When a standard assembly of cake and frosting just won’t do, and the birthday girl won’t give any hints about her favorite flavors, what’s a baker to do? Stick to the same old, somewhat boring but crowd-pleasing classics? Not on my watch! This sounds like the perfect opportunity for experimentation.
Inspiration for this one came from an unlikely source, not exactly the stuff of celebration or happiness, but in fact, the obituaries. At a loss for how to spoil my sister on her 23rd birthday, it was the last thing on my mind as I was reading the newspaper and came across the announcement that the world had just lost Richard LaMotta, inventor of everyone’s favorite frozen treat, the Chipwich. A staple of American culture, I can’t be certain I’ve actually eaten one myself, but I definitely grew up surrounded by them. The loss was crushing, but my sadness was soon forgotten when I realized that very concept might be just the ticket to a novel new birthday cake.
Taking some liberties with the design, I switched out the traditional vanilla ice cream for chocolate, a move that my vanilla-ambivalent sister greatly appreciated. Though chocolate chip cookies and chocolate ice cream are hardly a creative combo, I knew for sure that my sister had a soft spot for both. Throw in some colorful, crunchy sprinkles to coat the sides, and you had yourself a deal.
Needless to say, it was an unqualified success with the birthday girl.
My only suggestion for anyone wishing to make their own chipwich cake, is to absolutely make the cookies thinner than what is pictured here! I took a full batch of my Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies (published in Go Dairy Free) and simply divided it between two 8-inch round cake pans. Next time, I would use only half that amount, because the effort it required to slice through those giant cookies was practically herculean! We had to break out both the electric knife and the kitchen torch!
Additionally, make sure you allow plenty of time for your ice cream to set up and freeze solid, so that it doesn’t melt before you finish cutting the cake. I used a 1/3rd batch of my favorite chocolate ice cream recipe, minus stracciatella, in this case.
If there ever was a way to improve on such a fantastic sweet treat, this would have to be it!
That has to be the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen! It is my birthday in a few months and I think I’ll have to make that. I am like your sister, vanilla is okay, but CHOCOLATE is definitely the best. And combining it with chocolate chip cookies is pure genius. Love this!
That is so fun and delicious looking!
OMG it’s very beautiful, yummy yummy! I love it! Bravo! The colored stars are so cute, wow!
Wow Hannah! That (like everything else you make) is wonderful! What a fab sister you are!
Yum, that looks awesome!
What a cute and perfect cake for your sister! I love the chipwich idea!
What a *sweet* idea! Your sister must have been ecstatic over the thoughtfulness of her birthday dessert.
Hahaha, I can imagine the fun you had cutting through these gigantic cookies :) but I´m sure it was a 100% worth the effort!! My 24th birthday is coming up soon- would you mind sending some cake over to Germany *jk*
It looks absolutely fabulous, as usual!
Have a nice weekend!!
xoxo Mel
What an inventive cake! I remember chipwiches from school. I know I had some, but don’t remember the taste at all.
Love it! I’ll be sure to take your advice to make the cookies thinner if I make this. We don’t want any broken knives around here and I don’t have an electric one. Oh..I guess I could break out the saw for gardening. hee hee!
What a great idea. And it looks terrific.
Happy birthday to your sister.
This is such a great idea! I love how you just took an idea and went with it. Happy birthday to your sister!
Love the colored stars! What a clever idea!
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What an awesome summertime birthday treat! I’ve never had a Chipwich either, but since I love cookie ice cream sammies, I’m bound to love a gigantic version of them. :) Time to clear out space in the freezer…
That is one lovely looking cake!
Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous! And delightful! :D Plus, completely giggling about the torch and electric knife comment. Still, one of those cases where the hard work is more than surpassed by the glories of the eating, right?
wow this is such a fairy tale dessert, simple yet so elegant! always admire your work and creation! :)
I just love this cake, i love thos fillings too, did you say it was ice cream! wow this is terrific!
I had never heard of this before, but it looks delicious!
I can imagine the cookie would be real hard to cut through.
Rose
Aaaah, that is such an awesome idea! I’d want to slather the whole thing in chocolate so it would be like a giant It’s-It. Then I’d try to take a huge bite out of it.
Great job, Hannah! Love icecream sandwiches or Chipwich as you call it. :)
Now that’s my kinda cookie!!! Yum! And isn’t it funny, here in Australia, a chipwich is 2 pieces of white bread with butter or margarine filled with chips (or crisps as they’re called in the US).
I’ve never heard of a Chipwich but of course I now want to make one! Gorgeous photos, Hannah!
This looks so fun and refreshing! I love the addition of the stars :)
What a gorgeous cake! I want to stick my face in it :P
The stars are a wonderful touch.
Hi Hannah! Have you seen this website before? http://www.pimpthatsnack.com It’s hilarious – people make huge versions of all sorts of snacks. You should post yours on the site! I love your ice cream cookie cake! Especially with the sprinkles. Cute :-)
Who knew cookies could be cute? I absolutely love the stars. Like a small child, I am drawn to eating brightly colored cookies.
Hope you are doing well, Hannah!
Now that’s a birthday treat – an 8″ chipwich! Brilliant! :-)
This looks so good and beautiful :)
my birthday is coming up this summer if u wanna start making house calls!!!! lol
this looks perfect :)
Holy awesomeness dude! That is SO cool!
hahahah… What a very creative chipwich! I am a huge fan of making unique supersize snacks. Love to try this! Thanks for this idea.
Yours looks even BETTER than my childhood favorite. I think if back then it had rainbow star stickers I woulda been a bit thicker as a kid (happily). I can imagine this as an amazing birthday cake!
That chipwich cake looks great! The star sprinkles are especially fun and perfect for decorating the cake! It’s the perfect combination of two of my favorite desserts: cookies and ice cream.
Ha, ha! An electric knife and a kitchen torch sounds like fun.
Happy birthday to your sister!
This is beautiful! I wish I someone would make this for my birthday!
Very Cute!
xo
Eco Mama
What a success! Yowzah!!!
That looks fantastic!!! What a wonderful birthday cake!
Forget cutting it- I think I’d like to eat that sucker with my hands! …and uh, eat it in private.
I love, love, love this idea! I’ve been talking about making an ice cream cake for a long time and this sounds more up my alley. Chocolate ice cream and chocolate chip cookies? Yes, please!! I might have to use double chocolate cookies, lol…
Maybe I was a sheltered child, but I’ve never even heard of a Chipwich. Nonetheless, this looks great!
What a stunner of a cake! I did adore Chipwiches as a kid. Love your giant-sized concept here! And you’d never know that it was tough to cut those cookies–cut lines are PERFECT.
Hello! I just made a version of this and it was GREAT! What a fabulous Idea! I did a variation where I made oatmeal and dried cherry cookies and Vanilla Coconut Bliss. Om nom nom nom!
I’ve never actually had a Chipwich because growing up my parents always bought these ice cream cookie sandwiches called It’s It. I’m sure they were similar to the Chipwich, and boy, were they good! It’s been ages since I’ve had one. I just made your German Chocolate ice cream from A la Mode and, Hannah, I think it is the richest, creamiest, most decadent ice cream (vegan or not) that I’ve ever had in my entire life. I divided the batch in half and put the coconut swirl in one half and mini brownie bites in the other half. I need to bake up some cookies now and made myself an ice cream sandwich!
What an awesome idea for a birthday cake!
Holy fuck! I want that more than you know.
Such a beautiful display! This idea is absolutely genius.