Cookie Dough Cake

By Emma Hawkins | April 3, 2019 | Comments 0 Comment

So I’m officially in my 20s and the wide road of young adulthood lies before me yada yada yada. I’m starting to realise that no matter how old you get you still have no idea what’s going on – you just learn to ride the sinking boat a little better than before. But at least we’re all on that boat together and there are life savers like cookie dough and cake to keep us going. I’m talking cookie dough, in a cake, in cookie dough with cookies on it!!

So here I am, a slightly confused 20 year old with a big pile of cookie dough cake in m’ kitchen and another year of comfort cookery to come. In the meantime I still have 3/4 of this whopping cake so if anyone local wants some hmu!

Recipe

Serves 12-16

Time: 3 hours

Ingredients

For the cookie dough

75g Butter
20g Brown sugar
25g Caster sugar
1.5 tbsp Milk
65g Plain flour
¼ tsp Salt
1 tsp Vanilla bean paste
20g Milk chocolate chips
20g Dark chocolate chips

For the cake

200g Butter
430g Caster sugar
3 Large eggs
120g Greek yogurt
220ml Whole milk
1 tsp Vanilla bean paste
420g Plain flour
2 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Salt
175g Milk chocolate chips

For the buttercream

300g Butter
105g Brown sugar
975g Icing sugar
200g Plain flour
8 tbsp Milk
2 tsp Vanilla bean paste

To decorate

100g Dark chocolate
100g Double cream
Small cookies to decorate

Method

Begin by making the cookie dough. Put the butter and sugars into a bowl and cream together until pale and creamy. Add the milk and vanilla and mix until combined. Then add the flour, salt and chocolate chips. Stir to make a smooth dough.
Take the dough and split it into 12 balls. Then chill the balls in the fridge for 2 hours (or in the freezer for 1 hour).
Now start the cake. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C and grease and line 3x 7.5inch cake tins with butter and baking paper.
In a large bowl mix together the butter and sugar with a wooden spoon until pale and creamy. Whisk in one egg at a time, then whisk in the yogurt. Next whisk in the milk and vanilla, followed by the flour, baking powder and salt. Finally fold in the chocolate chips to make a smooth batter.
Evenly divide the mixture between the lined tins and spread them out to make an even layer. Take the cookie dough balls out of the fridge and squash them to make ‘patties’. Then put 4 bits of cookie dough in each tin, pressing them down slightly so they’re covered in cake mix.
Bake the cakes in the oven for 25-30 minutes until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let the cakes cool down for 30 minutes and then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Meanwhile make the buttercream. Put the butter and brown sugar into a bowl and beat together with a wooden spoon until smooth. Add the icing sugar and flour and mix again until smooth.
Slowly add the milk and vanilla to the mixture, beating constantly with a spoon to make a smooth icing.
When the cakes are completely cool you’re ready to start assembling. Put one of the cakes onto a board or plate and then spread 1-2 tbsp on top. Layer another cake on top and repeat with icing and cake layers.
Once stacked blob half the remaining icing on top of the cake and use a palette knife to work it around the sides of the cake. This is your crumb coat so you want it to be smooth but don’t worry if you can still see the cake as you’ll put another layer on it later. Leave in the fridge for at least 1 hour to set.
Take the cake out of the fridge and blob the rest of the icing on the top. Again, gently smooth the icing round the side of the cake to make a smooth finish. Leave in the fridge until needed.
Now make the chocolate drips for the decoration. Finely chop the chocolate and put it into a heat-proof bowl. Then heat the cream in a small saucepan until just about to boil.
Pour the hot cream onto chopped chocolate and stir to make a smooth ganache. Leave to cool until pourable but not hot.
Pour the ganache over the top of the cake and use a spatula to gently push it over the side of the cake to make drips. Pipe extra icing in rosettes on the top of the cake. Then cut the cookies in half and place them around the edge of the cake and serve!