Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Chocolate Chip Cookie Birthday Cake And A Look At Past Cakes


Happy 10th birthday to my grandson Damian. Each year he and his younger brother tell me what kind of birthday cake they want. This year Damian asked for a giant cookie!

I have to admit to cheating. I bought a Betty Crocker 17.5 oz. Chocolate Chip Cookie mix and substituted 1/3 cup oil and 2 T. vegetable oil for the butter, which made for much easier spreading in the 12” diameter pan. First I tried spreading with a large spoon, then with a regular tablespoon. Finally I settled on the barehanded spread.



My goodness, the amount of chocolate chips Betty Crocker puts in her cookie mix! With approximately ten friends, quite a few family members and others... I decided to make two cookie cakes and lots of extra cookies.


My oven is small so I baked one giant cookies at a time. The disposable pans are rather flimsy, so I slipped a pizza pan underneath for support. I figured that would work okay since it had holes in it and would do a good job of distributing the oven heat












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Taking a look back through the years at Damian's birthday cakes from Grandma, I found these.

2009...
On the occasion of Damian’s 6th birthday, a huge family group assembled and I baked four pan cakes. Damian wanted to do his own decorating, including one cake minus the icing.





2010...
Damian wanted a motorcross bike cake like this:


It was a crazy cake! I baked and cut up and assembled the main cake, then Damian and his uncle frosted and decorated. They had a great time and Damian was so happy with his cake. Kids are easy to please because they don’t expect perfection.





2011...


For his 8th birthday, he wanted a dinosaur. I handed him the small whiteboard I kept on the counter and asked him to draw what he wanted. That year I made a cake with a one-dimensional T-Rex. I don’t have a decent photo and it looked to me a big mess, but he was thrilled. He recognized the red dripping out of T-Rex’s mouth as blood and he spotted the little volcanos around the sides of the cake.



2012...
No cake from Grandma. I was either sick or out of town. Mom and Dad got him his usual immediate-family cake and there was a big party later in the month in the back yard.


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TV TRAY
As a single person, I sometimes (often?) take my meal to the living room and eat off a TV tray while watching a movie or documentary. TV tray meals are usually cobbled-together with whatever happens to be in the kitchen, no measurements recorded.

Salmon fillet, coated with a mixture of fine bread crumbs, S&P and dried dill, pan seared in oil and butter. Fresh lemon juice squeezed on top during cooking and lemon pieces added to the pan. Knorr Pasta Side. Steamed carrots.

10 comments:

  1. Love the cakes especially the T-rex one. I hadn't thought about a giant cookie cake but actually it sounds like an excellent idea. I hope he had a lovely birthday.

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    1. Thanks for your kind words, Maria. A bit more about the T-rex. When his mom and dad saw it, they thought the red from the mouth was dragon fire and couldn't figure out the volcanos. Guess I must be a kid at heart, 'cause the birthday kid recognized everything immediately!

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  2. These cookie cakes look brilliant my friend and so professional, just like Mrs Fields!

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

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    1. Thanks, CCU. It surprised me that Mrs. Crocker's cookies tasted so good.

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  3. What a wealth of memories you've given Damian in the form of these birthday cakes. Well done, Grandmom! I know that dinner very well. I've had a similar one more times than I can remember. :)

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    1. Thanks, CJ. TV Tray dinners have the advantage that there is only one person to please.

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  4. I love your cookie cake and all the other cakes from the past! The boys must enjoy having such a creative grandma ;).

    Brenda @ sweetsimplestuff

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    1. Thank you for your kind comments, Brenda. I like to think the grands are pleased with me.

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  5. I wish I had a grandma like you when I was growing up. I love the gigantic cookies but I think the most novel cake you made was the crazy cake with the warriors, my boys would have love that one when they were growing up. I wish you lived closer Kathleen as there is always an extra space for dinner guests. You don't have to dine alone you just have to fend off my teenage boys for your portion. You can feel free to use your fork or chopstick to fend off the boys... LOL

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    1. Aw Brenda, you're so sweet. I have an idea of what you mean about teenage boys. My second hubby and I had mine (1 boy), his (2 boys and a girl) and eventually, ours (another girl). Got a little crazy trying to please all the taste buds. Big grocery bills.

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