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The last couple months of 2018 really got away from me in terms of this blog. I had made a goal a few months back to try to post about all of the new recipes I was trying, or at least to get something up here about every other week. The Summer and Fall was a time for lots of baking and writing about what I made, and my blog was contented with lots of new recipes. Unfortunately, my intentions started slipping away from me as work started to pick up, the days got shorter, and putting any creative energy into writing seemed almost impossible, for no apparent reason at all. Luckily my motivation to spend time baking in the kitchen never diminished, but I was upset with myself nonetheless because every time I’d open my laptop to write about something I made, I’d end up staring at a blank screen for several minutes thinking I can’t do this right now, before resuming a horizontal state on couch to watch West Wing from under the covers and ultimately pass out before 10 PM. The Winter blues are real, and although they might not stop you from doing everything that you really love, they do zap your energy, diminish your interests in things you enjoy, and make it really, really hard to follow through with your personal goals. Winter, I’m sorry, but I hate you.

Even though the darkness of the Winter season is far from over, the days are now getting longer and the New Year has come around, along with its countless reminders to make new resolutions to improve yourself. I don’t know if writing down my recipes is necessarily bettering myself in any particular way, but allowing myself to continue on my food journey through cooking, baking, and blogging will hopefully continue to bring me happiness during a time of year when the sun isn’t around enough to take care of that for me. Self-care is hella important, and I feel like most people don’t engage in it as much as they should. So if you take anything away from this post, besides what I think is a pretty good recipe, leave with the encouragement to make more time for the things that make you happy.

Now, on to the good stuff. I’m drifting back in time to the end of October when I made my husband’s birthday cake. As you can imagine, Karoon is my ultimate in-house taste-tester. Every cookie that comes out of the oven is ours to try first. Every cupcake I make needs to be sampled before they can be given away to someone else. I don’t want to exaggerate, but it’s pretty safe to say that Karoon has tried a very good majority of everything I’ve made in the last ten years. So when it’s time for me to make his birthday cake, I usually try to go above and beyond the basics, because he’s probably tried all of them anyway. When I asked him if he had anything specific in mind for this year’s birthday cake, he casually inquired,

Is there such thing as a cookie dough cake?

Honey, you should know me by now. Even if there wasn’t such thing as a cookie dough cake (which there totally is), if you can dream it, I’m gonna bake it. I used my favorite chocolate cake base, and I hunted around for the perfect cookie dough frosting that wasn’t too sweet and would spread over an incredibly moist cake without the whole thing crumbling. The Cookie Dough Frosting recipe from I Am Baker proved to be an excellent choice. Topped with some dark chocolate ganache and mini chocolate chip cookies for garnish, this cake is the ultimate two-desserts-in-one kind of a deal.

Now, before I send you on your way, I should caution you about this frosting. If you’re the type to erm, “sample” cookie dough before you bake it, you might want to practice a little extra self-control when you make this recipe. The frosting tastes just like the real deal and the fact that it’s eggless and edible in its dough-like form is incredibly dangerous for our kind. You’ve been warned…now, happy baking!

Ingredients

For the Cake:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk other milk substitutions are OK
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

For the Frosting:

1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
1 cup 2 sticks butter, softened
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp salt
1 cup whole milk
1 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

For the Ganache:

1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 lb dark chocolate

Other:

Mini chocolate chip cookies Optional

Instructions

For the Cake:
Preheat the oven to 350º F. Prepare two 9-inch cake pans by spraying with baking spray or buttering and lightly flouring.
Add the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt to a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk to combine.
Then, add the milk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla to the flour mixture and mix together on medium speed until well combined. Reduce speed and carefully add boiling water to the cake batter until well combined.
Distribute cake batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center of the chocolate cake comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes, remove from the pan and cool completely.
For the Frosting:
Beat together the brown sugar and butter on medium speed in your electric mixer, until creamy. Add the flour, vanilla and salt into the butter-sugar mixture, until well combined. With the mixer on low speed, add in the milk, little by little, until fully incorporated. Then, fold in the chocolate chips. When the cake has cooled (feel free to pop it into the fridge for a little while), spread frosting on the top of each layer, and around the outside of the cake.
For the Ganache:
Heat the heavy cream in a small pot over medium heat. When the cream is heated, remove from the stove and add in the dark chocolate. Whisk with a fork until fully melted and the ganache has a smooth and shiny texture. Pour over the top of the cake, letting the ganache drip down the sides.
Decorate the top of the cake with any additional frosting and mini chocolate chip cookies, if desired.