Brian Turns 30: Dark Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

Every year on my birthday, I think about what kind of cake to celebrate with. Sometimes it’s a Magnolia hummingbird cake or one from scratch, or it’s a slice from a restaurant, or it’s a classic vanilla sponge with chocolate frosting. However, most of the time, I’m baking it from scratch. I love a homemade cake. No frills, classic. But it’s my 30th birthday, so I wanted to try something new. Why would I start my thirties with something tried and true? This year, I’m celebrating with a homemade cookie cake.

I kept going back and forth on what exactly I wanted. For whatever laugh or weird pleasure I got out of it, I set an alert thirty days before my 30th birthday. On August 11th, the alarm went off. I started to think about all the things I needed to plan for. But what did I need to plan for, really? The cake, duh–oh and maybe dinner plans.

What kind of cookie cake?

Teddy

Growing up, I pretty much had one type of cake. A teddy bear cake baked with love by my mom. I loved those cakes. A giant sheet pan in the shape of a bear. If I remember correctly (and I say that because the photo below is not what I remember what my cakes looked like), she’d style the bear a little differently each year, but decorate it in the likeness of my teddy bear, Teddy. A pale yellow bear, my cakes were also pale yellow.

50-50 & Miscellaneous

I share a birthday with my cousin (and brother-in-law, and co-worker), and sometimes we’d have joint birthdays. And yes, one cake. Half would be themed for me and the other half for my cousin. Then I turned 16 and a giant photo of naked baby Brian was printed on the cake. And then I turned 21; I think I skipped cake that year in lieu of shots. But since Fatima and I settled into our home in New York City almost eight years ago, we’ve celebrated with cake. Did I mention we share a birthday week?

Back to me

Back to brainstorming about my cake for my 30th. One thought that crossed my mind was to recreate that teddy bear cake; hashtag nostalgia. I found a pan, but I have two issues with the pan. 1. Why is it $16? I couldn’t justify that on one pan. 2. I already have a pan problem; I collect them. Where would this one go? So the teddy bear cake was scrapped.

Then I thought, what about a cookie cake? But would I make a cookie cake, as in a Mrs. Fields cookie cake? Or would I make a layered cake with giant cookies? It wasn’t until last week that I decided to go for the large cookie cake (like Mrs. Fields).

Hello Mrs. Fields-ish.

Searching, searching, searching, and I finally came across this recipe. What I loved about it is how moist it looked. I love a dense, underbaked cookie, so this photo had me at that. I opted for dark chocolate chips (great tip) and chocolate frosting on the perimeter. The cake I wanted had to be something I haven’t had on my birthday, yet it had to be classically delicious. This was very easy to make and will satisfy your cookie cake cravings.

Now excuse me, while I enjoy the rest of my day and continue sipping on this margarita.