Sunday, April 12, 2009

Sweet Melissa Sundays: Brooklyn Brownout Cake


The recipe selected for the second week of Sweet Melissa Sundays was Brooklyn Brownout Cake, which is a chocolate cake with chocolate ganache frosting and a brownie crumble. Well, today is a holiday; and if you can’t indulge on holidays, when can you? (Our Easter dessert is actually a pound cake, though.) Mr. Penpen finished the Banana Cream Pie from last week’s TWD on Monday, so I decided that in order to keep him in desserts for a few days, I would bake the brownies Tuesday and then make the cake over the weekend. I made the brownies from Baked – totally the best brownies ever – figuring I’d save the Sweet Melissa brownies for when they are selected. I will get on with the cake in a moment, but the Baked brownies were such a hit that Mr. Penpen had to tell me to set aside the amount I needed for the cake so he wouldn’t gobble them all up before the weekend. BTW, half did go to work – even Mr. Penpen can’t finish an entire 9x13 pan of brownies in four days.





I made a third of a recipe of the cake in two four-inch springform pans. They baked up into nice chunky layers, and I thought the cake was very tasty: dense, sweet, and fudgy, plus a nice hint of coffee, which I always love. I usually like cookbooks that have photos so you can see what the finished product looks like, but since I’m baking the recipes from The Sweet Melissa Baking Book with a group, I think it’s kind of fun to not know ahead of time and then see how the desserts look when everyone posts them on Sundays. That being said, I think I may have been a bit too aggressive when combining the brownie chunks with the ganache (I used a fork rather than my fingers), so I’m not sure if my brownie crumble turned out right. I managed to coax it onto the sides of the cake just fine, though, and it was yummy! Mr. Penpen thought the finished product looked like an alien chocolate concoction.






This recipe gets a 9 for Deliciousness and a 3 for Effort, giving it an EDR of 3. Many thanks to Elyse of Confectionary Creations for choosing this amazingly decadent cake and providing me with the opportunity to bake two awesome treats this week . If you would like the recipe for Brooklyn Brownout Cake, head on over to Elyse’s site. Also, be sure to check out the Sweet Melissa Sundays site to see what the other bakers thought of it, and perhaps even join us!

15 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow, I'm jealous of your layers! They're so tall and gorgeous! Great job. I really enjoyed this cake too though it's definitely very rich and chocolaty!

NKP said...

Great tall cake! I was thinking of doing the 4 inch ones, but ended up doing bite sized. We loved this too, so good cold the next day.

Jessica said...

That cake looks so amazingly yummy! It looks like a cake that should be under a dome at a diner. So glad that you enjoyed this one.

Sarah said...

Your cake looks great! Love the look of the tall rounds... This was a yummy one, indeed!

HanaĆ¢ said...

Great looking cake. Now that you mentioned the brownies from Baked, I'll have to try them too.

Elyse said...

Mmm, your cake turned out perfectly! I intentionally squished my brownies into the ganache--using a fork as well. Man, your cake is pretty! What a great time for indulgence, right? Oh, and I love the Baked brownies!

Megan said...

Hey - that looks perfect. Really!

Mermaid Sews said...

Your mini cake is soo good looking, love the tall layers, I went big, so ended up wide flat layers. Glad you liked the cake. I hear you on the picture/cookbook thing - but it is fun to see all the different versions.

k.a.r.e.n said...

Wow.... you cake looks luscious!

Anonymous said...

Your cake looks gorgeous. I loved this cake. I'm glad it was a success for you.

Lulu the Baker said...

Your photos are beautiful. I'm so glad someone besides me stuck the brownie chunks on the sides. I was beginning to think I was the only one who thought that's what we were supposed to do!

Katiecakes said...

Yummy! Your cake looks brilliant, so tasty!

Katie xox

alice said...

sweet melissa's and baked are both walking distance from my house. when are you coming to visit?

Stephanie said...

yours looks super cute! i loved this recipe, didn't you?

Nancy/n.o.e said...

I posted the Baked brownies back on Fat Tuesday. They really are spectacular. I have some in my freezer, and I also have some of Melissa's up there. Some day I'm going to conduct a side by side taste test. I'm pretty sure Baked will win...
Love your tall cake!
Nancy