• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
What'sCookin'Chicago?
  • About
  • Recipe Index
    • By Cuisine
    • By Holiday
    • Collections
  • Recipe Videos
  • Vegetarian
  • Winter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
whatscookinchicago-logo

What'sCookin'Chicago?

  • About
  • Recipe Index
    • By Cuisine
    • By Holiday
    • Collections
  • Recipe Videos
  • Vegetarian
  • Winter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Home ยป Buttermilk ยป Coming Out of the Dark: Chocolate Blackout Cake

Coming Out of the Dark: Chocolate Blackout Cake

April 3, 2008 · WCC Administr@tr · 10 Comments

As I was shopping at my local Whole Food’s Grocery store, I was inspired to bake after coming across their beautiful bakery case. The case was filled with scrumptious looking fruit tarts, fluffy layer cakes, deep chocolate brownies… it was enough for me to hit the kitchen and bake something myself. The question was, what should I bake? Looking at the random ingredients I had on hand and stashed away, it became clear the thing to make was Brooklyn Chocolate Blackout Cake. dsc00017-1509219
I decided to adapt the recipe from The Best of America’s Test Kitchen: Best Recipes & Reviews 2008 (pg 62). This chocolate layer cake is unique in that the chocolate pudding filling doubles as frosting and the entire cake is covered in reserved chocolate cake crumbs. Heavenly! Here’s the recipe… enjoy!

Chocolate Blackout Cake
adapted from ATK
serves 10 to 12

Pudding:
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 cups half & half
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cake:

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for pans
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
(I used cake flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
(I used extra dark cocoa powder)
1 cup brewed coffee
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

FOR THE PUDDING
1. Cook the granulated sugar,, chocolate, half & half, milk, cornstarch and salt in a large saucepan over medium heat, whisking occassionally, until the chocolate is melted and the mixture begins to buble, 2 to 4 minutes. Stir in the vanilla. Transfer the pudding to a large bowl and refrigerate, with plastic wrap pressed flush against to surface, until cold and set, at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.

FOR THE CAKE
1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour two 8″inch cake pans. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the cocoa and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Off the heat, whisk in the coffee, buttermilk, and sugars until dissolved. Whisk in the flour mixture. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans and smooth with a spatula.
2. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the centers come out clean, 30 to 35 mintes, rotating the cake pans halfway through baking. Cool the cakes in the pans for 15 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack. Cool the cakes to room temperature before frosting, at least 1 hour.
TO ASSEMBLE
1. Using a large serrated knife, slice each cake into 2 even layers. Crumble 1 cake layer into medium crumbs and set aside. Place 1 cake layer on a cake plate or cardboard round. Spread 1 cup of the pudding over the cake layer and top with another layer. Repeat with 1 cup more pudding and the last cake layer. Spread the remaining pudding evenly over the top and sides of the cake. Sprinkle the cake crumbs evenly over the top and sides of the cake, pressing lightly to adhere the crumbs. Slice and serve.

WARNING
This cake is extremely dense, creamy and rich. Be sure to have coffee or a glass of cold milk on hand!

Buttermilk, Cake, Chocolate, Coffee, Cornstarch, Desserts, Eggplant, Flour: All Purpose, Flour: Cake, Milk: Whole, Sugar: Brown, Sugar: White, Vanilla

Previous Post: « Life’s Luxuries
Next Post: Goat Cheese Spread with Herbs & Olive Oil »

NEVER MISS A POST

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Comments

  1. Sarah says

    April 3, 2008 at 3:00 am

    Holy cow. This looks absolutely wonderful. A PMS cure for sure ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  2. Nina says

    April 3, 2008 at 5:32 am

    Mmmm…I love chocolate cake. At first I thought it had crumbled cookies like Oreos all over it. That would be good too. =)

    Reply
  3. ~Amber~ says

    April 3, 2008 at 12:57 pm

    Oh my word, this looks absolutely sinful!! I would love a chunk of that right about now (even though it’s 9:00 in the morning).

    Reply
  4. That Girl says

    April 3, 2008 at 4:48 pm

    This looks SO BAD.

    And by “so bad” I mean – sinful, not good for you, deliciously evil.

    Reply
  5. Cara says

    April 4, 2008 at 12:31 am

    That cake would certainly be the way to my heart!

    Reply
  6. Anonymous says

    April 4, 2008 at 12:43 am

    Mmmmm Joelen, that looks delicious!

    Reply
  7. Anonymous says

    April 4, 2008 at 9:23 pm

    Oh My ~ I had this cake for my BDay over Easter but mine was bakery bought. I am sure this one is MUCH better….going to make this soon.

    Picture is beautiful!!
    ~Belinda

    Reply
  8. Anonymous says

    April 4, 2008 at 11:51 pm

    SECURITY CENTER: See Please Here

    Reply
  9. Anonymous says

    April 11, 2009 at 9:04 pm

    hey where are the eggs? …………………..
    maybe try to add everything especially if you’re attempting to make a blog.

    Reply
  10. Chrissy says

    August 26, 2009 at 6:56 pm

    I made this cake over the weekend and it was probably the best cake I've ever made! ๐Ÿ™‚ Yours looks terrific too!

    Reply

Primary Sidebar

me
Hi, I'm Joelen! Welcome to What's Cookin, Chicago. My goal is to share my culinary adventures in hopes to inspire you to embrace life in a delicious way.
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Footer

whatscookinchicago-logo
Welcome to What’s Cookin, Chicago. Our goal is to share our culinary adventures in hopes to inspire you to embrace life in a delicious way…

NEVER MISS A POST

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

SEARCH THIS SITE

  • About
  • Recipe Index
  • Wine & Dine
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact

Copyright © 2023 ยท What's Cookin' Chicago