Brooklyn Blackout Cake

By vealam

A proper celebratory cake should consist of at LEAST three layers, am I right? Unless the two layers are really thick, or the one layer is a flourless chocolate cake, or an olive oil cake, or something else rustic (and probably foreign). That being said, this cake features three teeny-tiny layers, so maybe it’s only technically a one-and-a-half layers tall. But that’s neither here nor there. The official story is, I made a three-layer cake, and that’s that.

Ingredients

• For the frosting:
• 1-3/4 cups water plus 1/4 cup water, separated
• 1-3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• scant 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
• For the cake:
• 3-1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 10 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/6 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• scant 1/2 tsp baking powder
• scant 1/2 tsp baking soda
• a pinch of salt
• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup whole milk

Preparation

Step 1

First, make the frosting, ideally the day before to give it time to cool fully. Combine 1-3/4 cups water, sugar, light corn syrup, and cocoa powder into a small sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking occasionally. In the meantime, combine the remaining 1/4 cup water with corn starch in a cup and mix with an immersion blender until dissolved. It’ll be relatively thin and uniformly opaque.

Slowly pour the corn starch mix into the sauce pan, whisking vigorously. Let the mix come back to a boil, whisking still. Continue whisking as the pudding thickens. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes for it to reach a thick chocolate pudding-like consistency. Turn off the heat and stir in the butter, incorporating it completely. The pudding should be shiny and thick.

Pour the pudding into a receptacle, cover the surface with plastic wrap, and place it in the fridge until completely cool.

For the cake: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 6-inch round pan, and lay a circular parchment paper round on the bottom.

In a stand mixer bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. On low speed, mix in the egg until it’s completely incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then, on low speed, beat in the vanilla extract, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Continue mixing until just combined, then add about half the flour as well as the milk. When just combined, add the remainder of the flour, mixing until just combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and place it in the oven. Bake for about 30 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean and the top bounces back a little when you push it. Let the pan cool for a minutes, then empty the cake onto a cooling rack to completely cool. Remove the parchment paper round.

Assembling: Slice off the domed top of the cake. Save it for the crumb topping. Carefully, slice the cake into three even-sized layers (they’ll be quite thin, so be careful). Proceed the way you’d normally assemble a layer cake, adding about 1/4 of the chocolate pudding frosting between layers. (When you take the pudding out of the fridge, it’ll be kind of hard to work with initially, but will become more malleable once it’s been worked with a spatula for a bit.) Cover the exterior of the cake with the rest of the chocolate pudding.