• Chocolate Ganache: If you will decorate your cookie cake with ganache, you should first make it so it will be ready to use when your cookie cake cools: Chop the chocolate into small pieces and put into a heat proof bowl.   Heat the heavy cream until it scalds; small bubbles occur around the edge of the pan. Remove the heavy cream from the heat and pour over the chocolate. Let the cream soften the chocolate for 20-30 seconds without stirring. Then stir with a spoon until it is totally combined.  Let it cool at room temperature and then keep in the fridge until ready to use. You can check the consistency while the cookie cake is cooling, if it is not firm enough, you can keep in the freezer for some time, it should be firm enough to pipe. If you keep the ganache in a large dish, it cools fast.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

• Preheat the oven to 350°F(177C°). Line the bottom of a 9 inch (23cm) or 9.5 inch (24cm) cake pan with parchment paper and set aside.
• Mix flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt if using in a bowl and set aside.
• In a small saucepan melt the butter over medium heat until it is halfway melted. Take it from the heat and stir until it is all melted. This way the butter cools easily.
• Place the sugar in a large bowl, add the melted butter and stir until combined.
• Add the egg and mix until  combined. Mix in the vanilla extract.
• Add in the flour in three batches and mix until combined. It will be a thick dough.  First you can use a whisk a stir but then you’ll need a spatula to easily combine.
• Add in the chocolate chips and mix until evenly combined.
• Place the dough into the cake pan and spread evenly. Bake for 20 minutes or until it is golden brown and the top sets. When you insert a toothpick in the middle, it has to come out clean. Don't overbake so it won’t dry.
• After you take the cookie cake from the oven if you like you can add some extra chocolate chips while it is hot so they can easily stick to the cookie cake.   Keep the cookie cake in the pan until it completely cools. Once cooled use a knife or small, thin spatula to make sure the cake is not attached to the pan otherwise once you loosen the clasp on the side to open the springform pan, the cookie cake may break from the middle.
• If you want to decorate your cookie cake with ganache as in the pictures, you can use a round tip and give a chocolate chip shape. Your cake has to cool totally before you decorate it. If you don’t have a tip, you can use a piping bag or ziplock bag and make a cut from the edge and start to pipe. Or you can decorate it as you like.