Ingredients:

• For Cake
• ½ cup unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 2 cups All-purpose Flour
• ¾ cup Milk
• 1 cup Unsalted Butter
• 2 cups Sugar
• 50gs chopped unsweetened chocolate
• 4 large Eggs (separated)
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 2 tsp Vanilla Essence
• A pinch Salt
• 1 cup Water

For Filling
• 1 ½ tbsp unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 2 cups Water
• ¾ cup Sugar
• 1 ounce chopped Bittersweet Chocolate,
• 4 tbsp Cornstarch dissolved in 1 tbsp Cold Water
• ¼ tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Vanilla essence
• 2 tbsp Unsalted Butter

For Frosting:
• 12 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate,
• 12 tbsp Unsalted Butter
• ½ cup Hot Water
• 1 tbsp Light Corn Syrup
• 1 tbsp Vanilla Essence

How to make Blackout Cake:

• The Cake:
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease with butter and dust with flour two (8-inch) round cake pans. Bring water to a boil in a pan and place cocoa in a small bowl and whisk in boiling water to form a paste, checking regularly for lumps.
• Add the chopped chocolate and milk in saucepan and let the chocolate melt over medium heat. Stir frequently for a few minutes. Remove from the heat.
• Add a little bit of warm hot chocolate milk into the cocoa paste to warm it and whisk it. Whisk the cocoa mixture into the milk mixture. Put the pan back to the stove on medium heat and stir for one minute. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool until tepid.
• In the bowl of a food processor, cream the butter and sugar together.
• Whisk in the egg yolks, one at a time, and the vanilla and stir. Slowly stir in the chocolate mixture. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a dry mixture in another bowl.
• With the help of a spatula or a wooden spoon, slowly add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture. Fold in until just mixed.
• In another bowl, beat the egg whites using an electric blender till soft peaks of foam begin to form.
• Using a spatula, gently add the egg whites into the batter, whisking as you go about.
• Divide the batter between the prepared pans. Bake until it passes the toothpick test; that should take 45 minutes or so. Cool the cakes in the pans on rack for 15 minutes.

Filling
• To save time, make the filling while the cake bakes. Combine the cocoa and boiling water in a small saucepan over low heat. A
• dd in the sugar and chocolate and stir. Add the dissolved cornstarch paste and salt to the pan and bring to a boil, whisking vigourously to avoid lumps.
• Boil this mixture for one minute. Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla and butter.
• Transfer the mixture to a bowl, cover and refrigerate until cool.

Frosting
• Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over just enough hot water, stirring until smooth.
• Remove the top of this double boiler from the heat and add in the butter, one tablespoon at a time even as you whisk.
• Whisk in the hot water all at once and whisk until smooth. Add in the corn syrup and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate for up to 15 minutes before using.
Suggestions:
Use a sharp serrated knife to slice each cake layer horizontally in half to form four layers. Set one layer aside. Place one layer on a cake round or plate. Generously swath the layer with one-third of the filling. Add the second layer and repeat. Set the third layer on top. Quickly apply a layer of frosting to the top and sides of the cake. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.