Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

I like to watch the show Project Runway (she admits sheepishly). Every season they have one episode where the challenge is for the designers to create an Avant Garde look. This outfit is supposed to be exaggerated and conceptual, to push the boundaries of innovation and creativity. The Avant Garde look is meant to impress and inspire on the runway during fashion shows, but it’s not expected to be practical; it is free from the obligation of translating to everyday street wear.

In my opinion, today’s dessert falls in the category of Avant Garde baking. A friend told me about the concept a couple of weeks ago, and the idea kept lurking around the corners of my brain until I finally gave in and, after a few more clarification questions to said friend, tackled it (If I get diabetes next week, we all know who to blame). Anyway, about the Avant Garde thing: the finished product of this endeavor, this tower of cookie and frosting, sure is pretty to look at, and with nine layers and about five gallons of icing, it definitely pushes many boundaries (granted those include boundaries of rationality, wisdom, and caloric-intake...but pioneering nonetheless), yet ultimately, this creation is more of a showpiece than a practical dessert; one person could never eat one piece of this cake – even the tiniest sliver – on their own.  I had to quit after about four bites when I took my first sample piece this morning, and historically I have a freakishly high tolerance for rich, sugary things. I think I’m also a little disappointed with the flavor balance of the dessert because I really, really like a good, authentic chocolate chip cookie, so for me, the cream cheese frosting was more of a distraction than anything else.

The recipe I used was adapted from Martha Stewart. Her version made 5 thicker layers. I squeezed 9 out of the same amount of batter. I also used a different frosting recipe since a few of the comments on the cake found fault with the original. The frosting I ended up making (recipe here) worked out well. I liked how it held its consistency at room temperature, and the whipped cream tempered the intensity of the cream cheese nicely. That being said, less would still have been better, especially toward the top layers when I realized how much extra frosting I was going to have and, instead of deciding to save it for later like a logical person, I decided to start globbing it on so I could use it all. Poor choice, Taber, poor choice.

To prepare and bake he cookie layers, Martha said to use a spatula to spread the raw dough into 8-inch rounds. I found that laying down a piece of waxed paper on top of each lump of batter and using my hands to shape the discs was much more effective. My silicon baking-sheet liners also came in extremely handy to keep the finished cookies from sticking to the pan when I transferred them to wire racks to cool.

Like I intimated before, the next time I make this recipe I would be much more conservative with the application of the frosting – just adding enough to get the layers to stick together, and I would also adjust the frosting recipe to use less sugar since the cookie is sweet enough on its own.

I hope I haven’t griped too much. This was a really fun recipe to make, and I’m sure my friends and co-workers will be happy to help me chip away at Cookie Cake Mountain over the next few days before it collapses entirely under the weight of its own frosting. 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

adapted from Martha Stewart

For the Cookies:

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp salt

12 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened (I doubled Martha's suggestion, because: America)

1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

3/4 cups granulated sugar

3 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs, plus 2 egg yolks

3/4 cup heavy cream

3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (mini chips work best for thinner layers)

For the Frosting:

2 8oz. packages cream cheese at room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar (use more or less to taste; this is half what the original recipe called for)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 cups heavy cream

The will power to not use all of this frosting if you don't really need to. Seriously.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Put butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment and beat at medium speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in vanilla, eggs, and yolks. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in a little at a time, alternative with the cream. Mix until all ingredients are incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips by hand.

Divide batter into 3-4 portions. Wrap each in waxed paper and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Work with one portion at a time. Use a pastry cutter to divide each portion into 2-3 sections. Place each section on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicon baking mat. Put a loose sheet of wax paper over the section and use your hands to press the dough into an 8-inch disc. Peel the wax paper off when you're done and use it for the next section. These will have to be done in batches depending on how many baking sheets you have and how big your oven is. Leave waiting dough in the refrigerator so it doesn't get soft and difficult to work with in the meantime. 

Bake each disc until edges are pale golden brown, about 10 minutes. Bake time will vary depending on how many discs you bake at once and how thick you've made them, so watch the first batch carefully and adjust as needed. After the first 10 minutes, remove partially-baked cookies from oven and use an offset spatula to gently reshape the dough into a uniform circle. Return to oven and bake for 8-10 minutes more until edges are golden brown and center has set up. Gently remove from baking sheet and lay on wire rack to cool. Finished discs can be stored in an airtight container for up to 1 day. 

Once the cookies are all cooled completely, make the frosting. Combine the cream cheese, granulated sugar, and vanilla by mixing on medium until all ingredients are incorporated and texture is fluffy. Transfer the mixture into a large mixing bowl and wash the stand mixer's bowl. Use the whisk attachment to whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture by hand. Do not over mix.

To assemble, spread a thin (THIN, people!) layer of frosting over all but one of the discs, then stack them as evenly as possible. If the sizes aren't exactly the same, then clearly you've failed and should never lift a spatula again. No, seriously, try to put the larger cookies on the bottom for stability. Extra frosting can be used as a garnish, and I shaved about 2 oz. of 78% cacao chocolate over the top for visual appeal. 

Let the cake (is that the appropriate label for this dish? I keep calling it 'the tower' or 'the mountain' when I describe it to my friends) sit for at least an hour so the cookies can soften a little (they'll soak up some of the frosting) to prevent crumbling when you cut into it. Then slice and serve. It's extremely rich, so use small portions.

The frosting doesn't need to be refrigerated to hold its consistency, so leftovers can be kept at room temperature or refrigerated.

Raspberry, Rose & Chocolate Cakes

Happy Winter Storm Warning. After a few mild, sunnyish days, February is clearly here to remind us that winter is far from over. I made this recipe yesterday, and while the ice crystals were swirling around in the frigid gales outside my window, there was no place I would rather have been than in my toasty kitchen with the oven on. And I hear there was some kind of football event that happened last night too?  And Valentine’s Day is right around the corner? Lots of reasons to stay indoors and eat cupcakes.

With sweet raspberry and a hint of rose, the flavors in this recipe provide some much-needed reminders of spring.  The directions come from April Carter’s book trEATs, which was also the source of the Almond and Earl Grey Teacup Cakes I made it November. Those were pretty stellar, so the bar was set accordingly high for yesterday's endeavor.

First, I had to adapt the recipe slightly because I didn’t have raspberry jam on hand. Of course I’ve got four other kinds of jams, all open and half-eaten, sitting in my fridge. But no raspberry. Perusing my other options, I immediately rejected the rhubarb-hibiscus and decided that the apricot preserves were a last resort. I found myself torn over whether to use blackberry jam or the strawberry preserves I made from scratch last summer (they were frozen until a couple weeks ago - don't panic). Thankfully, I quickly remembered that this is America, the place where football ends with brawling and there is always a way to get out of making difficult decisions. So I used both. Okay, that's kind of a lie. The blackberry was my definite first choice, but when I opened the jar there were only a few tablespoons left, and it ran out after four cakes, so I had to utilize my second and then third string options (and that is the first and last time I will ever use a sports metaphor on this blog; clearly the Superbowl has wormed its way into my subconscious. Gross). 

The recipe in trEATs does a nice job giving its list of ingredients in metric and imperial measurements. And I've said this before, but measuring ingredients by weight makes so much sense in terms of consistency between bakers. However, because I'm not as used to thinking in terms of weight, I have kind of a terrible time estimating how much of each ingredient I'll be using. For instance, I imagine that 2oz of cocoa powder isn't very much - maybe a couple of tablespoons? Oh no. Here is what 2 oz of cocoa powder looks like. A veritable mountain of chocolate. 

All that cocoa powder made a smooth chocolate paste for the base of the cupcakes.

The recipe was a little vague about how to combine all of the ingredients. While I'm definitely a fan of the ol' dump-and-mix, I chose to be a little more deliberate with the order in which I put things together, just in case, you know? First, I added the milk to the butter/sugar mixture, then into that I folded the cocoa paste, and finally I slowly added the dry ingredients, which I'd already sifted together. 

The recipe made one dozen cupcakes, which fit perfectly into my jars. I did have to add time onto the baking to accommodate for the glass containers. Mine baked for about 25 minutes and turned out nicely - crisp on the tops, but moist inside. Sidebar: I'd like to give another gold star to Trader Joe's for making a cooking spray with coconut oil. I feel very trendy AND healthy when I'm using this. Much better than your basic Pam spray, in my opinion.

The tops came out a bit knobbier than I’d have liked. I considered shaving them down a bit so the frosting would look rounder and less…pointy, but ultimately decided against it on the grounds of wasting not wanting not. Thank goodness America is also a land of helpful proverbs.

Shout out to Science for providing man with the capacity to invent (and re-purpose) tools that make it easier to put holes in things. Apple corer, cupcake corer? Tomato, tomahto. 

After they'd cooled and been cored properly, I ended up filling my cakes with blackberry, strawberry, and apricot jams. (That's right, I ran out of the strawberry back-up, too. Normally I'm not such a fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants baker. I should have run to the store right at the outset and just bought a jar of raspberry jam, but I took the snowstorm as an excuse to stay in and fake it). 

The frosting was a simple butter cream with a healthy dose of pink dye added in. I used rose water instead of rose extract, so I had to increase the amount to around a teaspoon. This ingredient can be dangerous because it's such a recognizable and potentially intense flavor, but I was cautious while I added it in, and ultimately I really liked how the rose aroma brought out the floral elements in the jam fillings. In other words, the risk was totally worth it. Also, usually I'm not one for artificial colors in baking, but this time the smell/taste combo made sense - desserts that taste like roses ought to be pink, damnit. 

So, the recipe advised me to decorate the cakes to look like flowers. That's a tall order for someone who still uses ziploc baggies with the corners cut off as her pastry bags. I was able to fumble out some kind of cactus-meets-peony-maybe kind of shapes, and my friend Emily suggested that the one in the back left looks kind of like a brain. Clearly I'll need more practice before I make (and decorate) this recipe again. Also keep in mind I only took pictures of the GOOD ones to show you guys.

Raspberry, Rose & Chocolate Cakes

from trEATs by April Carter

For the Cakes:
2 oz cocoa powder (about 1/2 cup)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4 fl oz boiling water
3 3/4 oz (7.5 Tbsp) unsalted butter
2/5 cup superfine sugar [possibly condescending note: 2/5 cup is between 1/3 and 1/2 cup]
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1 2/5 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 fl oz milk

For the Filling:
4 Tbsp raspberry jam (or the fruit preserve of your choice. I also feel like I used a lot more than 4 Tbsp, so make sure you have extra)

For the Rose Buttercream:
4oz (8 Tbsp or one stick) unsalted butter
2 cups confectioner's sugar
2 tsp milk
3 drops of rose extract (I used 1 tsp rose water; add more or less to taste)
claret or pink gel food coloring

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Set liners in a 12-hole cupcake tin or spray your 4 oz jars with non-stick cooking spray.

Mix the cocoa powder, vanilla extract, and boiling water in a small bowl until combined, then set aside to cool.

Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars (about 3-4 minutes). Add the eggs one a a time and beat well after each addition.

Into a clean bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt, and stir to combine. Add milk to butter mixture and then fold in chocolate paste. Finally, gradually mix in dry ingredients. Scrape down the sides of the bowl (or use one of these...so cool!) to make sure all of the ingredients are well incorporated, then scoop the mixture into the cupcake liners or jars. Fill containers about 2/3 full.

Bake for 18-20 minutes for normal cupcakes or 23-25 minutes for 4 oz glass jars (or until a skewer inserted into the middle of one of the cakes comes out clean).

Remove cupcakes from tin and set on a wire rack to cool.

To make the buttercream, cream together butter and sugar, then add milk, rose extract or water and beat for 3-5 minutes until mixture is creamy and light. Add food coloring a few drops at a time until desired color is reached.

Once the cakes have cooled, cut a small, cone-shaped piece from the top of each (or use an apple corer to gently remove the centers of the cakes). Fill each hole with a teaspoon (or more!) of jam and top with the cut-out piece.

Pipe the rose buttercream onto the top of each cake using a large star tip (or your trusty ziploc bag). To pipe a rose design, start piping from the center of each cake and spiral outwards (then hide the results of all of your mess-ups from your friends).

Cover and store in the fridge for up to 3 days. Any leftover buttercream can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.