Ebinger’s Blackout Cake

Growing up I heard various stories from my father about growing up in Brooklyn. Ebinger’s Bakery was spoken about a lot. While the bakery closed before I was born, it is all I have heard of, especially this cake.

Now, my father sends me recipes with indications of try to make this or make this for… This recipe came with a statement “You will make this.” There were no opportunities to say no. Dad – Challenge accepted.

After I served this cake to my dad, he stated that it was just as good as he remembered.

Keep in mind – When you make this cake, it has to be eaten within 24 hours once you make it.

Taken from NPR

Ingredients:

Cake

½ cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 tbsp. boiling water
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
¾ cup milk 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened slightly
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, separated, room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt

Filling

1 tbsp plus 1¾ tsp. unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 cups boiling water
¾ cup plus ½ tsp. sugar
1 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 tbsp. cornstarch dissolved in 1 tbsp. cold water
¼ tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. unsalted butter

Frosting

12 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
12 tbsp. ( 1½ sticks) unsalted butter
½ cup hot water
1 tbsp. light corn syrup
1 tbsp. vanilla extract

Make the cake: Preheat the oven to 375F. Butter and lightly flour two 9-inch cake pans. In a small bowl, place the cocoa and whisk in the boiling water to form a paste, set aside. In a saucepan, combine the chopped chocolate and milk over medium heat. Keep stirring until the chocolate melts, approximately three minutes. Remove from the heat. Take a small bit of the chocolate milk combination into the cocoa paste. Put the rest of the cocoa paste mixture into the milk mixture. Return to the pan and stir for one minute on medium heat. Set mixture aside until cool.

In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time, along with the vanilla. Stir in the chocolate mixture slowly. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture. Fold until just mixed. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold the egg whites in the batter, until no streaks remain. Divide the batter into the prepared pans and bake for about thirty minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Make the filling: Combine the cocoa and boiling water in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir in sugar and chocolate. Add cornstarch paste and salt to the pan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. You don’t want lumps in your filling. Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla and butter. Place mixture into a bowl, cover, and refrigerate until cool

Make the frosting: In a double boiler, melt the chocolate until smooth. Remove the top part of the double boiler and whisk in the butter, one tbsp. at a time. If necessary, return to the top of the heat to melt the butter. Whisk in the hot water all at once and whisk until smooth. Add corn syrup and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate for up to 15 minutes before using.

Assemble the cake: Slice each cake layer in half to form four layers. Set the worst layer aside. Place one layer on a cake board. Put ½ of the filling on top. Cover with a second layer, followed by the other half of the filling. Place the third layer on. Put a thin layer of frosting on the top and sides of the cake. Refrigerate until firm – approximately 15 minutes. Crumble up the fourth layer. Apply the rest of the frosting to the cake. Quickly add the cake crumbs. Refrigerate the cake for at least one hour before serving.

TIP TUESDAY – Transporting mini-cupcakes

If you have searched long and hard for a mini cupcake transporter like I have, you know it is either hard to find or too expensive for your budget. Here is an easy way to transport mini cupcakes that will not break the bank, especially if you use a lot of eggs.

Step 1: Find a egg carton

Step 2: Place mini cupcake (or muffin) into egg slot.

Step 3: Close the egg carton

Step 4: Transport the cupcakes

Step 5: Open the carton and serve

There you go – an easy way to transport mini cupcakes. Just note – you do not have a lot of room in your container for a pile high of frosting.

Tie Dye Mini Cupcakes

TIE DYED CUPCAKES

I love anything tie dyed, even as a kid. Most likely if it is a form of tie dye, I will try it. My closet may or may not have a decent amount of it. Bakedbymelissa has tie dyed cupcakes that are little – about the size of a quarter. But I am too lazy to make the trek to the city or fight people to find a parking spot at Roosevelt Field to get some, so I decided to create my own.

Vanilla Mini Cupcakes

Barely adapted from Natasha’s Kitchen

Servings: Makes 24 mini cupcakes

1 ¼ cups cake flour

1 ¼ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

2 large eggs, at room temperature

¾ cup sugar

1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract

½ cup vegetable oil

½ cup buttermilk

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a cupcake/muffin pan with cupcake liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat 2 eggs with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Add sugar and continue to beat on medium speed. Add vanilla and oil and beat on medium speed until well combined, approximately one minute. Reduce mixer speed to low-medium. Add half of the flour mixture then mix until combined. Then add half of the buttermilk and mix until combined. Then add the rest of the flour combination, mix. Finally, add the rest of the buttermilk. Make sure to scrape down sides between each addition. Don’t worry if the batter is thin.

Divide the batter into small bowls, one for each color you want. I would not use more than five colors. I used red, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Only use a little but of the food coloring as a little goes a long way. Put a little bit of each batter into each mini cupcake tin.

Bake at 350F for approximately 9 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool for a few minutes in the mini muffin tin and then allow them to cool on a wired rack.

As the cupcakes cool, make the buttercream.

Whipped Vanilla Buttercream

Barely Adapted from Annie’s Eats

Servings: enough to frost about 2 dozen mini cupcakes

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Pinch of salt

1 tbsp heavy cream

1 tbsp vanilla extract

Directions

Place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Whip on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the confectioners’ sugar to the bowl and mix on medium-low speed just until incorporated. Add in the salt and continue to beat on medium-high speed for 1-2 minutes, until smooth. Mix in the heavy cream and vanilla on low speed just until incorporated. Increase the mixer speed and whip on high speed until light and fluffy, scraping down the bowl as needed, about 4-5 minutes.

Pipe or frost the cupcake however you want. I went with two techniques using a large round piping tip. One way, which you see on the left, is a dot. Pipe down and place pressure on the bag, until you have the dot that you want. On the right, use the same technique to place a blob onto the cupcake. Smooth out the top until even using a straight edge spatula or butter knife. Afterwards, use the straight edge to smooth out the side. When done with frosting the cupcake add a few sprinkles, whatever you have available, on top.