This epic, moist, super chocolatey cake is the treat we need all day , every day. It originated in New York’s Ebinger Baking Company and while it was first called ‘chocolate fudge cake’, the blackout drills in Brooklyn during World War II inspired the dark crumbed cake to be renamed the Brooklyn Blackout Cake. Filled and covered with chocolate pudding, then coated in cake crumbs, this is one unapologetically decadent dessert. Bonus, all those scraps you end up with while levelling the domed tops of layer cakes, are going to come in handy immediately!

For the cake, I went with this Food Network recipe. I swapped the sour cream for plain yoghurt and it’s what I always do, so there’s no need to go buy sour cream just for this recipe. For the pudding however, I relied on my favourite recipe that doesn’t need eggs and while I didn’t do this initially, I now double the amount of pudding for a more generous filling and topping. Some versions of this cake also top it with a chocolate ganache but (and I didn’t think I’d ever say this), there’s enough chocolate going on already!

Together, it is a ridonculously silky frosting complementing a tender cake crumb. Just so good, I can’t even put this into words. For that dark colour in the cake, Dutch-process cocoa is recommended. Here’s the difference between the types of cocoa.

The cake is quite large and the recipe notes have some tips on cutting it down if you’d like. Both the cake and the pudding should be made the day before, giving them enough time cool completely (the pudding is best when chilled overnight to thicken enough to become the consistency of frosting). Once assembled, it needs another 30 minutes of chilling at least so that you can slice it easily and neatly. So plan ahead! Let’s bake 🙂

Please read the recipe notes before beginning.

Brooklyn Blackout Cake

Rich, moist chocolate cake filled with chocolate pudding and covered in cake crumbs!

Prep Time: 45

Cook Time: 1 15

Total Time: 2

Makes: 8 large slices

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Ingredients

For the cake

1 and 1/2 cups freshly boiled water (375 ml)
1 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder (85 gms)
2 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (300 gms)
1 and 1/2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup vegetable oil (190 ml)
2 cups caster sugar (380 gms)
3 eggs, at room temp (see notes)
2 tsps vanilla extract
1/2 cup plain yoghurt/curd, at room temp (115 gms)

For the chocolate pudding

1/4 cup cornflour (30 gms)
1/2 cup caster sugar (95 gms)
A pinch of salt
3 cups milk (750 ml)
180 gms dark chocolate, chopped (50% to 60% dark)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

First, make the cake. Combine the hot water and cocoa in a bowl and stir well till the cocoa has dissolved. Set aside.
In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Grease a 9" springform tin with sides that are at least 3 inches high (see notes). Preheat the oven to 175 C.
Now in a large, deep mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the oil and sugar briefly until combined (it will look a little gritty). Add the eggs, one at a time, along with the vanilla and beat slowly to combine on low speed.
Add the yoghurt, and then gradually add the flour mixture, stirring or beating slowly. If you have a stand mixer, let it run on low speed while you add the flour.
Once you have a thick, smooth batter, pour in the cocoa+water mixture, slowly. Beat on low speed to combine and break up any lumps. You will now have a fairly runny batter which is why it's important to start with a large mixing bowl, so that there's not much splattering.
Pour into the prepared cake tin. This is a large batter and will fill the cake tin almost to the top.
Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until a toothpick poked in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs but not wet batter. If the cake is darkening on the top but the inside isn't done yet, cover the tin loosely with foil and continue baking.
Set the cake aside to cool completely at room temperature. You can leave it out overnight, loosely covered if you're assembling the cake the next day. Before you assemble, refrigerate the cake for about 30 minutes which makes it easier to slice into half.
Now, make the pudding. In a medium saucepan, mix the cornflour, sugar and salt. Pour in 1/2 cup milk in a thin stream, stirring as you go, till the cornflour has dissolved completely. Pour in the rest of the milk and mix well.
Place the saucepan on low heat, stirring occasionally. Scrape the sides and bottom to ensure there are no lumps and the milk isn't burning. Stir till it begins to thicken enough to coat the back of the spoon. The milk should have just begun to simmer.
Add the chocolate and stir till it is completely melted and incorporated, and the mixture thickens much more. Remove any lumps in the pudding with a spoon or strain through a sieve into a bowl.
Let the pudding cool at room temperature for 30 minutes, then place in the fridge uncovered, preferably overnight but at least 6 hours. It needs to thicken to the consistency of a frosting.
When you're ready to assemble the cake, open up the sides of the springform tin and slice off the domed top of the cake (chilled for 30 mins before assembly). Set the scraps aside, you'll use them for decoration!
Slice the cake in half horizontally, carefully lift off the top half and set it nearby on a plate or tray. Soon half of the chilled pudding onto the center of the lower half. Spread out in an even layer, then gently lift the top half of the cake and place it on the pudding layer, pressing down slightly. Cover the top and sides of the cake with the remaining pudding. Refrigerate again for 30 minutes to let the pudding set, then smoothen the sides and top as needed.
Now crumble up the cake scraps and stick them onto the sides and top of the cake.
Let the cake sit in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes before you slice into it. Store for a week in an airtight tin in the fridge (it tastes even better on day two). This cake can also be frozen. Happy baking!

Notes

*The batter does go almost right to the top of the cake tin, but domes in the center and then doesn't overflow. If your oven fits 2 cake tins at once, split the batter into two. Alternately, for a smaller cake, halve the entire recipe (you can use 2 eggs) and use one 8-inch tin to bake the cake which can then be split into two thinner layers, like I did here. For a smaller cake, a large mixing bowl and balloon whisk (affiliate link) is good enough, I found that a hand mixer or stand mixer wasn't needed.

*The photos above show a cake made with a half-batch of the pudding which was my preference earlier. The recipe is updated for a full-batch.

*I have not tried making this cake without eggs. I suspect without the eggs, it will turn out a little dense, but you can use about 1/2 cup of milk instead to make a fairly runny batter and the yoghurt already in the recipe should help keep it moist and tender. Some readers have reported that this worked for them. And you could also try this eggless chocolate cake.

* Cake adapted from Food Network, frosting from this chocolate pudding.

5 Comments

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the desserted girl
16/06/2019 at 18:10 · Reply

Hi, not sure what weird vanilla flavour means, what brand are you using and is it within date? This cake requires Dutch process cocoa as written, natural cocoa like Hershey’s will change the chemical reaction with the raising agents and alter the texture and flavour. You can try covering the cake with foil and lowering the temperature to let the middle cook, in case the top is cooking too quickly.
- Deepali
  16/06/2019 at 18:55 · Reply
  
  Thanks a lot I will try it again with Dutch process cocoa
  I used only 2 tap of vanilla (imitated one) but the cake all smells of vanilla
Deepali
16/06/2019 at 18:02 · Reply

Hi,

I tried chocolate blackout recipe but it tastes of weird vanilla and also it burnt from top and was.moist in between
I followed the recipe thoroughly only change was I used Hershey s unsweetened cocoa powder