Chocolate Cake with Cookie Dough Filling

My very good friend at work was having her birthday so I wanted to make something really great. I know that she likes cookie dough ice cream, so I saw this recipe for chocolate cake with cookie dough filling and knew that it was the right cake for her. The original recipe that I saw had the cake decorated as the Cookie Monster from Sesame Street. That didn’t seem quite right for this occasion, but I had seen ganache-drizzled cakes and figured the black and white of the frosting would pair well with the cake and filling.

I ended up making this cake twice, as the first time I made the frosting it didn’t quite turn out. I’ve made this frosting so many times that I really don’t know what went wrong! Luckily it had made twice the filling I needed so I was fine. I also remade the cake in a smaller pan, making for a thicker cake. I was very happy with these changes.

This cake is sweet on sweet, but it was a big hit at work. The cake seemed a bit soft or gooey, but the folks at work said, no, it was great. This cake doesn’t travel very well and it got a touch messy on the trip in, but I think I noticed it more than anyone else. This is a great celebration cake. Happy Birthday W!

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon vinegar

1 cup hot water

3/4 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons milk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips

3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
About 2 tablespoons milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans.

In a large mixer bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa, soda, powder and salt until combined. Add in the eggs, sour cream, oil, vinegar, vanilla and hot water. Mix on medium speed until the batter is smooth. 

Pour evenly into the two pans and bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cakes in the pans for 10 minutes and then flip out onto a wire rack to cool completely before filling and frosting.

Make the filling: In a large mixer bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until smooth.  Mix in the milk and vanilla until smooth.  Mix in the flour until just well combined and then stir in the chocolate chips. (This will make more filling than you need.)

Make the ganache:    Heat cream and butter in a saucepan until melted and remove before it starts to boil. Place chocolate morsels in a small bowl and pour cream on top. Let sit for a few seconds and whisk by hand until completely incorporated and smooth. Let cool until thick and pourable.

Make the frosting: In a large mixer bowl, combine the powdered sugar and butter. Stir in the vanilla and milk until smooth. Add additional milk if the frosting is too thick; additional powdered sugar if the frosting is too thin.

Assemble the cake: Place one cake layer on a serving plate. Top with the cookie dough filling (I used about half of the filling) and then the second cake layer. Frost the top and the sides with the vanilla frosting. Drizzle the cooled ganache over the frosting, allowing it to drip over the sides of the cake. Allow to set before serving.

Cake and filling recipe from Sweet Anna’s. Frosting recipe from Betty Crocker. Ganache recipe and decorating idea from Bakerella