Toll House Layercake

This Toll House layer cake takes the flavors of the famous chocolate chip cookie and turns them into a proper four-layer cake. The batter is essentially cookie dough: creamed butter, brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, flour, and a full cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips, baked flat in a sheet pan and cut into layers.

The chocolate buttercream frosting uses the remaining chocolate chips melted smooth and beaten into butter and powdered sugar. It’s rich, fudgy, and spreads thick between each layer and over the top.

Cutting one thin sheet cake into four even sections and stacking them is the trick. Each layer is dense and chewy like a blondie, and the frosting between them turns it into something entirely different from either a cookie or a traditional cake.

Chef Tips

• Cool the cake completely before cutting and stacking. Warm layers will melt the frosting and slide apart.
• Use a long serrated knife and a ruler to mark even cuts. Uneven layers make an unstable stack.
• Melt the chocolate for the frosting over hot, not boiling, water. Boiling water can cause the chocolate to seize and turn grainy.
• Spread the frosting thinly between layers (about 3 tablespoons each) so the cake doesn’t become overwhelmingly sweet. Save enough for the top.

Variations

• Peanut butter frosting version: Swap the chocolate buttercream for a peanut butter frosting to play on the cookie-and-PB combo.
• Toll House ice cream cake: Skip the frosting and layer softened vanilla ice cream between the cake layers, then freeze for a frozen dessert.