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Because it’s the week of chocolate…
We get to go all out (on a Tuesday!) and make the chocolatiest cake of them all.
I mean, it’s so chocolatey it’s called blackout cake. That’s gotta tell you something.
Truthfully, I just assumed the blackout part of the title was from chocolate overload, but apparently this cake surfaced during the blackout drills of WWII in Brooklyn. I found the website kitchenproject with the entire history of the Brooklyn Blackout Cake. Just click on the link for more info, kind of interesting.
So in all honesty, me making this cake had nothing to do with this week or Valentine’s Day. It just worked out that way, but I have been pretty much dreaming about this cake ever since I saw it last year on one of my favorite blogs, The Tart Tart.
From the minute I laid eyes on that cake, I knew that at some point in time I would have to make my own variation. Kind of sad it took me a year to do it, but oh so happy that I finally made it.
Of course me being me, I changed a few things around and added a little of my favorite frosting, ya know, I just can’t help it.
So I tried a couple different recipes, each only slightly different. My first cake was basically disgusting, like rock hard and gross. I am pretty sure that I messed something up. I didn’t give up and decided to try a different recipe, this recipe worked great.
Here’s the deal, The Brooklyn Blackout cake has a pretty simple chocolate cake as the base, but the thing that makes the recipe shine is the pudding. Yeah, the pudding!!
Instead of frosting each layer of cake with frosting, we are going to use homemade chocolate pudding. It’s silky, creamy and perfect. I mean, pudding and cake? Together? YES.
Here is what I did though, I made the cakes with a little coffee. See, I have a hard time making a chocolate cake without at least a little coffee, it just makes that chocolate flavor shine. Then I made the pudding, BUT I also made some of my all time favorite whipped chocolate buttercream frosting because again, I just can’t make a chocolate cake without it.
It may seem like a bit much to have both pudding and frosting going on, but I promise, promise, promise that it’s not. It also has just the right textures and level of sweetness.
The pudding is still the star of the cake, but the frosting adds that sweet buttery taste that we all love with cake. Gotta have that.
OH and then? You cover the entire cake in well… crumbled cake crumbs.
Meaning you do not even have to worry about making your frosting look pretty, you are just going to cover it in more cake. Score!
And guys, I know that cake is not really a Tuesday thing… wait, scratch that. Cake is an everyday thing. So just make it, enjoy it and a be happy.
The Brooklyn Blackout Cake.
Servings: 8 Servings
Calories Per Serving: 792 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter softened at room temperature, 1 stick
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1 cup sugar use 1 1/2 cups for a sweater cake
- 3 eggs at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon instant coffee optional
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/4 cups cake flour or 2 cups flour + 1/4 cornstarch
- 1 cup buttermilk
Pudding
- 2 1/2 cups water plus 1/2 cup water separated
- 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2/3 cup cornstarch
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Frosting
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) salted butter softened to room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 8-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter/spray with cooking spray.
- In a stand mixer (or using a hand mixer), cream the butter and canola oil together. Add the sugar and mix until light and fluffy. One by one, add the eggs, mixing after each addition. With the mixer running at low speed, add the vanilla, cocoa, coffee, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until combined. With the mixer still running on low speed, add about 1/3 of the cake flour, then about 1/3 of the buttermilk, and beat until combined. Repeat with the remaining cake flour and buttermilk, beating until combined.
- Pour the batter among the 2 cake pans and bake 30 to 35 minutes, until the tops are just set and no longer wiggly in the center. Remove and let cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then grab 2 large flat plates, line them with wax or parchment paper and invert the cakes onto the paper lined plates. Cover and let the cakes cool completely before slicing + frosting.
- While the cake is cooking, make the pudding. Pour 2 1/2 cups of the water, the sugar, honey and cocoa powder into a large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking occasionally. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the remaining 1/2 cup very cold water and the cornstarch together until smooth. Whisk the corn starch mixture into the cocoa mixture. Bring the mixture to a boil, whisking constantly. Cook, whisking constantly, until very thick, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and vanilla. Pour into a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge until firm, about 45 minutes.
- To make the frosting, add the butter and powdered sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a hand held mixer). Beat the butter and powdered sugar together until the butter is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the cocoa powder and vanilla and beat, scrapping down the sides as needed another 2 minutes or until there are no streaks of white. Add 1 tablespoon of the heavy cream and whip the frosting for 2-4 minutes or until light and fluffy. If desired add the remaining tablespoon of the heavy cream (I normally do) and whip until combined. Taste the frosting and add more powdered sugar if you like a sweeter or thicker frosting.
- To assemble the cake, use a long serrated knife to cut the cake layers in half horizontally. Take the ugliest layer of cake and crumble it into fine crumbs (or put it in the food processor) for topping and then reserve the other 3 cake halves for the cake. Place a cake layer on a cake plate or serving platter (reserve the most even layer for the top) and spread with cooled pudding. Top with another layer of cake, then pudding, then the final layer of cake. Now take the butter frosting and frost over the top and sides of the cake. If desired, you can now cover the frosted cake in any remaining pudding, I did. Use your hands to coat the cake with the reserved cake crumbs, pressing the crumbs gently into the pudding. Chill until ready to serve, at least 2 hours.
Notes
*To quickly bring eggs to room temperature place them in a bowl and fill with warm water. Let them sit five minutes.
**Recipe adapted from Food Network.
Those layers? That pudding? That’s what’s going to make everyone happy. Trust me!
You’ve done it again! It was delicious, and very fun to make. The steps were varied, yet easy to execute. When you know you’re going to top the whole thing with crumbs, you enter a stress-free state of mind. This cake was the highlight of the party. Lots of oohs and ahs. Plus, the chopped chocolate niblets made a nice crunch that contrasted beautifully with the moist cake layers. The website linked here has cake photos! I hope you know how great you made my birthday! (Bonus: Harry Potter tablecloth!)
Ok wow this is so amazing to hear Julie!! Thank you so much for trying this cake out, I am so glad your birthday went amazing! xTieghan
Did you top the cake with chocolate shavings, or am I seeing visions? I think I will do the shavings, in a salute to you. I’m channeling my inner Tieghan, and thinking how can I make this even more complex and fun?!? I can’t wait to make this cake for my birthday September 4th.
Hey Julie! Yes, I topped the cake with very finely chopped dark chocolate bars. Delish! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe and happiest birthday to you! Thank you! xTieghan
Easier than it seems and practically fool-proof. I didn’t have cream so used plain yogurt in the frosting which gave it a really nice but subtle tang, cutting the sweetness a bit. Thank you for a magnificent recipe!
Thank you so much Lang! xTieghan
I omitted the icing and instead used the pudding in lieu, followed by oreo crumbs. The recipe is perfect and the pudding is devine! I used red cocoa powder (22%). The cake is perfect from top to bottom
I am so glad you loved this cake, Dusty! Thank you! xTieghan
Are all of your recipes adapted to be cooked at high elevation?
My recipes should work well at sea level and at an elevation. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much and happy Holidays!! xTieghan ?
Hi Hailey! They should work great for you! But please let me know if you have any other questions while making the recipe!
Hi, this cake looks like chocolate heaven. Do you know if I can make it advance and freeze the cake for a few days before the event? Thanks.
Hey Penny! I have not tried freezing this cake so I cannot say for sure, but I do think it would freeze well. Please let me know how it goes! I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much! xTieghan
Ok, I HAD to make sure I came back and commented on this cake. My sweet husband made this for my birthday last week and OMG. BEST.CAKE.EVER. But I think it’s safe to say that the pudding was EVERYONE’s favorite. Definitely my new favorite birthday cake! 😀
Thank you so much! I am so glad you loved this cake Amanda! Happy Belated Birthday to your husband!
This cake is delicious!
I made it for my boyfriend‘s birthday and everybody loved it. I just added blueberries to the pudding and put raspberries on top –
I am so happy to hear that! Thank you Amalia!
I sound like a meanie for saying this…you might want to correct the typo “use 1 1/3c. sugar for a sweeter cake, not sweater cake.
Oops! Thank you Leslie!
Is the water in the pudding a misprint? Pudding is usually made with milk.
The water is correct. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
Can’t wait to make this! Love everything of yours I have tried and I will ONLY use your recipes when I am making chocolate cake.
(Just a friendly note that you have “sweater” cake on the sugar line instead of sweeter)
Thank you for all that you do!
I hope you love this Jen! Thank you so much! Oh.. and thank you for catching that haha!
I used 2/3 cup (I took it to mean – don’t add more, because barely 2/3 cup is enough to make pudding thick. I’ve made this recipe twice and 2/3 cup worked out perfectly.
Thank you so much Carol! I am so glad you enjoyed this!
Sorry, but what does ‘cup a scant 2/3 cornstarch’ mean?
So sorry for the confusion. It is 2/3 cup. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
LOVED this recipe! I made it this weekend and kept it in the fridge overnight for serving guests at lunch today. I sliced 16 pieces, and if I had more skills, I think I could have sliced even thinner pieces. It went fast and everyone thought it was great! It is very rich, so you don’t need much to get a terrific dessert.
I got lazy toward the end and just made it a four layer cake with pudding enough for between each layer and more to add over the icing. That is a terrific pudding recipe! I did not figure in the time to let it sit in the fridge for a couple hours or I would have had it the evening before for dinner. But leaving it in the refrigerator overnight really sealed it into a stable product, easy to slice into individual pieces. Since there were some guests that did not get a piece, I will make two cakes next time. The directions were easy to follow and tasting as I went assured the amount of sweetness desired.
Thanks to the original author for correcting the typos. I also enjoyed the link to the history of this cake. Kudos!
I am so happy you liked this recipe Carol! Thank you so much!
Hi! Looking forward to baking this cake today. What does “1 tablespoons stick salted butter softened to room temperature, 8” in the frosting ingredient list mean? Is it 8 Tablespoons or 1 Tablespoon?
This part of recipe poorly weitten. Itwas not my recipe originally. May I suggest you start with two to four tablespoons butter. See how well it blends with that one cup powdered sugar, then add more if texture not right. A more experienced baker may offer better advice. It has been a very long time since I’ve seen this recipe and I don’t remember the amount of butter used in the frosting. Good luck!
HI! So sorry, those are typos. All fixed now. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! :