Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Take 3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) of unsalted butter, cut them into cubes, and let it soften at room temperature for about 30 minutes to 1 hour. Let 3 large eggs come to room temperature also.

Place an oven rack in the middle positions, and preheat your oven to 375 F (190 C).

In a large mixing bowl, sift together 3 1/3 cups of AP flour, 1 1/2 tsp of baking soda, and 1 1/2 tsp of salt. Sift these together, then whisk to combine.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, add in the 1 1/2 cups of softened cubed butter, 1 1/8 packed cups of dark brown sugar, and 1 1/8 cups of granulated sugar. With the paddle attachment, mix them together on medium speed until the mixture looks fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.

When the sugars and butter are creamed together, stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Turn the speed up to medium-high, and add in the 3 large room temperature eggs, one at a time, making sure the first egg is mixed in before adding the next one. Add in 2 tsp of vanilla extract. Continue to mix until the wet ingredients are well combined.

Turn the mixer down to low speed, and slowly add in the dry ingredients. Continue mixing until just combined. Try not to overmix the dough.

Detach the bowl from the stand mixer, scrape down the bowl as needed, and fold in any unmixed dry ingredients from the sides until the mixture is uniform. And in 1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips and 2 cups of walnuts that have been roughly chopped. Stir them in by hand until the mixture is uniform and the chocolate chips / walnuts look evenly distributed.

Line a half sheet pan (13" x 18") with aluminum foil, and grease the foil - we like to use butter to grease the foil. Spread the cookie dough in the prepared sheet pan so it makes a nice even layer.

Bake in the preheated oven at 375 F (190 C) for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown, but the center is still soft (texture needs to be slice-able).

Cool the giant cookie in the pan on a metal rack and let it come to room temperature. Once the cookie cake has cooled to room temperature, use the foil to lift the cookie cake off the pan and onto a smooth clean surface.

Take an 8-inch cake ring, and press it into the bottom right corner of your cake, twisting it to make your 1st full 8" cookie round. Then along the opposite top edge of the cake, press the cake ring in again, twisting it to make your 2nd full 8" cake round. Peel off the scraps to separate 2 full rounds. These 2 full rounds will be used as cookie layers in the cookieccino cake. You can eat the remaining scraps of cookie cake!

Coffee-Chocolate Sponge:

Separate 5 eggs into yolks and whites, and let them come to room temperature (about 30 min). Then preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C).

Line a half sheet pan (13" x 18") with parchment paper. Do not grease the pan or the parchment paper.

In a large bowl, sift together 1 1/4 cup of cake flour, 1/3 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder, 1 1/4 tsp of baking soda, 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp of granulated sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1 tbsp of espresso powder.

Add in 5 egg yolks, 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp of vegetable oil, 2/3 cup hot-brewed coffee, and 1 tsp of vanilla extract. Beat this together with an electric mixer just until smooth and well blended.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, add in the 5 room temperature egg whites and 1/2 tsp cream of tartar, and with the whisk attachment, beat on medium speed until it's frothy. Then increase to medium-high speed, and very slowly add in 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp granulated sugar while continuing to beat. When all the sugar has been added, increase to high speed, and continue beating until you see stiff glossy peaks.

One-third at a time, very gently fold in this meringue mixture into the chiffon batter until it is well combined. Pour this batter into the prepared half sheet pan, and smooth the top with the spatula.

Bake for about 20 to 23 minutes or until the surface springs back when gently pressed.

Place the pan on a metal rack and let it cool completely to room temperature. When it's cooled to room temperature, use a knife to gently unstick the sides as needed. Dust the top with some powdered sugar to prevent this surface from sticking once inverted. Place a rectangular piece of parchment paper that's bigger than the cake on top, and invert the cake onto the parchment paper. Then slowly peel off the parchment paper the cake was baked with.

Take an 8-inch cake ring, and press it into the bottom right corner of your chocolate sponge, twisting it to make your 1st full 8" chocolate round. Then along the opposite top edge of the sponge, press the cake ring in again, twisting it to make your 2nd full 8" cake round. These 2 full rounds will be used as coffee-chocolate sponge layers in the cookieccino cake. You can eat the remaining scraps of coffee-chocolate sponge!


Coffee Cream Filling and Frosting:

Let 8 oz of cream cheese come to room temperature.

In the bowl of the stand-mixer, add in 8 oz of room temperature cream cheese, 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, 2 tsp of vanilla extract, and 1/2 tsp of instant espresso. Then using a paddle attachment, beat them together till the cream cheese has softened and the mixture is smooth, about 5 minutes on medium-high speed. Scrape down the bowl for any unmixed cream cheese.

Then while beating on medium-low speed, slowly add in 3 cups of very cold heavy cream, and continue to beat for about 1 minute, until the cream cheese and heavy cream are combined and uniform. Stop the mixer and scrape down the paddle attachment and the bowl.

Switch to a whisk attachment, and continue beating on high speed until the mixture forms very stiff peaks. Leave this frosting in the fridge till you're ready to use it.

Assembling the Cake:

Place a cake board on a revolving cake stand. Dab a big dollop frosting in the center. This should prevent the cookie from sliding around. Place a large plate (as big or bigger than the cookie) upside-down over the cookie, inverting the cookie onto the plate, peeling off the foil the cookie was baked with, then sliding the cookie onto the center of the cake board.

Spread about 1 cup of the coffee frosting mixture on top, creating an even and flat layer as much as possible. Place the first layer of chocolate sponge on top. The chocolate sponge should be fairly easy to pick up with 2 hands.

Spread another 1 cup of the coffee frosting mixture on top, again spreading it evenly. Place the second 8" cookie round on top, using the same method as before (inverting it onto a plate, then sliding into place on the cake).

Spread another 1 cup of the coffee frosting mixture on top, spreading it evenly. Then place the second chocolate sponge on top.

Fill in the gaps on the sides with frosting, and cover the sides of the cake with a thin layer of the coffee cream frosting, and then the same thing with the top of the cake. Use a spatula to smoothen out this thin crumb coat while rotating the revolving cake stand. This thin crumb coat should catch any crumbs. Place this cake in the fridge for 20 minutes for the crumb coat to firm up a bit. Also place the unused cream frosting in the fridge.

When the crumb coat has hardened, apply a final layer of the coffee cream frosting around the sides of the cake, as well as the top. Make sure to save at least 1 cup of frosting for decorations on top. And again, use a spatula or bench scraper to smoothen out the surfaces as much as possible while rotating the revolving cake stand. Then clean any stray frosting from the base of the cake. Place in the fridge for the frosting to harden while making the Biscoff cream.

Make Biscoff cream in a small mixing bowl. Add in 1 cup of the leftover frosting, and 1/4 cup of Biscoff cookie butter. Fold these together until they are well combined.

Attach a large round tip (we use a #2A tip) to a piping bag and transfer the Biscoff cream to the piping bag. With the help of a revolving cake stand, pipe cream into concentric circles on the top surface of the cake, the largest circle stopping around 1 inch away from the edge of the cake. Then with an offset spatula, flatten the circles so that you get a smooth and even circle of Biscoff cream on the top surface.

Use the offset spatula to create a simple spiral pattern on top of the cake. Place the tip of the spatula at the center of the cake, then with the spatula at an angle so that only the tip of it is touching the cake, turn the revolving stand while dragging the spatula towards the outer edge to create a spiral pattern on the Biscoff cream.

Take a food processor, and crush about 4 Biscoff cookies into crumbles. Sprinkle these Biscoff crumbles around the outer circumference of the top surface.

Take 6 Biscoff cookies, and with a knife, cut them into small irregular squares. Line the circumference along the side of the cake, making an undulating trail of Biscoff pieces. Press these pieces into the frosting so they stick. Finally, attach a small round tip (we use a #3) to a piping bag. Add in about 2 tbsp of Biscoff cookie butter, and outline the trail of Biscoff pieces with the Biscoff cookie butter on the top and the bottom.

Let the finished cake rest in the fridge overnight for the layers to set completely. We recommend cutting the cake using a hot knife (dip metal knife in hot water, then wipe dry before each slice), as layers of cookie cake are quite dense. Enjoy!