Brooklyn Blackout Cake

What did I do on my first real day of study leave? Study? Of course not; not when baking is an option. I was looking for something easy that doesn't require much skill that I could bake to be my first 'share' on my blog, and came across this Brooklyn Blackout Cake in the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook that I was given a year or two ago for Christmas. I haven't made very good use of this book since I got it, I've never felt like I could trust it, but I decided that today was the day to take a risk and just try it out.
So, using the recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook, I set out gathering the ingredients I would require. I was pleased with the ingredients list, as the picture of the desired finished product looks sophisticated and elegant leading me into thinking that I would be needing to use a lot of posh, expensive ingredients. I was wrong. I needed only the basic cake ingredients and they were all easily found among the shelves of food in my cupboards and fridge. I did not need to buy any 70% cocoa solids chocolate or any vanilla pods or any of that fancy business, the rich, elegant flavours simply came from cocoa powder and vanilla extract.
The recipe was easy and simple, it consisted of the start of an average cake mixture, creaming the butter and sugar together. I found that at this early stage of the production, the recipe stated either too much sugar or too little butter as it was incredibly difficult to cream the two ingredients together. The mixture formed more of a coarse sand than the creamy mixture I desired. Because of this I added the vanilla extract at that point to provide a small amount of liquid to try and encourage the two components to come together, as well as about 10g more of the butter. These small adaptions helped the butter and sugar combine better and I could move on with the recipe. This was one of very few things that I found misleading and difficult within the recipe. I then proceeded on with ease to finish making the cake batter, achieving a shiny, silky and smooth batter that I divided into three cake tins that would create the three layers of the cake. The recipe said I should bake the cakes for 25-30 minutes, but I found that my cakes were ready to come out after 23 minutes. This depends on your oven though, so don't assume yours will take the same amount of time, keep checking your cakes from about 20minutes into the bake and make your decision of when to take them out (don't exceed 30minutes). I allowed my cakes to cool, meanwhile making the chocolate custard that would fill and cover my masterpiece. When I make sophisticated, dark and rich chocolate cakes, such as this one seems, I always make a ganache to create that silky, smooth contrast to the soft, crumbly cake. This is always a nice treat and adds great depth to a chocolate cake, however the ingredients, although few, are expensive and the heaviness of the ingredients means that it is extremely hard to eat a full slice. For these reasons, I was extremely happy to find that the covering for this cake was a chocolate custard. The ingredients were cheap and easily found in my cupboards. I was slightly apprehensive about making a custard for the first time, but I was over the moon with my first attempt. The custard allowed a subtle chocolate flavour and a sweet contrast to the bitterness of the cocoa powder, as well as making the whole cake much lighter and easier to eat. One step within the making of the custard of went slightly off the tracks for me when whisking the cornflour with the water as I added too much water at once creating a very thin texture, rather than a thick, glue-like texture. However I had no spare cornflour to start again so I had to make do with what I had. I think it was this slight mistake that caused me trouble later when trying to thicken the custard. I boiled it on a medium heat, constantly whisking it, which allowed it to thicken up slightly before I transferred it to the fridge to firm up even more. I found myself waiting a long time for the custard to set more, and in the end gave into my impatience and started assembling the cake probably slightly too soon. I had no trouble assembling and decorating the cake with such a runny custard, but I know that I would have been more safe just waiting that extra half an hour until I could really use it with ease and control. Unfortunately, I found that I had far too much custard than I needed, and so I would recommend that you quarter the recipe for the custard as it was far too much and put a lot of money down the drain. Following the recipe, I decorated my cake with a very well thought out idea of slicing a thin layer off one cake and food processing it until it formed fine crumbs, before sprinkling all over the top and side of the cake. This added interest and difference to the appearance of the cake, along with adding a greater contrast of texture. I finally had a finished product; Brooklyn Blackout Cake. A mysterious character, deceiving as being rich and devilish, but once discovered in more depth, found to be a light, subtle masterpiece.
Don't be deceived or tripped up by her appearance, she's nothing like you expect at first glance. She has a much kinder soul than she makes out. Do not judge a book by its cover, and do not judge a cake by its appearance.
I recommend that any chocoholic looking for something a little lighter or someone looking for a cheap and easy celebration cake to appeal to all to try out this recipe.
For the cake you will need:
100g unsalted butter
260g caster sugar
2 eggs
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
45g cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
a pinch of salt
160ml milk

For the custard you will need: (without quartering like I suggested)
500g caster sugar
1 tbsp golden syrup
125g cocoa powder
200g cornflour
85g unsalted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Custard recipe quartered:
125g caster sugar
1/4 tbsp golden syrup
30g cocoa powder
50g conflour
20g unsalted butter
1/8 tsp vanilla extract

What to do:
Preheat your oven to 170degrees (325 degrees Fahrenheit) Gas mark 3.
Whisk the butter and sugar together in a bowl using an electric mixer, free standing or handheld. Cream until light and fluffy. If needs be, add the vanilla extract at this point to add a small amount of liquid in order of encouraging the two ingredients to come together nicely.
Add one egg at a time, combining with the butter and sugar thoroughly before adding the next to prevent any small risk of curdling.
Beat in the cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into the wet ingredients until thoroughly combined.
Add half of the flour and all of the milk and whisk until it is well combined, then add the remaining half of the flour and whisk.
Spoon the mixture into prepared cake tins and bake for 20-30 minutes, checking occasionally after 20 minutes.
To make the custard, put the caster sugar, golden syrup, cocoa powder and 600ml of water in a deep pan and boil over a medium heat until all of the sugar and cocoa powder has dissolved.
Meanwhile, gradually whisk 120ml-200ml of water into the cornflour until a thick, glue-like consistency is created.
Turn down the heat of the mixture in the pan and add the cornflour mixture. Whisk in to combine.
Once combined, bring the mixture to boil again, whisking constantly until thickened.
When thickened, put into the fridge to thicken even more.
To assemble the cake, firstly slice off a thin layer of one cake, or any uneven bits that need to be levelled out and put these bit aside (make sure your cakes are completely cooled).
Place one cake on a plate and top with one quarter of the custard. Place your next cake on top of that and again top with a quarter of the custard. Finally place your last layer of cake on and pour the remainder of your custard over the top, allowing it to spill down the edges. Using a pallet knife gently encourage the custard down the sides of the cake and ease it into all of the gaps, ensuring complete coverage of the cake.
Place your cake in the fridge to set the custard even more, only for a few minutes though.
Put the cut offs from the cake into a food processor and process until fine crumbs are made.
Take your cake out of the fridge and sprinkle the crumbs over the top and press them to the sides of the cake, achieving an aesthetically interesting appearance and contrasting texture to your masterpiece.
Enjoy!