Cake Week: Chocolate Cake with Tate's Cookie Dough Frosting

Sweet Treats

As promised, today I am sharing an incredibly decadent cake recipe that I baked for Nat's 23rd birthday: Chocolate Cake with Cookie Dough Frosting. I recommend you use half the frosting on the cake and save half to eat plain...it's that good. And yes, you can eat this frosting by the spoonful because although it is "cookie dough", it's egg-free! This cake is specifically Tate's flavored because Nat loves Tate's cookies like a fat kid love cake.

The disappearing Tate's Cookie Dough Cake

Tate's cookies have this brown-sugary, melt-in-your-mouth taste that I managed to replicate in this frosting. Without further ado...

Ingredients:
"The Only Cake Recipe You'll Ever Need" Cake

• 1 (18 ounce) box of chocolate cake mix
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 0.75 tsp salt
• 1 & 1/3 cups water
• 2 Tbs vegetable oil
• 1 tsp real vanilla extract
• 1 cup sour cream
• 3 whole eggs
• Semisweet chocolate chips

Tate's Cookie Dough Frosting

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2-3 cups powdered sugar
• Milk, if needed to alter consistency
• 6 Tate's cookies, crumbled
• Semisweet chocolate chips

Recipe:

1. Preheat the oven to 325F.
2. Sift the cake mix and flour into a large mixing bowl.
3. Add the rest of the dry ingredients (sugar & salt) and stir together with a wire whisk:

4. Add the remaining wet ingredients (water, oil, vanilla extract, sour cream, & eggs) and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes:

5. Fold in 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips then pour the batter into 2 greased and floured 9" round cake pans (filling each pan a little over half full). Lightly tap the filled cake pans on the counter to release air bubbles:

6. Bake at 325 until cake tests done (inserted knife comes out clean), roughly 20-30 minutes, depending on your oven.

7. Meanwhile, make the cookie dough frosting. Beat the butter, cream cheese, and brown sugar for 2 minutes:

8. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and salt. Add the flour/salt mixture to the butter/cream cheese/brown sugar and beat until mixed:

9. Add the vanilla extract and slowly add powdered sugar until you reach desired consistency (2-3 cups). Add 1 tablespoon of milk to the frosting if it gets too thick:

10. Frost the bottom layer of your cooled cake, top with 3 crumbled Tate's cookies and some chocolate chips, then place the top layer of cake on top:

11. Frost the outside of your double layer cake, crumble 3 more Tate's cookies and sprinkle chocolate chips on the frosting, then enjoy!

Happy Birthday, Nat!

Recipe to print:

1. Preheat the oven to 325F.
2. Sift the cake mix and flour into a large mixing bowl.
3. Add the rest of the dry ingredients (sugar & salt) and stir together with a wire whisk.
4. Add the remaining ingredients (water, oil, vanilla extract, sour cream, & eggs) and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
5. Fold in 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips then pour the batter into 2 greased and floured 9" round cake pans (filling each pan a little over half full).
6. Lightly tap the filled cake pans on the counter to release air bubbles.
7. Bake at 325 until cake tests done (inserted knife comes out clean), roughly 20-30 minutes, depending on your oven.
8. Meanwhile, make the cookie dough frosting. Beat the butter, cream cheese, and brown sugar for 2 minutes.
9. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and salt. Add the flour/salt mixture to the butter/cream cheese/brown sugar and beat until mixed.
10. Add the vanilla extract and slowly add powdered sugar until you reach desired consistency (2-3 cups). Add 1 tablespoon of milk to the frosting if it gets too thick.
11. Frost the bottom layer of your cooled cake, top with 3 crumbled Tate's cookies and chocolate chips, then place the top layer of cake on top.
12. Frost the outside of your double layer cake, crumble 3 more Tate's cookies and sprinkle chocolate chips on the frosting, then enjoy!

Cake Week: The Only Cake Recipe You'll Ever Need

Sweet Treats

Like I said before, February is a month full of birthdays. This cake recipe was conceived in heaven and is the only recipe you will ever need...I ain't lying. It is perfect. The recipe is extremely versatile, the cake comes out moist and tasty, and it is very hard to mess up...

Thank you, Our Daily Obsession, for this life-changing cake recipe.

Ingredients

What you'll need:

*For a double layer 9" round cake

• 1 (18 ounce) box of cake mix, Betty Crocker or Pillsbury (flavor depends on which cake you are baking)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 0.75 tsp salt
• 1 & 1/3 cups water
• 2 Tbs vegetable oil
• 1 tsp real vanilla extract
• 1 cup sour cream
• Eggs (amount depends on which cake you are baking)

Flavor specific ingredients:

1. White Almond Cake

• White cake mix
• 4 large egg whites
• Add 1 tsp almond extract

2. White Vanilla (or Coconut) Cake

• White cake mix
• 4 large egg whites
• For coconut...
• Add 1 tsp almond extract
• Fold in 4 ounces sweetened shredded coconut to batter

3. Chocolate Cake

Stay tuned for this recipe tomorrow!

• Chocolate cake mix
• 3 whole eggs

4. White Chocolate Cake

Stay tuned for this recipe on Friday!

• White cake mix
• 3 whole eggs
• 6 ounces white baking chocolate, melted (added to the batter)

5. Liqueur Flavor Cake

Kahlua Coffee Ice Cream Cake

• Whichever cake mix you prefer
• 4 large egg whites
• Substitute alcohol (ie. Champagne or Kahlua) for 1/2 cup of the water in the recipe

6. Berry Flavor Cake

Perfect for 4th of July...

• White or yellow cake mix
• 4 large egg whites
• Use frozen berries, thaw and reserve the juice
• Substitute the berry juice for part of the water in the recipe
• Stir the berries in the batter at the end

7. Lemon Cake

• White or yellow cake mix
• 3 whole eggs
• Add 1/2 tsp good lemon extract
• Substitute lemon juice for about 1/2 cup of the water in the recipe
• Stir 1 Tbs lemon zest into the batter

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 325F.
2. Sift the cake mix and flour into a large mixing bowl.
3. Add the rest of the dry ingredients (sugar & salt) and stir together with a wire whisk.
4. Add the remaining ingredients (water, oil, flavor extracts, sour cream, eggs, etc...) and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
5. Pour batter into greased and floured cake pans, filling each pan a little over half full.
6. Lightly tap the filled cake pans on the counter to release air bubbles.
7. Bake at 325 until cake tests done and inserted knife comes out clean (anywhere from 20-30 minutes depending on your oven).
8. Once cooled, fill, frost, and top your layer cake with whatever frosting you'd like!

Cake Week: Birthday Cake Batter Cupcakes

Sweet Treats

It seems like everyone I know has a birthday between January 25th and March 5th. Therefore, I have ODed on baking this month and cooked up a considerable amount of blogging material. Due to the unhealthy amount of cake and cupcakes I baked in the month of February, I am calling this week "Cake Week" and starting off with some delicious Birthday Cake Batter Cupcakes...

Happy 23rd Birthday, Nat!

The highlight of these cupcakes was the addictive frosting. I was spooning the frosting into my mouth while decorating. Another notable feature was the moist cake (this is very important because cupcakes tend to be too dry). Without further ado...

Ingredients:

Cake

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Rainbow sprinkles

Frosting

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 Tbs milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 cups powdered sugar

Recipe:

*from Your Cup of Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Sift cake mix into a bowl and set aside:

3. In another bowl, combine oil, eggs, buttermilk, sour cream, and vanilla extract and whisk until mixed:

4. Stir in cake mix until smooth. Fold in the sprinkles:

5. Fill cupcake liners about 3/4 filled with batter and bake for 17 - 20 minutes:

Cute cupcake liners!

6. Meanwhile, make the frosting. Beat butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add milk and vanilla extract and mix. Slowly add powdered sugar until you reach desired consistency (I used 3 cups of powdered sugar):

7. Spread the frosting on cooled cupcakes and top with more rainbow sprinkles...yum!!

Recipe to print:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Sift cake mix into a bowl and set aside.
3. In another bowl, combine oil, eggs, buttermilk, sour cream, and vanilla extract and whisk until mixed.
4. Stir in cake mix until smooth. Fold in the sprinkles.
5. Fill cupcake liners about 3/4 filled with batter and bake for 17 - 20 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, make the frosting. Beat butter and cream cheese until smooth.
7. Add milk and vanilla extract and mix. Slowly add powdered sugar until you reach desired consistency (I used 3 cups of powdered sugar).
8. Spread the frosting on cooled cupcakes and top with more rainbow sprinkles...yum!!

Sausage, Fig, Tomato, Arugula, and Eggplant Pizza

Savory Eats

When my brother visits me in the city, I always promise him a home-cooked meal. After a lengthy debate about whether we wanted homemade sushi or pizza, we decided on pizza...

Far from ordinary pizza...

You won't believe how incredibly delicious these ingredients tasted together. The sweet fig was perfect with the bitter arugula. Sun-dried tomato sausage added that meaty flavor. This recipe should be put on your to-do list, as soon as possible.

*This made two thin-crust pizzas

Ingredients:

• One package of pizza dough (Trader Joe's Garlic & Herb Dough)
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (1.5 cups per pizza)
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (0.5 cup sprinkled on top of each pizza)
• 1 jar of pizza sauce
• 1 beefsteak tomato, sliced thin
• 10 dried figs, sliced thin
• 1 cup arugula (0.5 cups sprinkled on each pizza)
• 1 eggplant, sliced thin
• 3 sausages, sliced thin (Trader Joe's Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Sausage)
• 2 heads of garlic, roasted (1 head per pizza)
• Salt and red pepper flakes (to taste, but be cautious about the red pepper flakes)

Recipe:

1. Preheat the oven to 425F (make sure the oven is fully heated before putting in the pizza).
2. Roast the heads of garlic immediately because they take about 30 minutes. Click here to see how to roast garlic:

3. Slice up all your ingredients: beefsteak tomato, figs, eggplant, and sausage:

4. Brown the sausage in some olive oil for about 5 minutes:

5. Liberally flour the surface on which you are going to roll out the pizza dough. Split the dough into two even pieces. Pat and spread out the first ball of dough into a thin circle (the edges should be thicker to create a nice crust):

6. Brush olive oil on the dough. Smash and spread the roasted cloves from one head of garlic onto the dough then spread some pizza sauce (as much or little as you like):

7. Lay some sliced tomatoes on the pizza sauce:

8. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese on top of the tomatoes. Lay the sliced eggplant on top of that:

9. Place the sliced figs evenly over the pizza:

10. Add your sliced sausage:

11. Sprinkle the rest of the shredded mozzarella and the Parmesan cheese on top and add the arugula. Top with sea salt and some red pepper flakes (I only used about 1/4 teaspoon of pepper flakes):

12. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes (or until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is bubbly):

13. Repeat with your second thin-crust pizza and ENJOY!

Recipe to print:

1. Preheat the oven to 425F (make sure the oven is fully heated before putting in the pizza).
2. Roast the heads of garlic immediately because they take about 30 minutes. Click here to see how to roast garlic.
3. Slice up all your ingredients: beefsteak tomato, figs, eggplant, and sausage.
4. Brown the sausage in some olive oil for about 5 minutes.
5. Liberally flour the surface on which you are going to roll out the pizza dough. Split the dough into two even pieces. Pat and spread out the first ball of dough into a thin circle (the edges should be thicker to create a nice crust).
6. Brush olive oil on the dough. Smash and spread the roasted cloves from one head of garlic onto the dough then spread some pizza sauce (as much or little as you like).
7. Lay some sliced tomatoes on the pizza sauce.
8. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese on top of the tomatoes. Lay the sliced eggplant on top of that.
9. Place the sliced figs evenly over the pizza.
10. Add your sliced sausage.
11. Sprinkle the rest of the shredded mozzarella and all the Parmesan cheese on top and add the arugula. Top with sea salt and some red pepper flakes (I only used about 1/4 teaspoon of pepper flakes).
12. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes (or until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is bubbly).
13. Repeat with your second thin-crust pizza and ENJOY!