Chocolate Therapy Cake

Today I’m joining a talented group of ladies to help celebrate the fantastic flavors of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream! This theme week is the brain child of Kristan and Shelly (they have the best ideas!) and they asked Peabody, Julie and I to pick out our favorite Ben and Jerry’s flavors and recreate them in a dessert.

Years ago I had Chocolate Therapy ice cream at the Ben and Jerry’s inside the Opryland hotel. It’s a mixture of chocolate ice cream swirled with chocolate pudding and it’s studded with chocolate cookies. Love at first bite. Even though I’m a Karamel Sutra girl through and through, I ultimately decided on this flavor because I can no longer find it in my area (boo-hoo!). I really hoped to capture this trifecta of chocolate in a dessert – but which one? I mused on brownies,trifles and mini tarts but none seemed just right. My motto has always been, “when in doubt bake a cake.” So that’s what I did!

I started with my favorite chocolate cake as a base, then added two cups of chopped fudge-dipped cookies to the batter. Boy, does this ever give the cake an amazing texture! In the baked cake, the cookies are soft, and the chocolate coating becomes melty and creates little pockets of fudge in the layers. I spent a good bit of time perfecting the chocolate pudding buttercream, too. It’s so decadent and it does a good job keeping the cake moist.

I really wanted to give this recipe a name that would explain the components. Chocolate pudding cookie cake? Triple chocolate fudge-dipped cookie pudding cake?  I tried everything, but there’s just no better way to say it than “Chocolate Therapy” because that’s what it feels like when you eat it.

My friends have been busy this week creating all kinds of Ben and Jerry’s-inspired desserts! Be sure to check them out!

What a Cluster Bars
Cherry Garcia Cake
Phish Food Pie
Karamel Sutra Cupcakes
Everything But The…Cake
Everything But The…(kitchen sink) Brownies

Chocolate Therapy Cake

[click for printable version]

Source: Sprinkle Bakes original; flavors inspired by Ben and Jerry’s Chocolate Therapy ice cream

Yield: 12-14 servings, one 9-inch triple layer cake

Prep: 1 hour, total time 2 hours 30 minutes

It’s
especially important to line the pans with circles of parchment because the
fudge coating on the cookies will melt as it bakes. This creates pockets of
chocolate in the cake, and those near the bottom of the pan could stick if left
unlined.

Cake Layers

3 ounces
fine-quality semisweet chocolate 

1 1/2 cups hot
brewed coffee or hot water

2 1/2 cups
all-purpose flour

3 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups
unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)

2 teaspoons baking
soda

3/4 teaspoon
baking powder

1 1/4 teaspoons
salt

3 large eggs

3/4 cup vegetable
oil

1 1/2 cups full
fat sour cream

3/4 teaspoon
vanilla

2 cups (about 6 oz.) chocolate-dipped cookies such as Keebler Fudge Stripe,
roughly chopped

Chocolate pudding buttercream

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 cup hot (almost boiling) water

4 oz. semisweet chocolate

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably dark), sifted

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Assembly

3/4 cup chocolate sprinkles

14 chocolate-dipped cookies such as Keebler Fudge Stripe

1. Preheat oven to
   300°F.  Grease three 9-inch round pans with shortening. Line bottoms with rounds of parchment
   paper and grease paper.
2. Finely chop
   chocolate combine it in a bowl with hot coffee or hot water. Let mixture
   stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.
3. Sift together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large
   bowl. In another large bowl with an electric mixer beat eggs until thickened
   slightly and lemon colored (about 3 minutes with a standing mixer or 5 minutes
   with a hand-held mixer). Add oil, sour cream, vanilla, and melted
   chocolate mixture to eggs, beating until combined well. Add flour mixture and
   beat on medium speed until just combined. Fold in chopped cookie pieces with a
   rubber spatula. Divide batter between 3- 9” pans and bake in middle of oven
   until cake springs back when pressed in the center, approximately 40-50 minutes.
4. Cool layers in pans for 15 minutes on racks. Run a thin knife around edges of pans and invert
   layers onto wire racks. Carefully remove parchment paper and cool layers completely.
   Cake layers may be made 1 day ahead and kept, wrapped well in plastic wrap, at
   room temperature.
5. For the frosting, whisk together sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan. Add the chocolate and hot water, let stand a moment, then whisk until chocolate is melted. Place the saucepan over medium-high heat and whisk constantly until mixture boils. 
6. Let cook until thickened to a pudding-like consistency. Remove pan from heat and transfer pudding to a metal bowl. Place metal bowl in a larger bowl filled 1/3 full with ice water. Beat pudding on high speed with a hand mixer until cooled. 
7. Beat in butter,  cocoa and confectioners’ sugar. Add in salt and vanilla extract. Beat on high speed until fluffy.
8. To assemble, place a cake layer on a cake stand or serving platter; cover top evenly with about 1/3 cup of frosting. Stack on another cake layer and top with another 1/3 cup frosting. Stack last layer on top. Transfer about 1/3 cup of frosting to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip; set aside. Coat entire cake with the remaining icing. Set the frosted cake (still on the cake stand) in a clean, dry, empty kitchen sink and toss sprinkles onto the sides of the cake. Brush away excess sprinkles around the bottom of the cake with a dry pastry brush. Using the reserved piping bag of frosting, pipe small stars around the top edge of the cake. Place whole cookies standing upright into the top edge of the cake between piped stars. Sprinkle top with additional chocolate sprinkles, if desired.