make my cake and eat it, too

I turned 34 a week ago, and if anything deserves cake, it's staring middle age in the face that most certainly does. While some generations might still call me a spring chicken, I'm starting to not look much like one (thank you, slowing metabolism), and I'm definitely beginning to lose that spring in my step (thank you, four children I have delivered and who make my insides feel like they might fall right out if I try to play as vigorously with them as they would with me). But even so, I'm in a good place (thank you, Cincinnati), and I am happy.

Ten years ago, on the first birthday I celebrated with a husband, Blake made me a cake. It was a valiant effort, but the end result looked more like caved in crumbs with frosting plopped haphazardly here and there than the two-layered beauty he had intended it to be. If cake pops were a thing then, this cake would have been a good candidate to be transformed into those delectable cake-and-frosting balls and rolled in dipping chocolate. But alas, they were not (or if they were, I did not know about them).

So it was swiftly decided that if I wanted a birthday cake each year, I would have to make it. And I have been happy to do so. It means that I always get exactly what I want.

And this year what I wanted was a moist (yes, I know people are disgusted by that word, but what am I to replace it with?) chocolate cake with a cookie dough frosting that the internet had seduced me with and which I was dying to try. And so I found a recipe for one of those enhanced cake mix cakes and, because I think we can all agree that cookie dough is better than the actual cookies, topped it with the frosting I'd been so beguiled by.

And, oh, it was good. Almost too good. Rich, and sweet, and perfect. And, let's be honest, it looked pretty great propped up on the lovely little cake stand my mom gave me as a birthday gift.

When I shared the photo with the internet, everyone started drooling, and rightly so. And since this year I'm committed to both teaching my children kindness by example and to not letting this blog die too slow and painful a death, I thought I'd share the recipes here. So go bake a cake and whip up some cookie dough you absolutely do not intend to bake. Because whether or not you are also staring middle age in the face, I know you deserve cake, too.

Chocolate Cake

1 box Devil's Food cake mix
1 (4 oz.) box instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease two 8- or 9- inch round cake pans, then dust with flour and tap out the excess; set aside. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then blend on medium-low speed for 2-3 minutes more. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pans for about 20 minutes, then remove to a wire rack. Wait until completely cool before frosting.

Cookie Dough Frosting

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
4-5 tbsp milk
1 cup mini chocolate chips

With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the vanilla and beat well. Add the flour and salt and mix until combined. Add the milk in gradually until desired consistency is reached and beat until fluffy. Gently fold in chocolate chips.

Note: This recipe yields enough for about 12 cupcakes. To frost a layered cake, I increased in the ingredients by half.