Thursday was my husbands birthday. It brings me immense joy to create him decadent layer cakes each year when April 26 rolls around, even if he has rather boringly requested smarties cakes for the past 3 years running. So I was ready to be done with smarties and move on to something far more exciting, so imagine my disappointment when I asked him what flavour cake he wanted and he told me he just wanted some cookies!! Some cookies?? on your birthday! I wasn't impressed - everyone needs a cake on their birthday! So I started dreaming up how I could incorporate cookies into a cake and this over the top cookie dough layer cake was born!
I took inspiration from these
cookie dough cupcakes I have made in the past, we both agree they are some of the best we have ever had so I knew using this recipe I couldn't go wrong!
There are not many days where I will play Fifa alongside my husband on his playstation (in fact yesterday was the first time this has ever happened, and probably will ever happen considering just how badly I did!) or when I will happily listen to him mixing drum and bass (I can't stand drum and bass music at the best of times, let alone when it is played at about 20 decibels louder than my ears can handle!) and watching Avengers in 3D at the cinema would certainly never be my first choice but birthdays are all about indulging the one you love so that's exactly what I did! Although I will say that the only thing motivating me to sit through that crazy superhero movie was the thought that as soon as it was done we would be heading home to finally try a piece of this 5 layers of deliciousness!
and it was so amazing I'd sit through that whole movie again if it meant getting a slice of this cake!
I will start by saying this is not a quick to throw together sort of cake! By my count, there are 5 separate parts that make up this recipe, and so this cake is definitely a labour of love! Not your everyday bake sort of cake but certainly worth putting in the extra effort for a special occasion!
On Wednesday evening I whipped up the batch of chocolate chip cookies I was going to use to decorate the cake because the dough needed to be chilled for 24 hours.
On Thursday morning I woke up super early and baked up 2 layers of chocolate chip cake. Whilst the cake was baking, I made up the batch of raw cookie dough for the middle of the cake. After that was ready, I made up a batch of chocolate fudge filling. I put all of those layers together and refrigerated the whole thing to give it some stability before I made the frosting. When you break it down, there is no single step that is particularly time consuming and they can easily be split over a number of days.
I have seen many variations of cookie dough cakes sweeping the internet, most of them just sandwich cookie dough between two layers of standard white cake. I really thought the additional layers of milk fudge either side of the dough kept the cake from being too sickly, and so I'd recommend you don't skip out that step!
This is a must bake for any serious cookie lover in your life!
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Layer Cake:
Serves 12-14
Adapted from Tracey's Culinary Adventures
David Lebovitz's Cookies:
312g plain flour
3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/8 tsp salt
225g unsalted butter, at room temperature
200g packed light brown sugar
168g granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
400g milk chocolate chunks (you can use dark if you prefer but I don't like the taste of dark)
For the Cake:
340g unsalted butter, at room temperature
300g packed light brown sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
333g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt
225ml whole milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
182g milk chocolate chips
Cookie Dough Filling:
56g unsalted butter, at room temperature
75g packed light brown sugar
140g plain flour
200g condensed milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
75g milk chocolate chips
Milk Chocolate Fudge filling:
From Cupcake Crazy Gem
100g unsalted butter
13g cocoa powder
212g double cream
5g cornflour
5g unsalted butter, melted
280g liquid glucose
150g dark chocolate (I used 66%)
270g milk chocolate
Cookie Dough Frosting:
340g unsalted butter, at room temperature
150g packed light brown sugar
438g icing sugar
125g plain flour
3/4 tsp salt
55ml whole milk
2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
To make the cookies: This needs to be done 24 hours before you make the cake because the dough needs to chill. In a small bowl whisk the flour with the bicarbonate of soda and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter with the brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla extract at medium speed until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until thoroughly incorporated, then blend in the flour mixture and chocolate chunks (these should be chopped into 1/2 to 1 inch chunks).
On a lightly floured work surface, divide the dough into quarters. Shape each quarter into a log about 9 inches long. Wrap the logs in cling film and refrigerate for 24 hours. Slice the dough logs into 3/4 inch disks and place on a baking tray 3 inches apart. Bake the cookies at 180 degrees C, rotating half way through, for about 8-10 minutes or until the centers are lightly browned. Let the cookies cool on the tray for 5 minutes and then transfer them to wire racks to cool completely. This will make more cookies than you need for this cake, dough logs can be kept refrigerated for up to a week or up to a month in the freezer.
To make the cake: Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease two 8" cake pans. Measure the flour into a medium bowl, remove two tablespoons of the flour into a separate bowl with the chocolate chips. Coat the chocolate chips completely in flour using your fingers (this will prevent them sinking). Add the baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt to the bowl containing only the flour and whisk to combine.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy (about 4-5 mins). Scrape down the sides of the bowl, adding the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. With the mixer on low, alternately add the dry ingredients and the milk to the bowl, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix until just incorporated. Mix in the vanilla. Finally, add the chocolate chips that were combined with the flour and stir them in with a spatula.
Divide the batter between the two pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let the cakes cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the cookie dough filling: In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and brown sugar until pale and fluffy (about 4-5 mins). Add the flour, condensed milk and vanilla and beat to combine. Stir in the chocolate chips using a spatula. Wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate until it firms up (about an hour). Once it has had time to firm up, remove it from the fridge and shape it into a circle shape using a small rolling pin.
To make the chocolate fudge filling: Melt 100g butter in a pan. Once melted, add the cocoa powder and mix for 2 minutes. Pour double cream into the pan and mix until thoroughly combined. Melt 5g butter in microwave, stir in the cornflour and add this to the pan. Mix for 3 minutes. Add the liquid glucose and turn off the heat. Mix for 3 minutes and then add the dark chocolate, followed by the milk chocolate. Keep mixing until all the chocolate chunks are melted in and the fudge is completely smooth. Leave to cool and so it stiffens up a little.
To make the cookie dough frosting: In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy (about 4-5 mins). Mix in the icing sugar until smooth. Beat in the flour and salt. Mix in the vanilla and milk until well blended and smooth.
This recipe makes me really glad that I have two KitchenAid bowls! haha
If you did want to cut out one of the steps, you could double the amount of cookie dough filling you make and just bake up your 10 cookies using that dough to decorate the outside of the cake. It makes great tasting cookies too but because this was for a special occasion I wanted to try David Lebovitz's cookie recipe since it's meant to be the best. It was a very good cookie recipe but I wouldn't go as far as to say it's the best - my search continues for the best chocolate chip cookie recipe! Let me know if you've found it!
If you do make David Lebovitz's cookies you will have tons left over and you will also have lots of fudge left over, you know what that means - fudge filled cookie sandwiches! oh yeah, we tried some last night and they were so tasty!
To assemble:
Cut the excess domed tops of the cakes off so that they are nice and flat.
Turn the cake upside down so that the crumbs are on the underneath. Cover the cake in a thick layer of chocolate fudge, spreading it out using a palette knife.
Get your round shaped raw cookie dough and carefully place it on top of the fudge. You may need to reshape it slightly with your fingers so it is not larger than the layer of fudge beneath it.
Get your other cake and frost it with a layer of fudge. Flip the cake over so that the fudge layer sticks to the cookie dough. At this stage put the whole cake in the fridge for about 45 mins to an hour. It will help it firm up before the frosting stage.
Take it out of the fridge. The fudge will be firm at this point so reshape any areas where fudge might be dripping over the side of the cake. Get your cookie dough frosting and do a crumb coat using a palette knife. Put it back in the fridge for 30 minutes. Take it out and do your final layer of frosting (you may want to whip up your frosting again to make it fluffy just before you do this). Get a pint glass filled with hot water and a knife. Put the knife in the water and smooth the top of the frosting and the sides. Once your cake is completely covered and smooth use 10 cookies to place around the side of the cake. Use 1/2 cup chocolate chips to decorate around the edge of the top of the cake. I melted 1 cup chocolate candy melts in the microwave and then put them in a piping bag to pipe the message. I piped it onto a piece of greaseproof paper and once it was hard, I used a knife to transfer the message to the cake. If you are confident in your piping skills you can pipe it straight on!
Serve and enjoy!
