Behold the beloved Brooklyn blackout cake—a dark chocolate layer cake bearing chocolaty filling inside and out. I recreated his blackout cake recipe with rich and dark chocolate cake layers, by filling these with old fashioned rich and classic fudge.
This homemade chocolate blackout cake recipe changed my life. Really! Not just hype. In fact, this is the chocolate cake recipe that is Ebinger’s, a lost-but-not-forgotten Brooklyn bakery cake.
What makes the best cake sponge?
It’s true! tighter crumb, dark layers, softer texture it all depends on a few things that we used in our ingredients. The best dark dutch processed cocoa powder is very important. Make sure you use the best quality cocoa.
Chocolate and coffee go together like… well, like chocolate and vanilla. Both vanilla and coffee highlight chocolate’s deep, rich flavor – without imparting any but the faintest hint of their own flavor. Add a teaspoon or two of espresso powder to your favorite brownie, chocolate chip cookie, devil’s food cake, or other chocolate recipes, and taste what a difference it makes – your chocolate will sing!
Make sure in this recipe you will use espresso one, it is way different from instant coffee.
To Make the Cake:
To make the cake sift and whisk together the all-purpose flour, corn starch, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and dutch processed cocoa powder in a bowl and add regular sugar and brown sugar in dry ingredients.
Add the eggs, oil, and vanilla; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl. A thick mixture will form, add gradually water in the batter and mix it. The water turns the mixture very thin.
Prepare your cake pans :
I’m going to use two 8″ round cake pans and bake a tall cake. You can use one 8″ pan by using the half quantity of ingredients. The deeper the pan, the longer it will take to bake the cake and vice versa. You might even have to lower your oven temperature so the outside edges of the cake don’t get overbaked while waiting for the center of the cake to get done. You’ll need to grease and flour the cake pans or spray them with a baking spray so the cakes won’t stick.
Pour the batter in the pans equally and bake for 35-45 minutes at 180 °C or 350 °F.
Remove the cakes from the oven. Cool them for 15 minutes, then turn them out of the pans to cool completely on a rack.
How to Make the Old Fashioned Fudge Frosting:
I love this chocolate cake frosting! I mean I really LOVE this dark and rich chocolate frosting and it goes the best with this blackout cake
This fudgiest fudge is made from semisweet or bitter chocolate chips, dutch processed cocoa powder and with an enhancing flavor of espresso.
Warm the milk, sugar, and glucose syrup in a saucepan on a medium flame. Add cocoa powder, butter, and coffee in it and mix with a spatula while the flame is medium. Add chocolate chips in it and melt the chocolate. Let it cook for 3 minutes or the temperature reaches to 200 F. Remove from the stove and strains the fudge. Keep it cover in the cling wrap for 12 hours until it will set.
Assemble the Cake:
Cut the domed tops off both cake layers; these will become your crumb coating. Place one layer on a serving plate. Top the cake with the filling, spreading it evenly to the edges. Center the second layer of cake atop the filling. Spread the icing over the top and onto the sides of the cake.
After the crumb coat let it sit for an hour in the fridge and then apply the final layer of frosting and smooth it with a scraper.
Serve immediately, or within a couple of hours. For longer storage, refrigerate. This cake is best served the same day it’s made, or within 24 hours. Freeze, well-wrapped, for longer storage. You may also choose to freeze individual slices — for those times when you HAVE to have a piece of chocolate cake!
Ingredients
For Cake:
- 1 cup or 198 grams regular sugar
- cup or 198 grams brown sugar
- 2 cups or 241 grams All-Purpose Flour
- 2 tablespoons or 14 grams cornstarch
- 3/4 cup or 64 grams Double-Dutch Dark Cocoa or Dutch-process cocoa
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder, optional; for the enhanced chocolate flavor
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup or 149 grams vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups or 283 grams of water
For Filling:
- Milk 180 ml
- Sugar 80 grams
- Cocoa powder 80 grams
- Glucose syrup 80 grams
- Butter 50 grams
- Semisweet or bitter Chocolate chopped or chips 500 grams
- Water 100 ml
- Espresso coffee 1 teaspoon
Instructions
- To make the cake: Whisk together the dry ingredients.
- Add the eggs, oil, and vanilla; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl.
- Stir in the water; the batter will be thin.
- Pour the batter into the two 8'' round, greased pans.
- Bake the cakes at 180C or 350F for 35 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Remove the cakes from the oven. Cool them for 15 minutes, then turn them out of the pans to cool completely on a rack.
- To make the icing: Warm the milk, sugar, and glucose syrup in a saucepan on a medium flame.
- Add cocoa powder, butter, and coffee in it and mix with a spatula while the flame is medium.
- Add chocolate chips in it and melt the chocolate. Let it cook for 3 minutes or the temperature reaches 200 F.
- Remove from the stove and strains the fudge. Keep it cover in the cling wrap for 12 hours until it will set.
- To assemble the cake: Cut the domed tops off both cake layers; these will become your crumb coating.
- Place one layer on a serving plate.
- Top the cake with the filling, spreading it evenly to the edges.
- Center the second layer of cake atop the filling.
- Spread the icing over the top and onto the sides of the cake.
- Crumble the reserved cake, and gently press it onto the top and sides of the assembled cake.
- Serve immediately, or within a couple of hours. For longer storage, refrigerate. This cake is best served the same day it's made, or within 24 hours. Freeze, well-wrapped, for longer storage. You may also choose to freeze individual slices for those times when you HAVE to have a piece of chocolate cake!
Tips:
For best success use good-quality chocolate chips. Off-brand chips may not have the strong chocolate flavor of good-quality chips; and they might also contain more sugar, which in the case of the filling can affect its ability to set.
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