cake

Birthday Cake Cheesecake

At 26-going-on-27, I’ve grown to love birthdays that feel like deep crow-footed, cheek-hurting smiles, that sound like clanging dishes and brassy laughter.

On birthdays, I need my family. We need a table to sit around to hold our leaning elbows. We need food, we need each other, but that’s all.

For children, though, birthdays have to involve some sort of event. Kids want to scarf down plasticky pizza, be mildly terrorized by an oversized animatronic mouse playing a banjo, and wallow in a germy ball pit. Or they want to light tiki torches, drink pineapple punch, and marco polo around a swimming pool until their fingers are wrinkly.

When I was little, my mom convinced me that I wanted to throw a cross-stitching birthday party.

Naturally, the most direct avenue to popularity among your elementary school friends is to invite them to something called a “party” and proceed to introduce them to the pastime of 70-year-old ladies everywhere.

When my birthday rolled around, my unsuspecting friends gathered around the coffee table and listened intently to the plan. Our goal was to pick a pattern and each cross-stitch a bookmark before cake and gifts. We dutifully chose the our favorite design, fussed with threading our needles, and got to work.

Well, turns out cross-stitching requires quite a bit of time. And, like, patience and stuff. Things that are in short supply for kids at birthday parties.

My friends faded fast. Soon we were stuffing our faces with cake, our half-finished bookmarks languishing in the needle-and-thread strewn living room.

Oh well. As long as there’s cake, right?

In that spirit, boy do I have a cake for you. This particular cake is an explosion of birthdayness. A “Funfetti” cheesecake on a vanilla wafer crust is topped with a layer of Funfetti cake, a layer of cake batter cookie dough, chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and a cherry. Every layer contributes a little bit of birthday joy. The final product is scrumptious and outrageously festive.

I have more ridiculous birthday stories from when I was a child, because apparently it was impossible for me to have a normal, uneventful birthday party. But I’ll spread the love and save those for later. In the meantime, have some cake.

Describe one of your favorite (or least favorite) childhood birthday memories.

Birthday Cake Cheesecake



Recipe by: Willow Bird Baking, with chocolate sauce adapted from Bakers Royale
Yield: 24 mini cheesecakes or 1 full-sized cheesecake

Crust Ingredients:
45 vanilla wafers, finely processed into crumbs
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Small pinch of salt

Cheesecake Ingredients:
2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cake mix
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon sprinkles
1 Funfetti cake mix (or homemade yellow cake with sprinkles mixed in), prepared and baked in thin layers
melted chocolate (for topping)
whipped cream (for topping)
maraschino cherries (for topping)

Cake Batter Cookie Dough Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup yellow cake mix
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons sprinkles
4-8 tablespoons water

Chocolate Pouring Sauce:
2/3 cups dark chocolate
2 tablespoons heavy cream
4 tablespoons powdered sugar, sifted
4-5 tablespoons water, warm

Directions:
Note on Scheduling: This is a great recipe to make over the course of a few days. You can make the Funfetti cake one day and freeze it, make the cookie dough disc another day and freeze it, make the cheesecake one day and refrigerate it, and then make your chocolate pouring sauce and assemble on the day you’ll serve the dessert.

Prepare your Funfetti cake: Mix and bake in 9-inch round cake pans according to box instructions and set aside to cool. Make one of these a pretty thin layer of cake — this will be the one you use on your cheesecake (be careful; a thinner layer will bake for less time). The other layer is extra; I tore mine up and froze it for future cake balls. After cooling, freeze your cake layer — it’s easier to work with when frozen.

Prepare your cheesecake: To make the cheesecake crust, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two mini or one full-sized cheesecake pan. Combine the cookie crumbs, melted butter and salt in a small bowl. Toss with a fork to moisten all of the crumbs. Press into a thin layer covering the bottom of your cheesecake pan(s).

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and sugar on medium-high speed until well blended. Beat in the flour and cake mix. Add in the vanilla and beat until well incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl between each addition. Pour the filling into your cheesecake pan(s), leaving room for a cake and cookie dough layer on top of your cheesecake.

Bake until the top is lightly browned, puffed and cracked at the edges, and the center moves only very slightly when the pan is lightly shaken (about 40 minutes for a full-sized cheesecake or 12-15 minutes for mini cheesecakes). Transfer to a wire cooling rack. Cool at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. Transfer to the refrigerator and let cool at least 1 hour, until completely chilled and set.

Make the cookie dough: In a medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes until light, fluffy, and pale yellow. Mix in salt, flour, cake mix, sprinkles, and vanilla. Add water one tablespoon at a time, mixing after each, until you reach cookie dough consistency. If making a full-sized cheesecake, line a 9-inch cake pan with plastic wrap and spread cookie dough in a disc in the pan. Freeze it until firm, about 15 minutes. If making mini cheesecakes, just chill the cookie dough until you’re ready to assemble your cakes.

Make the chocolate pouring sauce: Heat chocolate and cream together in a bowl set over simmering water. Let them sit for a few minutes before whisking them together to combine. Whisk in powdered sugar and then add 1 tablespoon of water at a time, mixing after each until you reach pouring consistency. Set the sauce aside and let it cool to warm.

Assemble the cheesecakes: If you’re making mini cheesecakes, use a round cookie cutter or a serrated knife to cut circles of Funfetti cake to fit on each mini cheesecake. Spread a little chocolate sauce on the top of each mini cheesecake before placing a cake round on each and gently pressing them down snugly. If you’re making a full-sized cheesecake, spread chocolate sauce over your cheesecake and just place full frozen cake layer on top and gently press down.

If making mini cheesecakes, spread cookie dough into the top of each well with the back of a spoon. If making a full-sized cheesecake, spread another thin layer of chocolate sauce on top of the cake layer to act as glue, and then take your frozen cookie dough disc and place it on top. Chill cheesecake(s) for about 30 minutes before gently unmolding them. Drizzle with melted chocolate and top with a dollop of whipped cream, sprinkles, and a maraschino cherry.

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Deep Fried Cake Batter Cookie Dough

Cake Batter Cookie Dough is like a birthday party. A sweet, colorful, happy birthday party with balloons and trick candles.

Cake Batter Cookie Dough Truffles are like a birthday party that, in addition to those things, has a bouncy house and pony rides from a pony named Whinny.

That’s nice and all.

But Deep Fried Cake Batter Cookie Dough is like a birthday party with all of those things — held on a flippin’ yacht in the French Riviera, with David Beckham serving you lemonade while Posh Spice feeds Whinny sugar cubes.

Oh, and with Prince performing “Raspberry Beret” in one of his funky outfits.

And with Nigella Lawson in the galley whipping up cupcakes.

And with one of those little bendy straws in the lemonade.

What I’m trying to say is that Deep Fried Cake Batter Cookie Dough is one of the best things I’ve ever had the pleasure of devouring. I mean, it was so good — an absolutely magical bite. I think it tasted a little like Heaven would taste.

And now that I’ve accidentally equated Heaven to a nautical birthday party with assorted celebrities (and Whinny!), I’m going to stop with that train of thought.

Back to deep fried dough. The buttery, cake batter-flavored dough encased in a thin, crispy shell was surprisingly light and pop-able. Despite being indulgent, it didn’t feel heavy or overwhelming.

Of course, I stuck several of them in a paper tray with chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and sprinkles to really round out the experience.

I know some of you are going to say, “Well, I’m not really a fan of frying things.” Me neither! Frying things is scary business. Hot oil splatters can result in burnt fingers and forearms, and the whole process kind of smells weird. And maybe you’re health conscious and frying is a dirty word in your house.

Listen, these fried dough balls are beyond worth it! I suited up in goggles, put my hair up, plugged in my GranPappy, got down to business — and came out unscathed. And maybe, in terms of health, we shouldn’t eat deep fried dough balls every day; but then again, we shouldn’t have tricked out birthday parties every day either. It would spoil the fun of the occasional indulgence.

I want to leave you with a parting plea. Turn on your inner state-fair-attending, carnival-loving, birthday-party-throwing child and deep fry some cookie dough.

Time to get a little crazy: What’s your ideal birthday party?

Deep Fried Cake Batter Cookie Dough



Recipe by: Willow Bird Baking (cake batter cookie dough) and Taylor Takes a Taste (deep frying)
Yields: about 12 fried dough balls, depending on size

Dough Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup yellow cake mix
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons sprinkles
4-8 tablespoons water

Batter Ingredients:
1 egg
1 cup ice cold water
1 cup self-rising flour
2 tbsp confectioners’ sugar

Other Ingredients:
small bowl of cornstarch for rolling dough balls in
oil or shortening for frying
confectioners’ sugar for sprinkling (optional)
chocolate sauce (optional)
whipped cream (optional)
sprinkles (optional)

Directions:
To make dough, in a medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes until light, fluffy, and pale yellow. Mix in salt, flour, cake mix, sprinkles, and vanilla. Add water one tablespoon at a time, mixing after each, until you reach cookie dough consistency. Roll your dough into balls and chill until your batter and oil are ready.

Heat your oil to 375 degrees. To make batter, mix together egg and water. Add flour and sugar and mix. Roll each dough ball in cornstarch, shaking off the excess, and then dip into the batter, making sure the ball is entirely coated. Use a slotted spoon to place 3 or 4 balls at a time into the hot oil. Fry for 1-3 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and serve with confectioners’ sugar, chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and sprinkles.

P.S. Love that cute little checkered paper tray? Download the template here, print it on cardstock, cut around the outside borders, fold the tabs over and glue them.

P.S. 2 Only 1 week left in my Cheesecake Challenge! Choose any one of 9 cheesecake recipes to prepare within the next month. Email a photo to me by 4/5/2011 to be featured on Willow Bird Baking! Get more details about the challenge here.

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Cake Batter Cookie Dough Truffles

What a mess of a weekend. While I was blowing my nose repeatedly and hacking unattractively on Saturday night, I noticed that Byrd was lethargic. After a little investigating (read: walking around the apartment), I found that she had eaten about a metric ton of kleenex from the trash can. Her tissue escapades must have been her attempt at staying occupied while I tried to sleep off my cold; alas, it was a bad life decision. She was one unhappy puppy.

She curled up next to me and tried to look as pitiful as possible while I massaged her sick little body. Every now and then she’d look up at me as if to say, “Why aren’t you fixing it, Mommy?” Then I’d cry a little and she’d lick my face a little and we’d continue spooning.

Finally the tissues worked their way out of her system, but not until the entire weekend had been spent fretting and giving her sips of olive oil. I’m ready for everyone in the apartment to be healthy now! At least my turtle hasn’t contracted any plagues as of yet.

Needless to say, the safe-to-eat cookie dough I posted on Sunday has been a welcome ray of sunshine in an otherwise germy, sickly sort of week. In fact, I found two recipes in which to use said cookie dough that almost made everything feel downright cheery. And here’s one of them now: cookie dough truffles.

I usually use the eggless chocolate chip cookie dough in my Coffee Cookie Dough Fudge Cheesecake — a noble purpose, for sure. But if you’re not feeling making an entire cheesecake, you can whip up a batch of these simple truffles. I made them with each type of cookie dough and unsurprisingly, the cake batter cookie dough truffles were my absolute favorite. The cake batter cookie dough was the perfect buttery and festive filling inside of the rich chocolate shell. I’m just sorry poor Byrd couldn’t join in for a bite!

Cake Batter Cookie Dough Truffles



Recipe by: Willow Bird Baking
Yields:about 12 truffles, depending on size

Ingredients:
one recipe cake batter cookie dough (or other flavor)
chocolate candy melts (I use Candiquik)
sprinkles!

Directions: Roll your cookie dough into 1 inch balls and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.

Melt candy melts according to package instructions. I place the bowl of melted candy melts into a bigger bowl with hot water in it. This keeps the candy melts warm and viscous as you work. Just be careful not to get any water in the chocolate, which will cause it to seize and be unusable. Prepare a sheet of wax paper to let your truffles dry on.

Take only a few dough balls out of the fridge at a time. Spear one with a toothpick and dip it, using a spoon to help you coat the outside and wiggling it a little over the bowl to let the excess drip off. Now wiggle it off onto your wax paper and top with sprinkles, chocolate chips, crushed oreos, or other cute toppings. Let them harden. Serve immediately or keep in an airtight container in the fridge.

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Three Safe-to-Eat Cookie Doughs: Chocolate Chip, Sugar, and Cake Batter!

I’m siiiiick. If you follow Willow Bird Baking on Facebook or Twitter (you do, right?), you’ve probably heard me whining about it lately (okay, maybe this isn’t the best way to encourage you to follow).

It started with a sore throat and has turned into a beastly, phlegmatic ogre of a cold that has taken up residence in my chest and commenced hanging draperies and such. I have protested this development with various hot teas, soups, and my favorite home remedy suggested by readers: complaining.

Three Safe-to-Eat Cookie Doughs: Chocolate Chip, Sugar, and Cake Batter!

Three Safe-to-Eat Cookie Doughs: Chocolate Chip, Sugar, and Cake Batter!

I know my students are to blame for this plague! They’ve been dropping like flies recently. A wave of 6th graders was sick early in the year, and then 7th grade took a nose dive. At one point almost half the class was home in bed, weeping at the thought of missing their fantastic language arts class and writing pickup essays in fond remembrance of healthier days. That’s what students do when they’re home sick, right?

Three Safe-to-Eat Cookie Doughs: Chocolate Chip, Sugar, and Cake Batter!

I can’t stay home until I’m better, but I do tend to baby myself when I’m sick. Take, for instance, the vat of spicy crab chowder and loaf of sourdough bread I allowed myself to eat yesterday under the guise of “feeding a cold” (not that I starve a fever or anything).

And I’m not even going to mention the amount of this cookie dough I consumed over the weekend. I’m sure cookie dough has, like, vitamins and stuff.

Three Safe-to-Eat Cookie Doughs: Chocolate Chip, Sugar, and Cake Batter!

If nothing else, cookie dough is good for the soul. As a child, my idea of adulthood was finally getting to sit down with a tube of technically-unsafe-to-eat-before-baking cookie dough, slice it open, and eat the whole thing — no parental scolding involved.

And now, look how far I’ve come: this weekend I made not one, but three kinds of cookie dough! Not only that, but they’re all eggless and therefore actually safe to eat*.

Three Safe-to-Eat Cookie Doughs: Chocolate Chip, Sugar, and Cake Batter!

Chocolate chip cookie dough recipes are popular and easy to find, but safe-to-eat sugar cookie dough is a bit more elusive. I developed the recipe below from a regular sugar cookie recipe. But the dough that really takes the cake (literally!) is the Cake Batter Cookie Dough.

Jessica at How Sweet It Is has been going cake batter crazy lately, and I’m loving it! Inspired, I decided to create a rich cookie dough that tastes like buttery yellow cake batter, complete with sprinkles. There’s just something wonderful about food that tastes like a birthday party.

Oh, and are you wondering about those truffles in the photos? Stay tuned — I’ll tell you all about those soon, along with yet another awesome use for cookie dough!

So, in summary: I’m sick. My students are sick. We’re all sick. Eat cookie dough.

5 from 1 reviews
Safe-to-Eat Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
 
Prep time
Total time
 
Chocolate chip cookie dough you can eat on a spoon!
Author:
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt (a few people have found this to be too much; if you want, just add a pinch and increase to taste. I add the full 1/2 teaspoon and enjoy it!)
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (again, you might want to add this a teaspoon at a time to taste. I add the full tablespoon and enjoy it!)
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • water
Instructions
  1. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Stir in the flour, salt, vanilla and chocolate chips. Add water one tablespoon at a time (stirring between each) until the dough reaches cookie dough consistency.

 

5 from 1 reviews
Safe-to-Eat Sugar Cookie Dough
 
Prep time
Total time
 
Ingredients
  • 1 1/3 cups and 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup white sugar
  • 1-2 tablespoons water
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. In a medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes until light, fluffy, and pale yellow. Mix in flour and vanilla. Add water one tablespoon at a time, mixing after each, until you reach cookie dough consistency.

5 from 1 reviews
Safe-to-Eat Cake Batter Cookie Dough
 
Prep time
Total time
 
Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2/3 cup yellow cake mix
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons sprinkles
  • 4-8 tablespoons water
Instructions
  1. In a medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes until light, fluffy, and pale yellow. Mix in salt, flour, cake mix, sprinkles, and vanilla. Add water one tablespoon at a time, mixing after each, until you reach cookie dough consistency.

*Note: Since posting this recipe, scientisty types have also found that raw flour — just like produce — can carry E.coli if it’s been contaminated with it. This article suggests that the risk is even smaller than the tiny risk of getting Salmonella from eating cookie dough with raw eggs, but it’s still there and I wanted you to know about it. At least eggless cookie dough is safer — and no reason to waste the eggs when you just want to eat it with a spoon, right?!

Bright, Fun Blackberry Trifle

I made a trifle! Otherwise known as a big bucket o’ fun!

Okay, no one calls them that except me. But they should! Look at this thing! Bright, fluffy, moist layers of cake, custardy cream, splushy berries, crunchy toasted almonds, and to top it all off, a smattering of sprinklessss!

Joyce served individual versions of this trifle after a delicious lunch of Cream of Mushroom Soup a couple of weeks ago, and as soon as I took a bite, I felt a little more jolly. I found myself craving the trifle’s cool, creamy brightness in the days following, and finally whipped one up for myself.

One of the things I loved most about Joyce’s trifle is that she used a Funfetti Cake. Do you remember Funfetti Cake? The boxed cake mix so many of us loved as a kid? My favorite was always the Funfetti Frosting, with inexplicably colorful beads of goodness mixed throughout. What were those things? Do I even want to know?!

Whatever they were, I loved them. And Food Blogger Confession #84: I kind of want to go to the store in my PJs right this minute, buy a tub of that frosting, and eat the entire thing with a spoon. In one sitting. While watching Supernanny.

But I digress — it’s easy to get distracted by trashy midnight snack fantasies. Can I dip Twinkies into my tub o’ Funfetti Frosting? Okay, I’ll stop. Ahem.

The story behind Joyce’s cake choice actually involves her son. When he was growing up, she’d always made him a homemade cake from scratch. One day, however, he visited a friend of hers and came home raving about an amazing cake he’d eaten. She decided to make it for his birthday that year and called up her friend to ask about it — only to find out it was a regular ol’ Funfetti Cake from a box! Since then, needless to say, she hasn’t bothered with a homemade cake when his birthday rolls around!

It just so happened my lunch date with Joyce was the day before her son’s birthday this year. She’d already been doing birthday baking, so she had Funfetti cake leftover to use in the trifle. If you have a favorite homemade cake you love, you can use it (a clementine cake, coconut cake, or lemon cake would be so good!), but I loved the blast from the past so much that I used a Funfetti cake in my trifle as well. Every polka dot of color made me happy.

Regardless of your cake choice, a trifle is a simple way to inject some fun into dessert. If you’re looking for something both casual and indulgent to welcome the coming spring, grab a cake and your favorite berries and start layering.

What food item is a “blast from the past” for you?

Bright, Fun Blackberry Trifle



Recipe by: Adapted from Phyllis Hoffman’s Celebrate Magazine
Yields: 8 servings

Ingredients:
4 cups berries of your choice (Joyce and I used blackberries)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 layers of Funfetti or other cake, prepared and cooled
1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds
1 teaspoon lime zest (optional)
2 cups ricotta cheese
2 cups plain Greek yogurt
2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Whipped Cream Ingredients:
2 cups heavy whipping cream
3-4 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar (to taste)

Directions:
Combine washed berries, sugar, orange juice, and lime zest. Set aside. In a separate bowl, mix ricotta cheese, yogurt, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla until well combined. In a trifle dish, layer torn pieces of cake, cheese mixture, and berries. Repeat layers. Cover and chill overnight.

When ready to serve, whip cream and confectioners’ sugar together until you have soft peaks. Pile whipped cream on top of trifle and top with almonds. Serve with leftover whipped cream for topping individual portions.

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