‘Burgers on the Grill’ Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

Throughout my food writing, TV appearing, recipe creating career, coupled with frequent scroll sessions on Pinterest, I’ve learned that while no one is recreating the wheel, we’re all putting our own spin on it. (Get it? Spin? Okay, I’m done.) I say this because I’ve seen similar versions of this grill cake project–I call it a project because it feels more like crafting than baking–but came up with my own original twist.

For years, I’ve tuned into episodes of Ace of Cakes and Cake Boss, and dreamt of the days I would work with fondant to create a head spinning creation.

This is not one of those days.

Which is percisely why I wanted to find a way to make things look like other things without having to whip out modeling chocolate or fancy tools or learn a new skill. Besides, there’s nothing better than a finished product that looks complex, but is really approachable!

While a good magician never reveals their tricks, a good food blogger does, so here goes:

I made the base of this cake with chocolate chip cookie dough, something I’ve been doing for years. I usually bake these for birthdays in a round pizza tin and call them cookie pies, but I had a rectangular pan in my cabinet, and decided to be resourceful. Either shape would work for the grill effect.

This is a perfect dessert for Father’s Day tomorrow, makes a great hostess gift for summer barbecues and would be ideal for 4th of July!

Ingredients:

1 batch of your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe/mix

6 sugar cookies

Red writing icing

Red colored sugar

Yellow non perils

Chocolate writing icing

Chocolate frosting

Vanilla frosting

Green food coloring

2 red Dots candies

Sesame seeds

Instructions:

To make Grill:

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare cookie batter according to recipe and pour into a greased baking dish. Bake for about 10-15 minutes, until lightly golden on top. Allow to cool.

Drizzle red writing icing on top of cookie cake in sporadic patterns to make flames.

While still wet, cover with red sugar.

Using your chocolate writing icing, make grill lines vertically across the cake.

Embellish the fire by adding small amounts of red icing and covering them with yellow non perils.

To make burgers:

Frost sugar cookies with chocolate frosting, being sure to cover sides.

Using your knife, make slight grooves in the frosting and fill them with chocolate writing icing to create grill marks. Use a toothpick to smooth them out, then blend them with the frosting for a more realistic affect.

To make burgers with buns:

Turn a plain sugar cookie upside down and place a frosted sugar cookie ‘burger’ off center on top, allowing the plain cookie to show.

To make a stacked burger, mix a small amount of vanilla frosting with green food coloring to make lettuce. Lightly spread some onto the chocolate frosted sugar cookie and manipulate it with a toothpick or your fingers.

Using your thumb and pointer, flatten two red Dots candies into circles to form tomatoes. Add them to either side of your lettuce.

Glob some frosting on the bottom of a plain sugar cookie to help it stick, and place it on an angle on top of your stacked burger. To embellish the bun, spread a very thin layer of vanilla frosting on top and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Tada! (I never want to be too old to shout, ‘tada!’)

Place burgers and buns on grill using frosting to help them stick.

Eat and enjoy tomorrow or for any outdoor summer event!

Also check out That’s SO Jenn’s NYE Cookie Clock Cake!

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