turned into a show stopping layer cake made with rum syrup, dark chocolate ganache and brown sugar buttercream.
So, now that I’ve closed my cake business I’m finally ready to start posting some of my cake recipes. Year after year, this Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake was one of my most popular flavors. I guess it’s not surprising since everyone loves chocolate chip cookies. I can’t count how many customers said “I’m not really into cake, but I love this cake”. If you’re one of those people who like cookie dough as much or more than the actual cookie, this is a cake for you.
BROWN SUGAR BUTTERCREAM – WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?
First of all, there’s a giant cookie layer at the base of the cake. That alone would be enough to make me love this cake. But I think the best part is the brown sugar buttercream. The butterscotch/cookie dough flavor is completely irresistible.
I spent hours playing with recipes, with varying results, until I finally realized that it wasn’t necessary to create a new recipe. Can you guess what the difference between granulated and brown sugar is? A little molasses! Granulated sugar is just sugar that’s had all the molasses removed. Dark brown sugar has a little more molasses than light brown sugar.
So, lightening bolt, to make brown sugar buttercream I just had to add molasses to my regular Italian Meringue Buttercream recipe. This was the perfect solution for me since I made buttercream in large batches for my cake business. I didn’t want to stop and make a separate batch of buttercream for the Chocolate Chip Cookie cakes.
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE CAKE
Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake! Everyone's favorite cookie turned into a show stopping layer cake made with rum syrup, dark chocolate ganache and brown sugar buttercream.
2 hrPrep Time
30 minCook Time
2 hr, 30Total Time
Ingredients
Chocolate Chip Cookie Layer
1 cup (5 oz, 150g) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (4 oz, 113g) butter, room temperature
1/4 cup (2 oz, 57g) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (4 oz, 114g) brown sugar
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (6 oz, 170g)
Chocolate Chip Cake
1 Recipe Vanilla Butter Cake
1 1/4 cups (8 oz, 215g) mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon all purpose flour
Brown Sugar Butterceam
1 Recipe Italian Meringue Buttercream
2 tablespoons molasses
Assembly
1/2 recipe rum Simple Syrup
1 cup ganache at room temperature
Instructions
Make the cookie layer
Line an 8" or 9" cake pan with a parchment round
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Cream the butter with both sugars until light and fluffy
Add the egg and mix until combined
Add the flour, baking soda and salt
Add the chips all at once and mix until combined
Spread the dough into the cake pan. The dough should be about 1/2" thick (if you have excess dough use it to make cookies)
Bake until the middle of the cookie puffs up a little and then collapses, about 20 minutes.
Cool completely in the pan
Flip the pan over and bang one edge of the pan a couple of times. The cookie should loosen and fall out
Set aside at room temperature until ready to assemble the cake
Bake the Cake
Line two 8" or 9" cake pans with parchment rounds
Toss the chocolate chips with the tablespoon of water until moistened. Sprinkle the all purpose flour over the chips and toss to distribute the flour. Set the chips aside while you make the cake batter
Mix the Vanilla Butter Cake according to the recipe, folding the chocolate chips into the batter just before the whipped egg whites
Pour 1/3 of the batter into one pan and 2/3 of the batter into the other pan
Spread the batter evenly and bake until the cake springs back when lightly pressed, about 25 minutes depending on pan size.
Cool the cakes in the pans for 5 minutes
Run a small spatula around the cakes and remove them from the pans
Cool the cakes completely
Wrap each cake in plastic and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight (see note 1)
Make the Brown Sugar Buttercream
Make the according to the recipe. Mix in the molasses at the end
Divide the buttercream in 1/2, reserve one 1/2 for icing the cake, use the remaining for filling
Assemble the Cake
Make the rum syrup according to the recipe
Trim the sides and top of both cake layers to remove excess brown edges. Split the larger cake in two, horizontally, you will now have a total of three cake layers
Place the chocolate chip cookie layer on a serving platter or cardboard cake circle
Spread the ganache evenly over the cookie
Place one of the cake layers on the cookie
Brush the layer generously with rum syrup
Spread 1/2 of the buttercream reserved for the filling onto the cake layer
Place another cake layer, sprinkle with syrup and spread with remaining filling
Top with the last cake layer and sprinkle that layer with syrup
If the cookie base is bigger than the cake layers you can trim the cookie so its even with the cake layers
Crumb coat the cake with a thin layer of buttercream and chill until the crumb coat is set
Ice with a final coating of buttercream, reserving a little buttercream for decoration.
Pipe a border around the top edge of the cake and decorate with mini chocolate chips
The cake will keep at room temperature for several days
Notes
1-You can use the cake as soon as it cools to room temperature, but it's easier to trim and split when it's cold. 2-All the components of the cake can be made ahead and refrigerated or frozen until ready to assemble.
