Many, many years ago, on one very hot July day, my stepsiblings and I decided to do something very out of character. Normally such a long, hot, boring day would find us scheming to torment one another. The day in question, though, should have been one to go down in history. We cooperated. That would have been amazing enough in itself. Consider the project at hand, though, and you’ll agree that our cooperation was nothing short of miraculous.

We decided to throw a surprise birthday party for my little brother.

Perry Mason was turning 6 or 7 or 8 that summer. He was the youngest of our little crowd, which meant that he bore the brunt of most of the tormenting. I still don’t know what got into us, what made us decide to be nice to him that day. But we pulled out all the stops. My stepbrother, Wayne, covertly invited a few other kids from the neighborhood and then conspired to keep little Perry Mason busy while my stepsister Kristy and I gathered supplies and made the cake. I believe we went so far as to ride our bikes to the corner store for candy, decorations and water balloons.

The three of us were so proud of ourselves. We lit the candles and carried the cake out to the porch, singing “Happy birthday to you.” And as we approached Perry Mason, his eyes welled up. He leapt to his feet and ran way as fast as he could. He wailed and screamed and refused to join us. He thought it was a conspiracy. That we’d baked worms into the cake or something. We couldn’t convince him that there were no evil intentions behind the party.

I can’t remember how the day ended. In all likelihood, we hunted Perry Mason down and pelted him with water balloons until he cried for mercy. I do know that was the last time I tried to make a birthday cake him.

Until this year.

Happy birthday, little brother. I promise there are no worms in your cake.

Chocolate Blackout Cake
for the pudding
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup whole milk
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Whisk sugar, cornstarch, half-and-half, and milk in a large saucepan. Set pan over medium heat. Add chocolate and whisk constantly until chocolate melts and mixture begins to bubble, 2 to 4 minutes. Stir in vanilla, and transfer pudding to a large bowl. Place plastic wrap directly on surface of pudding and refrigerate until cold, at least 4 hours or up to 1 day.

for the cake layers
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing pans
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting pans
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa
1 cup brewed coffee
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour two 8-inch cake pans. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl.

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in cocoa and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Off heat, whisk in coffee, buttermilk and sugars until dissolved. Whisk in eggs and vanilla, then slowly whisk in flour mixture.

Divide batter evenly between the prepared pans and bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool layers in pans 15 minutes, then invert onto wire rack. Cool to room temperature, at least 1 hour.

Assembling the cake
Cut each cake in half horizontally. Crumble one cake layer into medium crumbs and set aside. Place one cake layer on serving platter or cardboard round. Spread 1 cup pudding over cake layer and top with another layer. Repeat with 1 cup pudding and last cake layer. Spread remaining pudding evenly over top and sides of cake. Sprinkle cake crumbs evenly over top and sides of cake, pressing lightly to adhere crumbs. Serve. (Cake can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.)
from Cook’s Country magazine.