Blackout Cake

Livia made this cake for my birthday about a week ago so I decided to try it out for the family to try. She took the recipe from the Serendipity cookbook. Usually my family is not a fan of american cakes with the cream, frosting etc... but in this case they did enjoy it. They did however suggest for it to be left out overnight for it to be a bit better. I liked it a lot but would not undergo the whole process again! Stacking cakes is HARD and a tedious process. Also plan a lot of time to make this cake, it took me over 3 hours! Good luck!

Ingredients for the cake:

• 3 cups of flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 pound of butter
• 2 pounds brown sugar
• 7 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cup of cold water
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 pound unsweetened chocolate

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. 
2. In a mixer, beat the butter and sugar until the mix becomes creamy. Add the eggs and the vanilla extract. Mix. 
3. Add the flour and baking soda in three parts, alternating with the cold water. Mix completely. 
4. Add the sour cream and the melted chocolate. 
5. Put the batter in the buttered pans (you will need 4 pans) and bake for 30-40 minutes. Cool the cakes for 15 minutes. 

Ingredients for the frosting:

• 1 pound unsweetened chocolate
• 2 cups of cream
• 2 1/2 cups of sugar
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups of sour cream
• 3/4 cups of chocolate chips to put between the layers

1. In a pan, heat the cream and the sugar together. Stir well. 
2. Add in the chocolate in pieces and mix. 
3. Add the vanilla and the sour cream and continue mixing. 
4. Set aside to cool down. 

Assemble the cake:

1. Stack the cakes on top of one another with some frosting in between each. 
2. Sprinkle some chocolate chips between each layers.
3. On the top layer, cover the entire cake with the frosting. 
4. Set aside to cool. 
5. Enjoy!

* The cake is better the next day. 

* For the real thing, do not hesitate to go to Serendipity in NYC. A definite must try!