Page 106: Triple Chocolate Fat Pants Cake aka THE FINALE

Hooray! Friends, I present to you: recipe 52.  I have now made every recipe in the BabyCakes NYC cookbook.

And this grand finale was well worth the wait.  Appropriately named Triple Chocolate Fat Pants Cake, this elaborate creation was one for the record books - both in size, flavor, and calorie count I'm sure.

As I set out to make this recipe I had to do a little pre-baking.  Specifically, a batch each of chocolate chip cookies and vanilla frosting.  As I was pulling the cookies from the oven it suddenly dawned on me that this in all likelihood would be the very best thing I've made in the book.  I mean, you essentially start with the amazing-in-its-own-right chocolate chip cookie sandwich and smash it between three decadent layers of chocolate chip laden brownies.  How could this not be amazing?

First thing was the frosting - now that I use just half the milk I really have confidence that I'll end up with frosting instead of sauce, and this batch was no exception.  It set up great and held together perfectly - even when on the cake and out at room temperature.

Next, I made a half batch of chocolate chip cookies.  The recipe called for twelve but I easily went through thirty.  I apparently make them much smaller than Erin McKenna.  I also used mini chocolate chips in this batch in an attempt to a) flatten them out for optimal layering and b) more evenly distribute the chocolate once they were disbursed into the cake.

So with a batch of frosting setting in the fridge and the last tray of mini-chocolate chipped cookies coming out of the oven, I set out to bake the actual cakes.  Which, really, were more like giant brownies than cakes... but no complaints from me because they were awesome.  This probably had something to do with the fact they contained two cups of evaporated cane juice in addition to two cups of chocolate chips.  [sound of pants button bursting]

I used the toothpick rule (I've learned so much in 52 recipes) and they were all perfectly done.  I had a tiny bit of trouble getting them out of the pan but this was because there were so many chocolate chips that some of those on the bottom stayed in the pan and left some holes in the brownie.  But in all of history too much chocolate has never been a bad thing and in the end it wasn't really an issue.

I let everything cool for a few hours before starting the assembly process.  First brownie, covered in frosting and topped with chopped up chocolate chip cookies (it called for broken bits but after half a cookie's worth of that the anal retentive part of me decided this process called for a knife).  Second brownie, more frosting, more cookies.  Third brownie, the remaining frosting, and cookies all over the top and sides of the cake.  Are you drooling yet?

VOILA! My beautiful Triple Chocolate Fat Pants Cake!

So there you have it. It was beautiful.  It was delicious.  And it was the last recipe.

I'm going to be taking a bit of a baking hiatus before moving onto book two.  My husband has kindly requested I bake only those recipes that I'm interested in rather than embark on another quest to bake every one in the book, but I haven't fully made up my mind yet.  However, I can assure you that the next time I'm ready for a baking session, donuts will be on the menu. And I promise to share the results with you!

xoxo,
Anna