Blackout Cake: The Ultimate Indulgence
Blackout Cake: Pure Indulgence
Chosen By Chance or Intuition?
This week’s confection was selected without extensive consideration. In my lemon cupcake blog, I mentioned that we are a solid chocolate family (except for our son). When I first flipped through Vintage Cakes, you can guess why this cake stood out. If you’re thinking Blackout means chocolate upon chocolate upon chocolate, you nailed it!
So, why this week?
Although I told myself it was an inane selection based on Groundhog Day, I suppose it could have actually been somewhat intuitive. I needed chocolate! Additionally, whether by coincidence or not, it happened to be a Full Moon.
The decision was initially made because I pictured this chocolate crumb-coated cake as a mound of dirt dug up by a nasty little groundhog. Speaking of nasty—that little Phil is a jerk! More winter was not the forecast any of us wanted.
Thinking about it, the day I brought this cake to life, the Full Moon connection made sense. The symbolism around a Full Moon encourages indulgence and pampering. The illumination of the moon at this time enspirits heightened energy. I was definitely feeling amped-up chocolate energy.
The author Julie Richardson’s inspiration for this dark beauty's recipe was a famous cake of the same name from a Brooklyn baking company that closed in 1972. What a tragedy, I’d say!
Homemade Cookies, Pudding, and Cake = The Triple Crown
Upon embarking on this cake-making journey, the author presents two options:
Coat the finished cake in store-bought chocolate cookie crumbs?
Make the chocolate shortbread cookie recipe provided?
My advice: make the cookies. Always make the cookies. I’ve never made chocolate shortbread, but I discovered it’s so simple—yet the cookies are insanely irresistible. Good thing the recipe makes a lot.
Plan accordingly—the dough needs to chill. The timing actually worked out well. I made the cookie dough first and dutifully rolled the log for refrigeration. Not lying here—it went on social media because the brown log resembled a turd. I told you they were deceptively delicious.
In the time it took to whip up the batter and make the pudding, the cookie dough had adequate time to firm up. The log was sliced and baked (and a few cookies devoured) while the pudding and cakes cooled.
The cake, itself, was rich and magnificent—brown and white sugar—sour cream and butter—and Dutch cocoa. Need I say more? It was simple to prep, but resulted in the best three layers of my life!
Dark Chocolate Pudding is the Special Element
In a similar oh-my-gosh moment, but on steroids, the pudding used to fill, frost, and top the layers got an A+. Homemade pudding is always—I say always—worth the effort. Dutch cocoa, butter, egg yolk, and a bar of unsweetened chocolate coalesced into a dark, rich, and decadent, truly noteworthy pudding. I know that sounds inflated, but it was money!
I could hardly wait to assemble this cake—layers upon layers of cake with dark chocolate pudding covering every surface. I say with certainty that I made more of a mess covering that cake with the chocolate cookie crumbs than Punxsutawney Phil and friends made burrowing out of the ground.
Blackout Cake and Chocolate Shortbread Cookie
The Finished Cake Didn’t Stay Whole For Long
I instructed my dear absent husband to get home STAT, or I was going to devour the whole thing. He’s lucky; I was actually slicing into it when I heard the garage door.
Since this cake wasn’t made for anyone in particular or a special occasion, we didn’t have to wait to dig in. Here’s the thing—a cake this special deserved to be served on the finest china in our house, and enjoyed slowly and intentionally.
It’s not an exaggeration when I say each bite was a “moment”. This is one of the best cakes I’ve ever had.
Mindful Indulgence is Good for the Soul: The Transcend Moment
Thank you, Full Moon and intuition, for reminding me that indulgence is okay and sometimes necessary. In this case, the full enjoyment of something special with intent and purpose was recognized and revered.
The next day, however, this cake had to leave my house. You may think it’s because I wouldn’t be able to control myself, and I’d binge eat the rest of it. You wouldn’t be wrong. But that wasn’t why.
As a cake aficionado, I recognized this cake was special. This was the Hope Diamond of cakes to me. Therefore, I had to treat it as the gem that it was.
I felt like the experience and lesson would be cheapened if I allowed myself to steal a piece at whim. I needed to respect the moment. I also needed to respect myself by avoiding overconsumption.
The experience was about listening to the body’s silent messages and valuing periodic indulgence. The lesson was about appreciating and honoring something exceptional while holding promises to yourself.