Brooklyn Chocolate Decadence Cake
Source of Recipe
-From "The Neighborhood Bakeshop" by Jill Van Cleave
List of Ingredients
-CAKE:
2 cups cake flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups dairy sour cream, at room temperature
-PUDDING FROSTING:
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, cut into small pieces
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups boiling water
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, at room
temperature
1/2 tablespoon vanilla
Recipe
For Cake, grease 2 (8-inch) round cake pans and dust bottoms evenly
with flour, shaking out excess flour.
To make Cake, sift flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt together into
a medium bowl. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at
medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed
to low and add eggs and vanilla, blending thoroughly. Slowly add
flour mixture, alternating with sour cream and blending well after
each addition.
Divide batter equally between prepared cake pans and smooth with a
spatula.
Bake in preheated 350-degree oven 25 to 30 minutes, until a cake
tester comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans on wire racks 15 minutes,
then unmold cakes onto racks to cool completely.
Meanwhile, prepare Pudding Frosting. Melt chocolate in a bowl over
barely simmering water or in a microwave oven at 50 percent power
1 to 4 minutes, checking every 30 seconds. Whisk until smooth and
set aside.
In a saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch, whisking to mix
thoroughly. While whisking, pour boiling water over mixture. Bring
to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly, 5 to 7 minutes.
Boil 1 minute to thicken, then remove pan from heat. Immediately
whisk in melted chocolate. Add butter and allow to melt, then stir
in vanilla. Pour pudding into a bowl, cover top with a piece of wax
paper and cool completely at room temperature.
To assemble, cut each cake in half horizontally to make 4 equal
layers. Reserve 1 layer for garnish.
Place a layer on a cardboard cake circle or a cake plate and cover
with some of Pudding Frosting. Add a second cake layer and spread
with another coating of frosting. Top with a third layer of cake.
Frost top and sides evenly with frosting. Pudding Frosting will
look droopy at this stage.
Crumble remaining cake layer into crumbs. (Or use a food processor
for this step.) Generously sprinkle crumbs all over cake. Serve at
cool room temperature. Makes 8 to 10 servings.
This Chocolate Decadence cake is an attempt to re-create the
infamous blackout cake popularized by the legendary Ebinger's Bakery
in Brooklyn. Today, New York bakeries call it mud cake. My mother's
neighborhood bakery, Kirschbaum's, in suburban Chicago, makes it, too.
They call it chocolate lover's cake, and it happens to be their biggest
seller.
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