Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cake

Cake Ingredients

 Cookie Dough Filling - no raw eggs

 Buttercream Frosting

 Bake cookies a day or two in advance

 Making the Cookie Dough Filling

 Making the Buttercream Frosting

 Pull cakes out and let them cool

 Added chocolate frosting for color. Only 1 layer

 Added some Buttercream frosting under the bottom of the top cake to hold it together

 Valentine's Day Cake idea - add caramel chocolate heart to the center

 St. Patrick's Day Cake Idea

Make the chocolate chip cookies 1-2 days in advance. 2 sizes if you want or all small.

Link to chocolate chips cookie receipe:

http://neighborchicks.blogspot.com/2012/02/chocolate-chip-cookies.html

Chocolate chip cookies

· INGREDIENTS:

2½ cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup packed light brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs, at room temperature

2 cups nuts (such as walnuts, pecans, almonds or macadamia nuts), toasted and coarsely chopped - Optional

14 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped into 1/2- to 1-inch chunks

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a small bowl, whisk the flour with the baking soda and salt. Set aside.

2. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter with the brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla extract at medium speed just until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until thoroughly incorporated, then blend in the flour mixture, nuts and chocolate chunks. I left the nuts out of mine.

3. On a lightly floured work surface, divide the dough into quarters. Shape each quarter into a log about 9 inches long. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, preferably 24 hours. (The dough logs can be refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 1 month.)

4. Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

5. Slice the dough logs into ¾-inch-thick disks and place the disks 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. If the nuts or chips fall out, simply push them back in. Bake the cookies, rotating the baking sheets midway through baking, until very lightly browned in the centers, about 10 minutes.

6. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets until firm enough to handle, then use a spatula to transfer them to a wire rack. The baked cookies will keep well in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

1-2-3-4 Cake Recipe

Adapted from Paula Deen
A delicious, easy, all-purpose yellow cake that stays nice and moist.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter (2 sticks), room temperature

2 cups sugar

3 cups self-rising flour*, sifted of you can buy Gold Medal Self Rising flour pre-sifted with baking powder and salt

4 large eggs, room temperature

1 cup milk, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp butter flavoring

* an easy substitute for self-rising flour is to add 1-1/4 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp salt for EACH cup of flour

Cake Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. 

Grease and flour 2 x 9-inch cake pan or 3 x 9-inch pan for higher cake.

On parchment paper, trace around the bottom of each pan and trim just inside the line. Spray pan with cooking spray, then line with trimmed parchment. Spray again, making sure to coat entire pan. You can smooth it out with a pastry brush if you want. Then sprinkle with flour, tapping the edge of the pan with the heel of one hand as you rotate the pan with the other. This ensures that the flour is evenly distributed over the entire surface. Don't skip this step. You'll be sorry - trust me!

Using an electric mixer, cream butter until fluffy. This will take a few minutes. Scrape the bowl and continue mixing.

Add sugar and continue to cream well for 6 to 8 minutes, scraping down the bowl a couple of times to make sure it's all getting mixed in and fluffy.

Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape.

Add flour and milk alternately to creamed mixture, beginning and ending with flour.

Add vanilla and continue to beat until just mixed. 

Optional: Add food coloring gel to your batter to make the cake different colors. For example: red for Valentine's Day or green for St. Patrick's Day.

Scoop 3 generous cups of batter into both the 9-inch pan or use 3 x 9-inch pans on only put 2 cups of batter in each for a 3 layer cake.. Level batter in each pan by holding pan 3 or 4 inches above counter, then dropping it flat onto counter. Do this several times to release air bubbles and assure you of a more level cake. 

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until done. Cool in pans 10 minutes. Run knife along edge of pan and invert cakes onto cooling racks lined with plastic wrap. Wrap tightly and put in the freezer for at least 1 hour prior to decorating, overnight would be good, too. Frozen cakes are MUCH easier to cut and decorate.

Butter-cream Frosting

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

6 Tbsp flour

1 cup milk

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

1 tsp vanilla extract (you could use any flavoring you want)

Directions

• Measure sugar and flour into a medium sauce pan. Whisk together to incorporate the flour into the sugar. This makes it easier to dissolve. Add milk to pan and whisk until smooth. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. It will seem like nothing is going to happen, when all of the sudden, it thickens up. Cook for just a few minutes after it begins to set up. Keep stirring; you don't want it to burn-and it will.
• Remove from heat and let cool completely.
• Once cooled, combine with butter in large mixing bowl or stand mixer and whip like crazy (use whisk attachment). Beat for at least 5 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy. Use immediately. It can be kept in the fridge, but it hardens considerably and will need to warm up a bit before being spreadable.
• Optional: You can also use this same recipe for cupakes or you can add a can of fruit filling to the buttercream frosting . SOLO - Raspberry Cake and Pastry Filling.

Alternative cream cheese frosting recipe: 

http://neighborchicks.blogspot.com/2011/11/paula-deens-best-ever-carrot-cake.html 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough filling:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

6 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed

7 ounce sweetened condensed milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Combine the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and cream on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Beat in the flour, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla until incorporated and smooth.

Stir in the chocolate chips.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the mixture has firmed up a bit, about an hour.

Pull dough out of the fridge and form little balls. About 20-25 of them and stick them back in the fridge.

ASSEMBLING YOUR CAKE:

Lay one cake on your working plate. Use a knife to cut across the top and make the cake flat.

Optional, you can spread chocolate store bought frosting or a little buttercream frosting on the top of the cake.

Place cookie dough balls all over the top of the frosting or cake.

Spread a little buttercream on the bottom of the top cake and place it on top of the cookie dough balls.

Spread buttercream frosting all over the cake, as neat as possible.

Place chocolate chip cookies around the bottom of the cake and around the edges of the top of the cake.

Throw mini chocolate chips between cookies and on top of the cake. Create your own design.

Add chocolate covered hearts for Valentine's Day, candy corns for Halloween, and you can visit your local party store for fun ideas for other holidays. I used gold coins and a plastic pot to create a design for St. Patty's Day.

ENJOY!

Another St. Patrick's Day Idea: Cupcakes! 

http://neighborchicks.blogspot.com/2014/03/st-patricks-day-cauldron-cupcakes.html