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!
This looks amazing! I’m just curious but do you think something like this could work under fondant or as part of a tieres cake?
Hi Justine, I made hundreds of wedding cakes with this flavor. It could certainly work for a tiered cake and can be covered with fondant.
What kind of Rum do you normally use?
Hi Mariah, I like dark rum. I use Meyers, but I think any dark rum would work.
What was the ratio of dark chocolate to cream for the ganache?
Hi Jeanette. If you click the link to the ganache recipe you’ll see the proportions. The ganache recipe might make a little more ganache than you need, but it freezes very well. You could also make half the ganache recipe as listed if you don’t want any left overs.
I’d love to try this recipe but you’ve left no timing instructions. How many minutes for the cookie layer. How many for the cake layers. Does the cake layer with more batter require longer baking?
Hi. Thanks for the comment. I added estimates in the recipe for baking the cookie and the cake layers. The times are just starting points. The best way to know if something is baked is how it looks.
For the cookie layer, generally I notice that the cookie puffs up a bit and then collapses. That’s usually when I take it out of the oven. This generally takes about 20 minutes. If you like your chocolate chip cookies a little under-baked you can take it out when the middle of the dough looks set.
For the cake layers; the best way to know if it’s baked is to gently press the middle of the layer. It should spring back without leaving a dent. You can also use the “toothpick” test to see if it’s baked. Again, the layers take about 20-25 minutes. But the exact time will vary based on the type of pan used, the size of the pan and how your oven works. Also, the half full pan will obviously bake faster and may be done in 15-20 minutes. It’s great to use a timer to remind you to check the oven, but always go more by how the baked item looks than the exact time.
Hope this helps.
Okay so my son’s birthday is next month. He loves chocolate chip anything! I will have to show this recipe. I think he will give me the okay to make it. This cake is everything!
Thanks, April. I hope he likes it.