Supersize My Snack
May 29, 2010 at 10:41 am | Posted in Baking / Cooking, Food | 49 CommentsWhen 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!
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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!
Comment by The Voracious Vegan— May 29, 2010 #
That is so fun and delicious looking!
Comment by VeggieGirl— May 29, 2010 #
OMG it’s very beautiful, yummy yummy! I love it! Bravo! The colored stars are so cute, wow!
Comment by Veganpower— May 29, 2010 #
Wow Hannah! That (like everything else you make) is wonderful! What a fab sister you are!
Comment by fussfreeflavours— May 29, 2010 #
Yum, that looks awesome!
Comment by kala— May 29, 2010 #
What a cute and perfect cake for your sister! I love the chipwich idea!
Comment by Jes— May 29, 2010 #
What a *sweet* idea! Your sister must have been ecstatic over the thoughtfulness of her birthday dessert.
Comment by Vegyogini— May 29, 2010 #
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
Comment by Melissa— May 29, 2010 #
What an inventive cake! I remember chipwiches from school. I know I had some, but don’t remember the taste at all.
Comment by Oiyi— May 29, 2010 #
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!
Comment by JoLynn— May 29, 2010 #
What a great idea. And it looks terrific.
Happy birthday to your sister.
Comment by cassie-b— May 29, 2010 #
This is such a great idea! I love how you just took an idea and went with it. Happy birthday to your sister!
Comment by Joanne— May 29, 2010 #
Love the colored stars! What a clever idea!
Comment by Kristi Rimkus— May 29, 2010 #
[...] Hannah Kaminsky, author of My Sweet Vegan. Hannah’s got a nice write-up about this photo on her blog. Spread the [...]
Pingback by Chipwich-Style Vegan Birthday Cake— May 29, 2010 #
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…
Comment by Tiffany— May 29, 2010 #
That is one lovely looking cake!
Comment by Stefanie— May 29, 2010 #
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?
Comment by Hannah— May 29, 2010 #
wow this is such a fairy tale dessert, simple yet so elegant! always admire your work and creation! :)
Comment by Big Boys Oven— May 29, 2010 #
I just love this cake, i love thos fillings too, did you say it was ice cream! wow this is terrific!
Comment by Sidney Kan— May 29, 2010 #
I had never heard of this before, but it looks delicious!
I can imagine the cookie would be real hard to cut through.
Rose
Comment by Roses R Red— May 29, 2010 #
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.
Comment by veganplaisir— May 29, 2010 #
Great job, Hannah! Love icecream sandwiches or Chipwich as you call it. :)
Comment by veron— May 29, 2010 #
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).
Comment by Amy— May 30, 2010 #
I’ve never heard of a Chipwich but of course I now want to make one! Gorgeous photos, Hannah!
Comment by Mandee— May 30, 2010 #
This looks so fun and refreshing! I love the addition of the stars :)
Comment by Jocelyn— May 30, 2010 #
What a gorgeous cake! I want to stick my face in it :P
The stars are a wonderful touch.
Comment by Lauren— May 30, 2010 #
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 :-)
Comment by Tessa— May 30, 2010 #
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!
Comment by Still Life in Southeast Asia— May 30, 2010 #
Now that’s a birthday treat – an 8″ chipwich! Brilliant! :-)
Comment by chow vegan— May 30, 2010 #
This looks so good and beautiful :)
Comment by Cherine— May 30, 2010 #
my birthday is coming up this summer if u wanna start making house calls!!!! lol
this looks perfect :)
Comment by dani— May 30, 2010 #
Holy awesomeness dude! That is SO cool!
Comment by Jojo— May 30, 2010 #
hahahah… What a very creative chipwich! I am a huge fan of making unique supersize snacks. Love to try this! Thanks for this idea.
Comment by Gabriel— May 30, 2010 #
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!
Comment by Amanda— May 30, 2010 #
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.
Comment by Haein— May 30, 2010 #
Ha, ha! An electric knife and a kitchen torch sounds like fun.
Happy birthday to your sister!
Comment by mihl— May 31, 2010 #
This is beautiful! I wish I someone would make this for my birthday!
Comment by DessertForTwo— May 31, 2010 #
Very Cute!
xo
Eco Mama
Comment by Eco Mama— May 31, 2010 #
What a success! Yowzah!!!
Comment by Danielle— June 1, 2010 #
That looks fantastic!!! What a wonderful birthday cake!
Comment by Sara— June 1, 2010 #
Forget cutting it- I think I’d like to eat that sucker with my hands! …and uh, eat it in private.
Comment by DJ Karma— June 2, 2010 #
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…
Comment by Jessica (PB & Jess)— June 2, 2010 #
Maybe I was a sheltered child, but I’ve never even heard of a Chipwich. Nonetheless, this looks great!
Comment by Amber Shea @Almost Vegan— June 2, 2010 #
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.
Comment by Ricki— June 2, 2010 #
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!
Comment by Chibi.vegan— June 6, 2010 #
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!
Comment by Crystal— June 6, 2010 #
What an awesome idea for a birthday cake!
Comment by Ashley— June 8, 2010 #
Holy fuck! I want that more than you know.
Comment by Melisser— June 9, 2010 #
Such a beautiful display! This idea is absolutely genius.
Comment by Mo— September 6, 2010 #