Black Out Cake from the Fifties Recipe - Allrecipes.com
  • READY IN ABOUT 1¼ hrs

Black Out Cake from the Fifties

Read Reviews (14)

"Moist and delicious cake from the 1950's. Chocolaty cake filled with pudding, frosted , and covered with cake crumbs." —  

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Original recipe makes 1 - 3 layer 9 inch round cake Change Servings
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Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 inch pans. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Set aside. In a separate small bowl, gradually stir 1 cup milk into 1/3 cup of cocoa, then whisk until the mixture is smooth.
  2. In a large bowl, cream together 1/2 cup butter, 1/4 cup shortening and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Add 3 eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk mixture; beat well. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pans.
  3. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the layers shrink from the sides of the pans and the tops spring back when gently pressed with a fingertip. The cake is dense and moist, so be careful not to over-bake it. Cool the layers in the pans for 10 minutes, then carefully invert them onto the racks and cool completely.
  4. To make the filling: In a small bowl, whisk together 2/3 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons cornstarch and 1/4 teaspoon salt. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine 1 1/2 cups milk with sugar mixture. Add 3 squares chopped chocolate, and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil until the mixture is thick and bubbly, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, and stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Pour into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface, to keep the pudding from forming a skin. Refrigerate until cool.
  5. To make the frosting: In a medium bowl, beat 1/2 cup butter, 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla and 3 eggs until light and fluffy. Add the confectioners' sugar two tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the melted chocolate until well blended. Refrigerate for 15 minutes while you fill the cake.
  6. To assemble the cake: Using a long serrated knife, slice each layer in half horizontally, making 4 layers. Spread the filling between 3 of the layers of cake. Frost cake with the frosting, then crumble the remaining cake layer. Stick crumbs to the entire frosted surface of the cake. Sprinkle any leftover crumbs over the top of the cake. Store in a cool place, and serve within 24 hours.
Kitchen-Friendly View
  • PREP 30 mins
  • COOK 40 mins
  • READY IN 1 hr 10 mins
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Reviews More Reviews

Most Helpful Positive Review
Nov 09, 2003

Cake was excellent! For some reason though the recipe provider aaded a few very un-necessary extra steps. It is totally unnecessary to use a separate bowl to mix just the milk and cocoa powder. Just mix in the cocoa w/ the flour mixture and the milk in with the sugar/shortening mixture. That eliminates one bowl to wash and one extra step which is needless. Also, when making the frosting it is unnecessary to use melted chocolate. Just use Cooa powder. It's easier and again one less step and one less item to clean. Unless you don;t have cocoa powder and already have baking chocolate. It tastes the same and it takes less time and space. Hey, the less steps and cleanign the better, right?

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Most Helpful Critical Review
Dec 16, 2003

I bake a lot and have never before given a recipe a bad review when everyone else gave great reviews. However, I can't believe I am reading the same recipe as the other reviewers. First, the cooking time was way too long. I took out the cake at exactly 30 minutes (at 350 degrees measured by my oven thermometer) and it was crunchy and burnt. Check it at about 22 minutes to avoid this problem. Second, slicing the layers in half was a nightmare(with the dental floss method) and created a huge mess. 3) There were WAY too many crumbs. Instead, I would reocommend making maybe two cupcakes--it would save the slicing hassle and reduce waste. 4) The reciepe is inconsistent in that in the ingredients list it lists 3 squares of chocolate for the filling, but in the instructions it asks for 4 squares (hopefully someone will fix this). 5) I went the conservative route and put three squares of chocolate in the filling and it was WAY TOO MUCH. The filling and the cake together were really bitter, as cakes go. I guess if you're a chocoholic who doesn't really like desserts, that might be appealing. I would either REDUCE the chocolate to maybe 1 or 2 squares or INCREASE the sugar to counteract the bitterness (But I'm not sure what effect that would have on the consistency of the filling). I used to have black-out cake from a local bakery and LOVED it. I have been searching for the recipe that would replicate that taste. This deifinitely isn't it.

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16 Ratings

Aug 01, 2003

This was a HUGE hit at a birthday party recently. My husband's girlfriend wanted a rich, crumb covered, chocolate cake & this more than fit the bill. I would be happy to make this for any special occasion. The birthday girl and a lot of the guests at the party thought I had gone to a fancy bakery to have this made. Too bad, I just keep forgetting to tell them the name of the restaurant! :D

— 
Sep 21, 2003

This is an excellent choice for any chocolate lover. I actually used a smaller spring form pan and made two small two layer cakes. It is a very rich, moist cake. While it seems like a complicated recipe, it was actually very simple to make. The end result is quite impressive - especially if you drizzle white chocolate on top and have crumbs only on the sides. My boyfriend was quite impressed!

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Jan 27, 2009

This a prettyngood cake. Definately for the chocolate lover, however it is the icing and filling that gives it the flavor the actual cake is very light on chocolatyness. Also, my cake did not turn out moist as described, i kept an eye on it and took it out of the oven just shy of 30 minutes. It was better after chilled over night. I did not find it as labor intensive as other reviewers, I did study the recipe to find steps to omit.

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Mar 24, 2003

Instead of baking 2 cakes I baked 3 small ones and cut the baking time...The only trouble I had was the frosting was a little runny...Guess I needed to cut the liquids too. However it was the best cake I have ever baked...delicious, very rich though.

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Aug 29, 2002

I didn't feel comfortable using the raw egg frosting, so I made double the pudding and used it to frost the cake as well. The crumbs stuck well and it was absolutely delicious!! I think it tastes best cold. Reminds me of dobash cake.

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Feb 10, 2009

I made this cake at home because I'm a Chocolate lover... I'm not a cook so I accidentally used regular granulated sugar for the frosting, and it was great, a little crunchy but my family, friends and co-workers loved it.

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Nutrition

  • Calories
  • 617 kcal
  • 31%
  • Carbohydrates
  • 89.6 g
  • 29%
  • Cholesterol
  • 132 mg
  • 44%
  • Fat
  • 28.2 g
  • 43%
  • Fiber
  • 3.4 g
  • 14%
  • Protein
  • 8.3 g
  • 17%
  • Sodium
  • 294 mg
  • 12%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

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