Chocolate Brooklyn Blackout Cake
This chocolate Brooklyn blackout cake is made with chocolate cake filled with chocolate pudding, covered in chocolate frosting, and coated in chocolate cake crumbs.
Ingredients
For the cake
- 1 ¾ cups Flour AP, plain flour
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 ¼ cups Granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon Baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoon Baking powder
- ⅔ cup Cocoa powder dutch processed
- ⅔ cup Buttermilk
- ½ cup Vegetable oil
- 2 Eggs
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 1 cup Coffee hot
Chocolate pudding filling
- 1 ¼ cup Milk
- ¼ cup Cornstarch mixed with a little bit of water
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ⅓ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 4 oz Dark chocolate
- ⅓ cup Granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoon Cocoa powder dutch processed
- 2 tablespoon Butter Unsalted
Chocolate frosting
- 7 oz Butter unsalted
- ⅓ cup Cocoa powder dutch processed
- 1 cup Powder sugar
- 2 oz Dark chocolate melted and cooled
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 2-3 tablespoon Heavy cream
Instructions
Bake the Cake Layers
- Prep: Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease two 8-inch cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
- Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to prevent lumps.
- Wet Ingredients: Whisk in the eggs, buttermilk, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract until just combined.
- Bloom: Pour the hot coffee directly into the batter. Whisk gently until smooth. Note: The batter will be thin and liquid.
- Bake & Level: Divide the batter evenly between the pans. Bake for 25–30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely.
- Trim off the domed tops with a serrated knife to create flat layers, and crumble the trimmings into fine crumbs for decorating.
Make the chocolate pudding
- In a saucepan, whisk together whole milk, sugar, sifted cocoa powder, salt, vanilla, dark chocolate, and the cornstarch slurry. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly for about 10 minutes, until thick and bubbling.
- Remove from heat, whisk in the butter until melted, and strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Press plastic wrap directly onto the pudding surface and chill in the fridge for 1 to 2 hours until set.
Make the Chocolate Frosting
- Beat softened butter, sifted powdered sugar, sifted cocoa powder, vanilla, and salt with an electric hand mixer for 1–2 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Pour in the melted, cooled dark chocolate and whip on high speed until smooth and spreadable.
Assembly
- Place the first leveled cake layer on a turntable. Pipe a thick border of chocolate frosting around the top edge to create a secure dam.
- Fill the center of the dam with the chilled chocolate pudding, smoothing it level with an offset spatula.
- Top with the second cake layer. Spread the remaining chocolate frosting smoothly over the top and sides of the cake.
- Gently press the reserved cake crumbs all over the sides and top of the frosted cake until fully coated.
Notes
- Kitchen Scale: For the best results, weigh dry ingredients (flour and cocoa powder) in grams. Over-measuring flour with cups will result in a dense, dry cake.
- Room Temperature Ingredients: Bring eggs and buttermilk to room temperature before starting so the batter emulsifies smoothly.
- Hot Coffee: Hot liquid blooms the cocoa powder to unleash its full flavor potential. You can substitute boiling water for hot coffee if needed; the coffee will not make the cake taste like coffee.
- Pudding Prep: Always strain the cooked pudding through a fine-mesh sieve to catch any cornstarch lumps, and press plastic wrap directly against the pudding surface to prevent a skin from forming while chilling.
- Frosting Dam: Pipe a thick ring of buttercream around the outer perimeter of the bottom cake layer before adding the pudding to prevent the soft center from squeezing out the sides.
- Chilling: Ensure the pudding is completely cold and set before assembling. Assembling with warm pudding will melt the buttercream and cause the top cake layer to slide off.
- Make Ahead: Bake cake layers and cook pudding up to 2 days in advance. Store layers wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature and keep pudding refrigerated until ready to assemble.
- Storage: Store the assembled cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days due to the fresh dairy in the pudding center.
Nutrition
Calories: 544kcalCarbohydrates: 66gProtein: 7gFat: 35gSaturated Fat: 17gPolyunsaturated Fat: 6gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 76mgSodium: 468mgPotassium: 328mgFiber: 5gSugar: 32gVitamin A: 617IUVitamin C: 0.01mgCalcium: 111mgIron: 4mg
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