Brooklyn Blackout Cake for Conor!

That cream was not for the cake. Rather, Conor's face...

Now that Conor's birthday has been and gone, I can post this!
Especially since it was a surprise and he actually, properly, had no idea at all. He even suggested to a friend (who was also in on it) to go for a drink in the pub we were setting up with balloons and cake. So he was even more surprised!
So yes, THE CAKE.

What a beast of a thing.

I made Conor the Hummingbird Bakery's Brooklyn Blackout cake. It is possibly the richest cake I have ever made and it's mostly due to the 'custard' like chocolate sauce. The cake made from this is the best chocolate one I have made yet, it was perfect.

Here is a quick breakdown of the recipe:

Ingredients for the cake:
100g butter
260g caster sugar
170g plain flour
160ml whole milk
2 eggs
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
45g cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt

Ingredients for the chocolate custard: 

500g caster sugar

1 tbsp golden syrup

125g cocoa powder

200g cornflour

85g butter

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

*Preheat the oven to 170C/ 325F/ Gas 3
*Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
*Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Scrape the sides of the bowl with your spatula so no mixture is lost.

*Slowly beat in the cocoa powder , vanilla, baking powder and salt until well mixed.

*Add half the flour, then all the milk and then the rest of the flour. Mix well until it is all combined.
*Pour into two round 20cm tins greased and lined with greaseproof paper.
*Pop in the oven and bake for 25 minutes. Leave the cakes to cool completely before turning them out onto a wire rack (WAIT til they're cool or they'll break!)

*While they're cooling, get making the sauce...
*Put the sugar, syrup, cocoa powder and 600ml of water into a large pot (this makes a huge amount of sauce, so make sure it's big!) and bring to the boil over a medium heat, whisking occasionally.
*Mix the cornflour with 120-200ml of water and gradually add to the mix, whisking briskly! (Do this correctly cos I didn't and I ended up needing to blend the sauce to get rid of lumps! No one wants a mouth of cornflour!)
*The consistency should be that of thick glue. I mean, it gets quite thick, but don't worry about it ripping the cake. When the cakes are cool, pop them onto plates and into the fridge. This helps stop it.
*Cook the custard until it is thick and yummy looking. Stick your spoon in for a taste.
*Remove from the heat, add the butter and vanilla and stir in. Put into a (rather large) bowl, cover with cling film and chill until quite firm.

*Grab your cakes and using a long knife (it makes it much easier), slice a very thin layer off one.

*Using a food processor, or just a knife like me, chop into fine crumbs.
*Spread some custard onto that cake, then slice the other into two, making it three tiered. Layer up the cake with the custard, leaving enough to frost the top and sides of the cake.
*Cover with the crumbs and chill for 2 hours.




Since Conor is becoming quite the wizard lately, I popped some cards into the cake along with heaps of candles for a little magic effect.

Get your strong arm out to carry this one! It took a lot of effort carrying it to the dart! The cookbook says it makes 10-12 slices... I am very generous with my cake slices and I LOVE cake, but I honestly could not finish a small slice. However, there is enough sugar in this to make it last a while, especially if kept in the fridge.
I must ask Conor how much of it is left...

Enjoy over a long chat.
Or a surprise birthday party.

x

Hope it's a great year, bro!