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.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake Recipe Ingredients
- Butter
- Granulated sugar
- Brown sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Cake Flour
- Sour Cream
- Baking powder/soda/salt
- Mini chocolate chips
- Semi Sweet Chocolate
- Cream
- Molasses
Why people go crazy for this Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
First of all, there’s a giant cookie layer at the base of the cake. That alone would be enough to make anyone love this cake. But the best part is the brown sugar buttercream. The butterscotch/cookie dough flavor is completely irresistible.
What’s the difference between white sugar and brown sugar?
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.
The easiest way to make Brown Sugar Buttercream
To make brown sugar buttercream just had to add molasses to Italian Meringue Buttercream, Swiss Meringue Buttercream or even American Buttercream.
Pastry Chef Tips for making Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake:
- This is a complicated recipe with lots of ingredients. But all the components can be made ahead of time and the cake can be assembled the day you’re ready to serve.
- Make the cake the day ahead and refrigerate it over night. It’s much easier to trim the edges and stack the cake when it’s chilled.
- The recipe specifies Italian Meringue Buttercream, but you can use your favorite buttercream recipe flavored with molasses.
- Use mini chocolate chips because they disperse better in the batter.
- Once the cake is assembled it can stay at room temperature for a couple of days. It’s best served at room temperature.
- If you don’t like to use alcohol in your cake flavor the syrup with vanilla instead.
Watch the recipe video to see how-to put together and perfectly ice a Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake.
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.
servings
Ingredients
Chocolate Chip Cookie Layer
- 4 ounces butter (room temperature)
- 2 ounces granulated sugar (¼ cup)
- 4 ounces brown sugar (½ cup)
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 ounces all-purpose flour (1 cup, see note)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 6 ounces mini chocolate chips (1 cup)
Chocolate Chip Cake
- 8 ounces mini chocolate chips (1 ¼ cups)
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon all purpose flour
- 1 recipe Vanilla Cake
Brown Sugar Butterceam
- 1 recipe Italian Meringue Buttercream
- 2 tablespoons molasses
Assembly
- 1 recipe simple syrup (flavored with 2 tablespoons rum)
- 1 cup Dark Chocolate Ganache (room temperAture)
Instructions
Make the cookie layer
- Line an 8" cake pan with a parchment round. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Cream 4 ounces butter with 2 ounces granulated sugar and 4 ounces brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add 1 egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and mix until combined. Add 5 ounces all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking soda and ½ teaspoon salt. Add 6 ounces mini chocolate 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"x3" cake pans with parchment rounds or butter and flour the bottom of the pan only. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Toss 8 ounces mini chocolate chips with 1 tablespoon water until moistened. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon all purpose flour over the chips and toss to distribute the flour. Set the chips aside while you make the cake batter.
- Mix 1 recipe Vanilla 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 10 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 1 recipe Italian Meringue Buttercream according to the recipe. Mix 2 tablespoons molasses into the finished buttercream. Divide the buttercream in 1/2, reserve one 1/2 for icing the cake, use the remaining for filling.
Assemble the Cake
- Make 1 recipe simple syrup (with rum) according to the recipe. Trim the sides of the cake 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 1 cup Dark Chocolate 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.
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Video
Notes
If measuring the flour by volume use the “dip & sweep” method. That is, dip the measuring cup into the flour bin, overfill it, then sweep away the excess.
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.
To make an alcohol-free cake flavor the syrup with vanilla extract to taste.
All the components of the cake can be made ahead and refrigerated or frozen until ready to assemble.
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @eileen.bakingsense or tag #bakingsense!
I was looking for a new recipe to make for my husbands’ birthday next month and this looks like the winner! What better thing the fresh baked chocolate chip cookies in a cake! Would adding nuts to the cookie or cake parts change the composition of it to alter cooking time? Would you try adding nuts to the cake and cookie part or just the cookie section? Thank you. Can’t wait to make this.
Hi Lauri – Are you thinking chopped walnuts or pecans? You could definitely add nuts to the cookie. If you want to add it to the cake I would toss the chopped nuts with the chocolate chips and add them along with the chips. Let me know how it turns out. If you want to post a photo on my Facebook or Instagram page that would be great. I’d love to see it.
You did it again Eileen. This is my new favorite cake recipe! 🙂 I made it for my honey’s birthday and it was probably the most delicious cake I’ve ever made! Your directions were great. The cake turned out super tender and moist. This was my first time making Italian Buttercream frosting and this will be my new go-to frosting recipe now! Omg it was so light and buttery like whipped cream but held together so well for piping. I had no idea it was such a good frosting! I’ve always been too intimidated to make it but your directions were so well done, it came out perfect the first time. Thank you for sharing such an wonderful recipe!
Thanks, Ceeny. IMB really is easy to make and much more forgiving than people realize. I’m so glad your honey liked his birthday cake. I’ll be posting more of my layer cake recipes on a regular basis.
Wow! This looks amazing! My son’s birthday is later this month and chocolate chip cookies are one of his favorite things in the whole world. I think I just found his birthday cake!
That’s great, Rebecca. Let me know if you have any questions. Remember that all the components can be made ahead and frozen. Take them out, let them come to room temperature, then assemble the cake. Hope your son loves it.
Your chocolate chip cookie cake looks delicious and it’s such a pretty cake, too. It popped up on my twitter feed and I had to come have a closer look. Pinning and putting this on my to make list. I’m not sure if it’s the cake or the frosting I’ll love most!
Thanks, Beverly
What? Is this like the cake of my dreams? How have I never thought of or seen anything like it before?!
I’m like many of your former customers–not really a cake person but I LOOOOVE cookies. Especially chocolate chip cookies. I may or may not be found hiding in a closet finishing off an entire dozen one day. I think this is the birthday cake I’ve been wishing for my entire life.
Well, I don’t bake much, but I think I found my new resource.
Thanks, Chava! Please feel free to ask questions on any of the recipes you’d like to try.
By any chance is their a video of you making the cake???
Yes, Argie. There’s a video showing the assembly of the cake on Youtube. On the same channel there’s also a video that show how to ice a cake.