Candy Corn Cookie Cake – Peas and Crayons

• Before we begin, I’m begging you to take the optional advance prep or refrigerating the dough for 24 hours. It takes the flavor and texture over the top! You can chill your dough 1-3 days in advance. When ready to bake set the chilled dough out on the counter for an hour until soft enough to tear off chunks to press into the springform pan.

LET’S MAKE A COOKIE CAKE!

• First bring butter and eggs to room temp. The butter is ready when a light imprint can be left in the stick of butter with your thumb. To soften faster, slice into chunks.

• Measure flour by weight (best results) or using the fluff-spoon-level technique. In a medium-large bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

• Cream together softened butter and both sugars in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Start at the lowest speed and increase as needed for approx. 2 minutes.

• Add in the egg and vanilla and continue to beat with the mixer to incorporate into the dough, approx. 30-45 seconds.

• Add flour mixture to the larger bowl slowly while you continue to beat on low.

• Once dough is mixed (taking care not to over-mix), use the beater to mix or fold in chocolate chips. Place dough on a large sheet of plastic wrap or parchment paper and wrap securely. Refrigerate overnight or 1-3 days for advance prep.

• NOTE: I like to add some extra chocolate chips after pressing the cookie dough into the pan (before baking) and then press in my M&M candies while the cake is still soft after baking to lessen cracks in the candies.

READY TO BAKE?

• Grab the dough from the fridge and allow to soften on the counter.

• Preheat oven to 350°F and line bottom of the springform pan with parchment paper or lightly grease with butter.

• Break off chunks of dough and arrange in the pan. Press together to create an even layer of cookie dough in the pan, all the way to the edges. Press some extra chocolate chips into the top of the dough before baking.

• Bake in the pan on the center rack of the oven at 350°F for 15-17 minutes until the dough has fluffed up and is just slightly starting to darken in color.

• Remove from oven and place on a wire cooling rack. While the top is still soft, press in the M&M candies and allow cookie cake to completely cool. You can remove the springform ring (the sides) to help it cool faster. It should be set and cool enough to frost after an hour or so. While it cools, make your frosting and plan for the fun part – the decorating!

COOKIE CAKE FROSTING

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large mixing bowl using a handheld mixer, beat the butter until smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape down sides as needed. (approx. 1-2 minutes)

• Add the powdered sugar and mix on low speed at first to incorporate then increase to medium speed and continue mixing for 1-2 minutes or until fully combined. Add the heavy cream, vanilla extract, and salt and continue mixing on medium speed until everything is well-combined, smooth, and easy to pipe.

• For the candy corn hued frosting, divide the icing into three bowls. Keep one bowl of buttercream as-is for the white portion of the candy corn. To the remaining bowls, add a little orange gel food coloring to one for the light orange and add a little yellow to the other. A very small amount of gel coloring goes a long way so add less to start as you can always add more later. Mix well with an electric hand mixer or by hand if preferred.

• Transfer to piping bags (disposable or reusable) fitted with assorted star tips to create cute starburst designs.

• I used Wilton open star tips 6B and 4B for the little starburst accents and to pipe the circumference of the cake. To make the icing roses I used Wilton drop flower tip 2D. You could also use a 1M open star tip to create flowers. For the starbursts I give the piping bag a light squeeze then press down and pull up in a quick motion. To make roses I start in the middle and draw a little counter-clockwise spiral while gently squeezing the piping bag. It’s super easy and you can even practice on parchment paper first.

• This buttercream recipe makes a little extra frosting so you have enough to play around with designs to make a cake similar to the one in the photos. Any leftover frosting can be frozen for 1-3 months and used for cakes, cupcakes, and sweet treats galore!

• After frosting, press candy corn into the frosted designs. Feel free to add some festive sprinkles too. Get creative and have fun!