An addictive chocolate spell is cast with this Old Black Magic Cake! Ultra moist and fudge-y cake layers harbor a zippy blackberry frosting. All of this other-worldly goodness is shrouded in a cloak of black chocolate frosting. Finally, the Old Black Magic Cake is decorated to look like a mid-century vinyl record, just like its namesake!
With all of the citrus and berries, how can I make chocolate cake during this summery time of the year? It’s hard to say what tempted me. I had seen this recipe on Pinch of Yum and I wanted to try out a chocolate cake with new ratios. What could be wrong with a 1:1 ratio of flour and sugar? Nothing.
Similar to past chocolate cakes, I applied familiar techniques. For this recipe, I raised the fat content and bloomed the espresso and cocoa powders in hot water. This additional step deepens the chocolate’s flavors, creating an unrivaled complexity. No fancy blocks of European chocolate here! Plain old unsweetened cocoa powder does the trick, yielding an intense and pronounced chocolate flavor
The décor of this cake comes from a picture I saw on Midcentury Menu. It was obviously from a cake decorating book of sorts, which one I do not know. The image’s kitschy styling appealed to the side of me that loves knotty pine, metallic wallpaper, and pink bathrooms.
The image didn’t have a song title, but I thought “That Old Black Magic” suited this mysterious and complex cake. Even though many people have covered that song, I always imagine Bobby Rydell singing it!
So grab an old vinyl and get wrapped up in nostalgia with this Old Black Magic Cake!
Like me on Facebook and follow me on Pinterest and Instagram
- For the Old Black Magic Cake:
- 1 ½ cups unsweetened cocoa powder, I used Hershey’s Special Dark
- 1 tablespoon espresso powder
- 2 cups water, brought to a simmer
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons fine salt
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 ¼ cups full-fat sour cream, room temperature
- ¾ cups vegetable oil
- black gel food coloring
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- For the Blackberry Filling:
- 1 pint fresh blackberries
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- ½ cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- purple food gel
- For the Onyx Frosting:
- 1 ½ cups (3 sticks, 24 ounces) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- 1 ½ cups unsweetened cocoa powder, I used Hershey’s Special Dark
- 7 to 8 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- black food gel
- For assembling the Old Black Magic Cake:
- ½ cup white frosting
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease four 8-inch cake pans with baking spray, set aside.
- In a medium bowl whisk warm water, cocoa powder, and espresso powder, let cool.
- Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in another bowl and whisk eggs, sour cream, vegetable oil, vanilla, and food gel in a third bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in wet-mixture and cocoa-espresso mixture, whisking to combine.
- Divide batter among prepared pans and bake, rotating halfway, baking for 18 to 23 minutes. The cake will spring back and a tooth pick inserted will come but moistly clean with a few moist, not wet, crumbs. To prevent carry over cooking, invert cakes onto a wire rack and cool completely. Once cool, cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight, this will increase the moisture of the cake.
- Combine blackberries and lemon juice in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and allow to cook until it becomes wet and soupy. About 8 minutes. Strain mixture through a sieve and store in a heatproof bowl, allowing to cool completely. Makes about ¼ cup.
- Beat cream cheese and butter, in a stand mixture fitted with a paddle attachment, for 3 to 4 minutes until smooth and lump free. With mixer on low, add powdered sugar a cup at a time, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl down as needed. Add in cooled blackberry sauce, vanilla, salt, and food gel. Beating for 30 seconds until combined. Refrigerate until ready to assemble.
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter on a medium-high speed, until white and airy, about 3 minutes. Add in cream cheese and beat until smooth and lump free, about another minute. With the mixer on low, gradually add cocoa powder, vanilla, powdered sugar, salt, heavy cream, and black food gel, beating until incorporated and smooth, about 2 minutes. Refrigerate until ready to assemble.
- Spoon a bit of frosting onto a cake board. Secure the first cake layer and apply some of the Blackberry Filling, apply the second layer and repeat. Top with the final fourth layer. Do a crumb coat, chill for 10 minutes, and do a final thicker coat of Onyx Frosting. Use a decorator comb to brush the top of the cake. Apply a circle of white frosting. Pipe letters accordingly.