“Doctor! Doctor! Help me, I’m shrinking.” “Just wait a minute and be a little patient.”

Haha! I love that just a tiny bit.

But, WOW!!! I really LOVE this Chocolate Chip Cookie Icebox Cake A LOT.

As desserts go, this is one over the top, totally outrageous sweet treat.

The cookies alone are to die for (but the doctor above would never let that happen). This chocolate chip cookie recipe has to be one of the best I have ever tried. It produces cookies that are uniform in thickness with a lovely crisp tender texture. The chocolate chunks elevate them to star status.

All by themselves the cookies are fabulous, but layered with mascarpone whipped cream lashed with whisky (I used Scottish) they are the basis of one really incredible dessert. The Icebox Cake looks amazing and tastes as good as it looks.

I’d like to live inside this cake.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Icebox Cake

Ingredients for Chocolate Chip Cookie Base:

2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
8 oz unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chunks (2 cups)

Directions:

1. Sift flour, baking soda and salt into a bowl.

2. Beat butter and sugars with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. On low speed, beat in eggs, one at a time. Add flour mixture in 3 additions. Beat in vanilla. Mix in chocolate chips.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place dough onto parchment lined baking sheets using a 1 Tbs scoop ( to make a 2 1/4 inch cookie). Bake about 12-14 minutes for a crisp cookie.

Makes 8 dozen.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Icebox Cake

Ingredients:

4 cups heavy cream
8 ounces mascarpone cheese
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon whisky (Definitely add. I was on the fence about how it tasted while assembling, but it adds just the right touch after setting up.)
8 dozen 2 1/4 inch chocolate cookies (recipe above)

Directions:

1. Whisk 3 cups cream and the mascarpone in chilled bowl until soft peaks form. Add sugar and whisky. Whisk until medium-stiff peaks form. Refrigerate until ready to use (up to 3 hours).

2. Arrange 9 cookies in a circle (with cookies touching) on a cake stand or plate. Place two cookies in the center. Carefully spread 1 cup cream mixture evenly over cookies, leaving a slight border. Repeat to form 7 more layers, ending with cookies (you’ll have cookies leftover). Refrigerate, lightly draped with plastic wrap, overnight.

3. Whisk remaining cup cream until soft peaks form. Spread over the top of cake just before serving. Garnish with chocolate shavings.

Recipe from Martha Stewart Living Magazine

I listen to so much new music, especially this time of year when I am checking out everyone’s End Of The Year Favorite Lists.

To celebrate such a ridiculously good cake I am going to rock out to an older song that is one of my all time favorites (you might notice that I have quite a lot of those).

I cannot believe that it has been 8 years since L.A. Band Frausdots released the album ‘Couture, Couture, Couture’ with this cracking tune on it.

Dead Wrong.

It starts out like a power version of A Horse With No Name. I love the way the guitars and the drums chase each other throughout the song. And anyone who knows me knows that I am wild about songs with build ups and slow downs. Just like in this one.

“Now everybody’s doing everybody wrong
And everybody’s singing everybody elses song”

And can we talk about that part at the 3 minute mark? Listen really loud and those deep drums will fill your brain. And catch how the guitars again chase down those drums.

As though there wasn’t enough goodness in this tune, it ends with the irresistible “Ba ba ba da da da badada da
Ba ha ba la la”
Frausdots-Dead Wrong

Check out Frausdots on Myspace and buy their music here.

Cheers!