I should have known that when Plum said she wanted to make a cake that she wanted to make a cake. I should have known that my darling daughter would not be cajoled into something less than she imagined - swirls, layers and ceremony. And so when the recipe I selected, dismissively, revealed itself to be for humble cookie dough rather than for silky cake batter, I was in trouble. At the very least I needed to covert the contents of my mixing bowl into something that could be poured into two round cake pans. To my delight (and considerable relief) the result was miraculous. In fact, I would call the alterations downright ingenious - if only I was not to blame for cookie/cake debacle in the first place. I now make this dense rich buttery cake for almost every family celebration and tailor the flavor, frosting, and filling according to the whims of the recipient.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake Recipe
Makes one 9” layer cake
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Pinch sea salt
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 1/4 cups milk
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 1 pint heavy cream
- 1/4 confectioners sugar
Preheat oven to 350. Butter and line 2 9” cake pans with parchment. Cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, vanilla and salt. In a separate bowl whisk together flour, baking soda and baking powder. Stir dry ingredients into butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk. Stir in chocolate chips. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans and bake until golden, about 45 minutes. A toothpick should come out clean when inserted into center of cake. Let cool on wire wrack about 2 minutes before turning out cakes. Cool completely before frosting.
Frosting: whip together heavy cream and confectioners sugar to form soft peaks.