by 
This Midnight Binge Cake has layers of chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookies, and chocolate chip cookie dough, sandwiched with creamy chocolate fudge frosting & whipped chocolate marshmallow frosting! This is one decadent celebration cake recipe sure to impress.
I’ve been bad.
Really bad.
If you look above, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Do you see that slice of cake? Do you see the five, decadent, delicious, layers, and each smear of homemade, ultra-rich chocolate frosting that separates them? How about the layer of milk chocolate marshmallow frosting to tie it all together?
Told you I’ve been bad. But I really, really had to make it.
The idea for this cake has haunted me.
See, I came up with it a while ago, but I could just never bring myself to do it. That much decadence in one cake? It seemed insane.
Insanely good.
My bad influence/best friend Paige convinced me it was a wonderful idea and helped me figure out exactly which layers/frostings to do, and after a couple hours in the kitchen, this beauty was born.
What a beauty it is.
I’d say even harder than picking out the flavors, layers, and frostings, was picking a name. My roommate Nicole, Paige and I had quite an interesting phone call discussing possible names. Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Chip Cookie and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Layers and Chocolate Fudge Filling with Milk Chocolate Marshmallow frosting doesn’t quite roll off the tongue.
For some reason, Nicole was really into names that derived from soil layers.
Yes, soil layers. She suggested Bed Rock Cake, Wet Dirt Cake, and Eluviation Cake.
Paige’s ideas consisted of Cookie Dough Caress Cake, Stoner Heaven Cake, and many others that contained inappropriate words I won’t use here *ahem*.
After a solid 20 minutes of debate, we settled on Midnight Binge Cake, because we may have eaten this really late at night (or really early in the morning, depending how you look at it) after it was made. And it was so good.
The layers work together so well, and the frosting are both so delicious. The effort for this cake is so worth it, and the end result is so darn impressive. Call it what you want, this cake is heaven. Enjoy!
Midnight Binge Cake
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Cake
- 4 oz unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 1/4 cup dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup hot water
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 12 tablespoons 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, very soft, plus extra for greasing pans
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting pans
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs, plus 2 large egg yolks
For the Cookies
- 1 stick, 4 oz. unsalted butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons 1 oz. white sugar
- 2 tablespoons 1 oz. Turbinado sugar
- 1 cup 6 oz. light brown sugar, packed
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons 1/4 oz. vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups 8 oz. all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 8 oz. chocolate chips
For the Cookie Dough
- 1 stick, 4 oz. unsalted butter, softened
- 1/4 cup 2 oz. white sugar
- 1 cup 6 oz. light brown sugar, packed
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 2 teaspoons 1/4 oz. vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups 8 oz. all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
For the Chocolate Frosting (for filling)
- 16 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (about 2 1/2 cups of chocolate chips)
- 8 tablespoons 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons corn syrup
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon table salt
- 1 1/4 cups cold heavy cream
For the Milk Chocolate Marshmallow Frosting
- 24 tablespoons 3 US sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 5 cups powdered sugar
- 10 oz. milk chocolate melted and slightly cooled
- 2 7 oz. jars marshmallow cream
Instructions
For the Chocolate Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans with butter; dust pans with flour and knock out excess. Combine chopped chocolate, cocoa powder, and hot water in medium heatproof bowl; set bowl over saucepan containing 1 inch of simmering water and stir with rubber spatula until chocolate is melted, about 2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup sugar to chocolate and stir until glossy, 1-2 minutes. Remove bowl from heat and set aside to cool.
- Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. Combine buttermilk and vanilla in small bowl. In bowl of stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whisk eggs and yolks on medium-low speed until combined, about 10 seconds. Add remaining 1 1/4 C sugar, increase speed to high, and whisk until fluffy and lightened in color, 2-3 minutes. Replace whisk with paddle attachment. Add cooled chocolate mixture to egg/sugar mixture and mix on medium speed until thoroughly incorporated, 30-45 seconds, pausing to scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Add softened butter 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing about 10 seconds after each addition. Add about 1/3 of flour mixture; followed by half of buttermilk mixture mixing until incorporated after each addition (about 15 seconds.) Repeat using half of remaining flour mixture and all of remaining buttermilk mixture (batter may appear separated.) Scrape down sides of bowl and add remaining flour mixture; mix at medium low speed until batter is thoroughly combined, about 15 seconds. Remove bowl from mixer and fold batter once or twice with rubber spatula to incorporate any remaining flour.
- Divide batter evenly between prepared cake pans; smooth batter to edges of pan with spatula. 3. Bake cakes until toothpick inserted into center comes out with a few crumbs attached, 25-30minutes. Cool cakes in pans 15 minutes, then invert onto wire rack. Cool cakes to room temperature before frosting, 45-60 minutes.
For the Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350*F. Line two 9-inch pans with parchment paper, and grease with butter and flour or Pam.
- Cream the butter and the sugars until light and fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl. Continue mixing while adding the egg. Add the vanilla. Scrape down the bowl with a spatula. Combine the flour, soda and salt in another bowl. With a whisk, stir to combine. With the machine on low, slowly add the flour. Mix until just combined, taking care not to over mix. With a spatula, fold in the chocolate.
- Divide the dough into the two prepared pans and spread the dough evenly. Bake at 350* for 12-15 minutes. They should be lightly golden on the outside and just set in the middle. Let cool in pans for 15 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the Cookie Dough
- Line a 9-inch pan with plastic wrap and spray with a non-stick baking spray. Set aside. Cream the butter and the sugars until light and fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl. Add in the milk and vanilla and mix to combine. Scrape down the bowl with a spatula.
- Combine the flour and salt in another bowl. With a whisk, stir to combine.
- With the machine on low, slowly add the flour. Mix until just combined, taking care not to over mix. With a spatula, fold in the chocolate.
- Spread the dough into the prepared pan and place in the freezer until ready to use.
For the Chocolate Frosting (for filling)
- Melt chocolate in heatproof bowl set over a saucepan containing 1 inch of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside. Meanwhile, heat butter in small saucepan over medium-low heat until melted. Increase heat to medium; add sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, and salt and stir with heatproof rubber spatula until sugar is dissolved, 3-4 minutes. Add melted chocolate, butter mixture, and cream to clean bowl of stand mixer and stir to thoroughly combine.
- Place mixer bowl over ice bath and stir mixture constantly with rubber spatula until frosting is thick and just beginning to harden against sides of bowl, 1-2 minutes (frosting should be 70 degrees).
- Place bowl on stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment and beat on medium-high speed until frosting is light and fluffy and has lightened in color, 3-4 minutes. Stir with rubber spatula until completely smooth.
- *If you find after beating, your frosting is still too soft for your liking, try chilling in the fridge until it sets up a little more.
For the Milk Chocolate Marshmallow Frosting
- With a hand mixer or standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter for 4 minutes on medium speed ("4" on my KitchenAid) until smooth. Add powdered sugar and mix on low until fully incorporated.
- Add melted chocolate and beat until combined. Add marshmallow cream and beat until frosting has lightened in color and all ingredients are well combined, about 3 minutes.
To Assemble the Cake
- Place one of the cooled cookie layers on a cake plate or cake board. Add about 1 cup of the dark chocolate frosting to the top of the cookie and spread evenly with an offset palette knife. Place one layer of chocolate cake on top of the frosted cookie. Add another cup of frosting and spread evenly, creating a flat layer. Remove the cookie dough from the freezer and unwrap, and then place on top of the frosted cake layer. Add another cup of frosting and spread evenly. Next, place the second layer of chocolate cake on top. Spread one more cup of frosting, and top with remaining cookie, placing it top side down to create a flat surface on top.
- Place a generous scoop of the milk chocolate marshmallow frosting on top, spreading evenly with a small offset palette knife and working your way down the sides until you have a thin layer of frosting over the entire cake - a crumb coat. Chill until set — about 30 minutes. Frost the cake however you would like, and garnish with chocolate chips, chocolate sprinkles, and marshmallows! Serve at room temperature.
Notes
I made this amazing cake for my grandson’s sixth birthday. It was a BIG hit! He has requested it again for his eight birthday. I am so excited to work all day to make this behemoth of a chocolate cake. The kid deserves a grand cake, and well, It is that good!
This makes me so hapy to hear!! It is a process but so worth it :D
This is an amazing cake. A true artisan celebration cake that will make you a baking legend. I just made cake #2. People were actually taking a second slice for home and another slice for family! My biggest challenge with this cake is my own food allergies. I want to make this for MY birthday in March and I need some modifications. I have a hard time with the raw gluten and can not even tolerate any soy (rampant in the marshmallows). Since this is a ten year old recipe I was pondering if perhaps you have a version to accommodate food allergies. I was thinking I could replace the raw flour in the “cookie dough” with almond flour. What do you think? I also have found a recipe for marshmallows but not sure how to turn that into marshmallow cream, but I’m just gonna think positive on that step. Luckily there is great soy free chocolate available. That leaves the challenge of all that sugar! I was going to replace all the granulated sugar with my stevia baking sugar replacement, and just go with the powdered sugar as is. I really want to eat as much of this cake as possible without the aftermath in my digestive tract. Again what do you think? I hope you respond because I love this cake, and how it came to be. In your blog you say you were being bad. Thanks for being bad, so very bad and coming up with a chocolate legend cake.
Definitely for the chocolate lover. My son loved the cake and respected the effort. Because there just wasn’t enough chocolate, I did a dark chocolate ganache topping, for shine. He decorated with lots of sprinkles.
Haha, love it!! Thanks for the feedback, Eloise.
Hi there! On the cookie dough part is it safe to eat? Do you have to cook the flour cause of bacteria? Because I really want to make this. Thank you!
Hi Donna, I haven’t worried about this but if you’re concerned, you can follow this guide to heat treat the flour before using.
This midnight binge cake is exactly what late-night cravings dream of! ✨ Rich, indulgent, and so satisfying — it hits the sweet spot every time. Loved how quick and easy it was to whip up. Perfect for those spontaneous dessert moments!
So glad you’re loving it!