What Sick Day? Salted Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

I'm sick. Like bury-my-head-in-the-pillow-and-wish-I-could-die-before-my-head-explodes sick. I stayed home sick from work today with every intention of cleaning the house and doing the laundry, but instead found myself burying myself in bed upstairs, completely ignoring what can only be called a total disaster downstairs.

After I woke up from a life-granting four hour (four hour!) nap, I looked outside and noticed the looming clouds. Clouds that the weather channel tells me will become a "wintry mix" of "snow and freezing rain" over the next 48 hours. And I'll tell you what- I figuratively started stomping my feet and shaking my fists. No no no no no! I want a warm weekend! A healthy weekend! A weekend that feels a little tiny bit like a celebration.

Well, weather be damned. Instead of cleaning or doing laundry or finishing any of the responsible things that a real, grown-up adult would do, I pulled out the mixer. I've had my eye on this totally decadent salted chocolate chip cookie cake over at Butter and Brioche for a few weeks now. Today seemed like the perfect day to dive in.

I made a few changes, notably leaving out the alcohol in the ganache to make it kid-friendly, and alternating the thick, rich dark chocolate ganache with a barely sweetened whipped cream in order to make it a little bit less rich (yes, I understand the irony of using whipped cream to make something less rich). I also realized after baking the first three cookies that I should have flattened them a little more, so my version is not as symmetrical as I would have liked.

But I don't really care. Because when my boys get home, I know that this is going to make them deliriously happy. And that will make me happy. And this weekend, which feels like its off to a pretty rotten start, is starting to feel a little bit better.