Birthday Bonanza

It's Katrina's birthday month! That means we will be making a decadent cake every Friday this month in celebration. Probably all including lots of chocolate. And lots of layers. This cake seemed like a great way to kick of birthday month celebration - chock full of chocolate, cookie dough, and SPRINKLES! Nothing screams celebration like rainbow sprinkles!

Technically, this isn't cake at all. It's brownie and cookie dough layers without any actual cake. But when you layer them and cover them with ganache and frosting and sprinkles, what can you call it but cake? It looks so fancy!

Funfetti Cookie Dough Brownie Cake

Ingredients:

Brownies:
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
3 cups sugar
3 tsp vanilla
6 eggs
1 1/2 cup flour
1 cup cocoa
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sale

Cookie dough:
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
4 1/3 cups flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups colored sprinkles
5 Tbsp whole milk
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Ganache:
12 oz semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup heavy cream

Chocolate frosting:
1/2 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
5 Tbsp heavy cream
colored sprinkles for garnish

Instructions:

Brownies:

1. Line the bottom of three 9" cake pans with parchment paper and grease the sides. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix together oil, sugar, and vanilla. Add eggs and mix until combined.
3. Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add to the egg mixture and continue mixing until fully incorporated.
4. Pour batter evenly into pans and bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for about ten minutes in pan, then remove to wire baking rack to cool completely.

Cookie dough:

1. While brownies are baking, start on your cookie dough. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Mix in vanilla.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk salt and flour, then stir in sprinkles. Gradually add this flour mixture to your creamed butter, alternating with milk as needed.
3. Remove the dough from your mixer and knead the chocolate chips in by hand. Form dough into 2 equal sized balls. Roll each out until you have two flattened discs. Use the bottom of one of your cake pans to make sure they are the right size. Set aside.

Ganache:
The key to making easy and perfect ganache is a fondue pot. If you have one, you can pour your chocolate chips and heavy cream in and set it to a very low setting. Stir as the chocolate melts until you have a perfectly smooth melted chocolate mixture. Spoon into a measuring cup with a small spout for pouring onto cake.

If you do not have a fondue pot, you can also make ganache over a hot water bath on the stove, or by microwaving the chocolate and cream in 30 second intervals and stirring each time until all of the chocolate is fully melted.

Frosting:
Cream butter and sugar. Add cocoa, alternating with cream. Let your mixer whip it for several minutes until it is light and fluffy!

Cake assembly:

1. If your brownie layers and ganache are cool, we're ready to put this cake together! Place one brownie layer on your cake stand. Spread a small amount of ganache on this layer until it is fully coated with a very thin layer. Carefully place one cookie dough layer on top of this one. Now spread ganache on your cookie dough layer and cover with a brownie layer. Repeat until you have placed your third brownie layer.
2. Pour ganache all over the top layer of your cake. You make need to use a spatula to spread the ganache to run down over the sides if you want it to do so.
3. Pipe frosting around the edge of the cake. Liberally cover the cake with sprinkles. As many as you want! This is celebration cake! Go crazy!

So, yeah, there are some steps associated with this cake. But it is worth it! Check out process pics below.

Brownie layers are cooling!

Who needs packaged funfetti cake mix? You can just add sprinkles to flour! 

Our ginormous cookie dough ball

Rolling out for layering

Roughly the right size

Matching up with the bottom of the pan means it's definitely the right size for fitting perfectly on the brownie layers!

Everyone should own a fondue pot. Even if you never use it for anything other than making ganache. But, also, FONDUE.

Shiny and smooth chocolate goodness!

 A better shot of the Fat Fridays Forever shirt in action than the last time one was featured in a blog post. Spread a little bit of ganache on each layer.

You don't need much. It just helps keep the layers in place when you slice the cake.

LOOK AT IT.

It's not birthday (month) cake until it's surrounded by streamers and balloons, right?

And SO MANY sprinkles. You just can't have too many.

Look at those beautiful layers!

And ganache and frosting and sprinkles...just looking at it almost throws you into a sugar coma.

A slice of cake just hanging out on it's bed of sprinkles. Look how happy it looks!

Bottom line: If you love brownies, cookie dough, ganache, frosting, and sprinkles (and who doesn't), you've got to try making this for a special occastion. Like your own birthday month! I mean, it only happens once a year, right?

Yum