Hi All, Ami here! Today I am sharing a very special cake I made for a very special person. My son’s 5th birthday. I can not believe I have a 5 year old! This year he requested a monster truck birthday party and together we decided on the cake flavor….chocolate chip cookie dough.
This cake consists of a brown sugar chocolate chip cake layered with an edible cookie dough filling. I frosted the cake with a vanilla buttercream since I needed a white base for the cake design. If you want an outer frosting that pairs with the cake flavor some options would be a brown sugar buttercream or a cookie butter buttercream. A chocolate buttercream would pair nicely as well.
How to make edible cookie dough
There are two important steps you need to take to make a cookie dough that is safe to eat. First, remove the egg and second, heat treat the flour. Most people know that eating raw eggs gives you the potential risk of getting salmonella, but did you know it is not safe to eat raw flour? Uncooked flour can contain E coli, therefore we highly recommend heating your flour to kill the bacteria. To do so, measure the amount of flour you need for the recipe then spread it in an even layer on a cookie sheet and heat at 350F for about 8-10 minutes. Keep an eye on the flour to make sure it doesn’t brown. You are aiming for an internal temp of 165F. Once you have heated the flour allow it to cool before using in your recipe. The flour may need to be sifted if it clumped during the heating process.
Assembling the Cake
The assembly of this cake is very easy. The filling of the cake consist of just the cookie dough filling and no additional buttercream. The cookie dough can be difficult to spread between the layers of the cake and you don’t want to risk damaging the cake layers. We have a little trick to make the assembly much easier. After you make the cookie dough, line the inside of two 6″ round cake pans with plastic wrap. Make sure the piece of plastic wrap overhangs the cake pan by at least three inches on each side. Set aside about 1/2 cup of the cookie dough to use to decorate the cake (or however much you think you might need). Divide the remainder of the dough between the two cake pans. Using the back side of a spoon or clean fingers, spread and press down the dough so it evenly covers the whole cake pan. Wrap the excess plastic wrap over the top of the cookie dough and refrigerated for about 10 minutes. Once the pans of cookie dough have chilled, they can easily be removed and stacked with the layers of cake. If you are using buttercream for just the outside of the cake like we did then you will only need a half batch of the recipe below. Once frosted I topped the cake with crushed chocolate chip cookies and Oreos and balls of cookie dough. I decided to add the Oreos in since I was going for the look of dirt and mud and wanted the various shades of brown. The tire tracks were made using an extra tire from on of my son’s monster trucks. I cleaned the tire thoroughly and diluted some black food gel with a tad bit of vodka, then rolled the tire in the food coloring then on the cake.
I am so happy with how this cake turned out and more importantly my son loved it! To make it even better we served the cake with vanilla ice-cream. If you make this recipe we would love to know what you think. Give us a comment below or tag us on Instagram. Happy Baking!
Chocolate Chip Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2/3 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 2/3 cup egg whites
- 1 cup buttermilk room temperature
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips plus 1 tbsp flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray three 6 inch pans with cooking spray and line bottom with parchment.
- In a medium bowl mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and both sugars until they are fully combined and light and fluffy.
- Add the egg whites, vanilla and vegetable oil and continue to mix on low until incorporated. Scrape the bowl as needed.
- With the mixer still on low speed, alternate adding the dry ingredients and buttermilk. Start with adding about 1/3 of the dry ingredients, half the buttermilk and so on. Make sure to start and end with the dry ingredients.
- Toss the mini chocolate chips with one tablespoon flour and then stir the coated mini chocolate chips into the batter. It's important to coat the chocolate chips with the flour since it keeps them from sinking to the bottom of the batter.
- Divide the batter evenly between the three prepared pans.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool in the pans for about 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Edible Cookie Dough
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups flour heat treated
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 2/3 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 cup milk room temperature
- 2/3 cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Heat treat the flour: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper then add the flour in an even layer. Bake the flour for 8-10 minutes. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t brown. Once done allow to cool before using.
- In a small bowl mix together the heat treated flour and salt then set aside.
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter until creamy. Add both sugars and beat on high until pale and fluffy (about 2 minutes).
- Add vanilla and mix until combined. Scrape down the side and bottom of the bowl to make sure everything is fully combined.
- With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and mix until just combined.
- Pour in the milk and mix on med-high for 2 minutes.
- Stir in chocolate chips until evenly incorporated.
- Line two 6″ round cake pans with plastic wrap. Set aside about 1/2 cup of the cookie dough to use to decorate the cake.
- Divide the remaining cookie dough evenly between the two pans. Press down on the cookie dough so it is evenly spread throughout each pan. Fold over the edges of the plastic wrap to cover the top of the cookie dough. Chill in the fridge for about 10 minutes before assembling the cake.
Vanilla Buttercream
Ingredients
- 2 cups unsalted butter slightly cold
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 tbsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter. Start off at a low speed and then gradually increase until the butter is light in color and smooth. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the bowl as needed.
- Add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, mixing at a low speed until fully incorporated before you add the next cup.
- Add the heavy cream (start with 2 tbsp), vanilla and salt and beat at a low speed for about 20 seconds. If you feel your buttercream is too stiff you can add the third tablespoon of cream. Increase the speed to high and beat for about 3-5 minutes until the mixture is perfectly smooth and fluffy. Stop the mixer once to scrape the bowl.
- Stir the buttercream by hand to remove any air bubbles.
