Insanely chocolatey Brooklyn Blackout Cupcakes made with three different types of chocolate, stuffed with a creamy chocolate pudding, and topped with sprinkles and a chocolate glaze.
Nerd month, day three, and I have ANOTHER Captain America recipe for you (see also, my Avengers Chicken Shawarma and Civil War Parfaits for another Captain America Dessert). Another one!?, you ask. When will this madness end?
Today. It ends today, because it’s Captain America: Civil War release day!! I’m seeing the movie tomorrow, so after this is posted, I’m basically going internet silent for the next 24 hours, but if you want to chat with me about the movie, leave a comment or tweet at me. I’m sure I’ll be having all the feelings by this time tomorrow.
For me, the real heart of the Captain America series is our Brooklyn boys so when it came time to choose some Cap-themed recipes, Brooklyn Blackout Cake immediately sprang to mind.
Marvel via Tumblr
Brooklyn Blackout Cake originated in Brooklyn from the Ebinger Baking Company, which opened its doors in 1898. But it wasn’t until around WWII that the cake got its name, so while it’s never featured in the films, it still makes me think of Captain America every time I see it.
Plus, I maybe just really wanted an excuse to make the cake for the blog, and since I prefer making cupcakes to cakes, as is my wont, I turned it into Brooklyn Blackout CUPCAKES.
Um, if you don’t LOVE chocolate, you may be excused now, because there is nothing here but chocolate. You’ve got deep, dark chocolate cake. You have chocolate pudding stuffed into that cake. Then there’s a chocolate glaze on top of that.
Pile on some chocolate cake crumbs, and then just because I never want it to be said that I am not excessive in all things, we sprinkle some chocolate sprinkles on there too.
And oh my gosh, how to describe this cake to you. It’s like dying and going to chocolate heaven. You use three different types of chocolate in this cake, so you get three different shades of holy cow delicious. The cake itself is made with dark chocolate and coffee, then we use a bitter-sweet chocolate in the pudding, and a sweeter semi-sweet in the glaze.
It really is one of the most decadent desserts I’ve ever made. And just in case it seems intimidating to you, these Brooklyn Blackout Cupcakes are actually pretty easy cupcakes to put together. No stand mixer is required, and the pudding is literally just heating a few ingredients together while your cupcakes bake and remembering to give it a stir occasionally.
It’s not simple, but it is easy. Honestly, the hardest part is not eating all the components separately before you get them assembled.
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Brooklyn Blackout Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 8 tablespoons (4oz) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup (3oz) dark chocolate* chopped
- 2 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup and 2 tablespoons (105g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (40g) unsweetened cocoa powder sifted
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs and 1 large egg yolk at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup hot coffee
Pudding Filling
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons (15g) cornstarch
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups milk any percentage is fine
- 1/2 cup (3oz) bittersweet chocolate, chopped (good-quality chocolate chips are fine)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate Glaze
- 4 tablespoons (2oz) unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 1/2 teaspoons light corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup (2oz) semisweet chocolate, chopped (good-quality chocolate chips are fine)
- 1 cup (120g) powdered sugar sifted*
- Chocolate sprinkles
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350°Line 22 cupcake cups with liners.
- In a medium microwave-safe bowl, microwave butter until almost completely melted. Add dark chocolate and oil and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir. Microwave for an additional 15 seconds if necessary, until chocolate is completely melted. Stir until well combined and set aside to cool.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract. Whisk in cooled chocolate mixture. (It can be warm, but if it is hot to the touch, set aside for another couple of minutes. You don't want to scramble the eggs!)
- Whisk in half of the flour mixture until just combined. Add all of the buttermilk and mix. Whisk in the last of the flour, mixing until just combined.
- Whisk in the coffee.
- Fill cupcake tins just under 2/3 of the way full. You should have about 22 cupcakes. Don't over fill!
- Bake for 15-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.
Pudding Filling
- While your cupcakes bake, in a medium saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Whisk in milk, pouring slowly so no lumps form.
- Cook over medium-low heat, whisking out lumps occasionally until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of your spoon, about 6 to 10 minutes. The heat should be low enough that your pudding cooks without coming to a simmer. If it begins to simmer, turn the heat down.
- Add chocolate and cook for 1 to 2 more minutes, until chocolate is completely mixed in and the mixture is thick. Add in vanilla and stir.
- There will be some cornstarch lumps in your pudding. This is normal and you won't notice them when the pudding is stuffed into your cupcakes, but it they bother you, you can strain your pudding through a mesh strainer to get rid of them. Transfer your pudding to a storage container and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until it finishes firming up.
Fill Cupcakes
- Cut a cone shaped piece out of the center of 20 of the cupcakes, reserve the remaining Cut the tip off of the cone and place in a separate bowl to use later, keep the tops.
- Fill cupcakes with pudding and replace the tops.
- Crumble the remaining two cupcakes and cupcake centers to create the crumb topping. Set aside.
Make the Glaze
- Make sure you have all of your cupcakes filled and topping and sprinkles ready before starting the glaze. This glaze starts to set after 10 minutes or so, so you want to be able to put it directly onto the cupcakes. Combine butter, milk, corn syrup, and vanilla in a medium pot. Cook over medium heat until butter is melted. Whisk in chocolate and stir until incorporated. Remove from heat and immediately whisk in sifted powdered sugar and stir until mixture is smooth.
- Spoon glaze over cupcakes. Do three or four at a time and then coat the batch with crumbs and sprinkles. Since this glaze sets, if you wait too long the crumbs/sprinkles won't stick to your cupcakes.
- Repeat with the remaining cupcakes. If the glaze begins to harden, return to low heat and stir until smooth and spoonable again. Allow cupcakes glaze to set for 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
Make-ahead Instructions: You can make the pudding filling up to two days in advance, just make sure to keep it stored in an air-tight container until you are ready to use it.
Brooklyn Blackout Cupcakes Nutritional Information
Cupcakes Adapted From: Baker By Nature
Pudding Adapted From: Smitten Kitchen
Glaze Adapted From: Handle The Heat
Small-batch Instructions: To halve this recipe, half of 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour is 1/4 cup and 3 tablespoons, 1/4 cup of sugar is 2 tablespoons, 1/3 cup of semi-sweet chocolate is 2 tablespoons, 2 teaspoons. To halve an egg yolk, separate yolk into a small bowl and measure out 9 grams or 1/2 teaspoon of yolk.
Make-ahead Instructions: You can make the pudding filling up to two days in advance, just make sure to keep it stored in an air-tight container until you are ready to use it.
