Black Russian Cake

The Black Russian cake has become a bit of a comfort cake in my house. The first time I had this cake was at my high school graduation party. My mom surprised me by making a cake instead of buying one, but it was really amazing. I made her share the recipe with me, and the best part was, it’s a doctored box recipe! I was a very inexperienced baker at the time, so this was the best news.

Over the years, I’ve made this cake countless times. This Black Russian cake has won a baking competition at work, and had many requests for the recipe. I love this recipe because it is an all-in-one (all of the ingredients go into the bowl at once). It’s so easy and nearly fool-proof, it’s a great adult “starter” cake. Once the ingredients are in the bowl, you just have to start slow so stuff doesn’t fly everywhere. Then, mix on medium for about 4 minutes. The batter becomes light and almost fluffy. The one thing that will mean the difference between success and sadness is pan preparation. You need to make sure to use pan goop or grease/flour your pan well, especially if it is a fancy bundt pan. This cake likes to cling to nooks and crannies.

This particular Black Russian cake that I made just shows how nearly fool-proof this recipe can be. I made this very last minute, and had to go to work before the cake was totally cooled. Because of this, I tried to take the cake out of the pan too early. It didn’t come out cleanly, so I put it back in to finish cooling. I poured the glaze over the cake while it was still in the pan. Normally, the glaze goes on the cake after it is out of the pan and cooled. Actually, I may want to glaze the cake in the pan in the future. The cake soaks up much more of the glaze that way. Yum!!

Print Recipe

Black Russian Cake

By Kate van Susante – Serves: 10-12

Prep Time: 10 minutes – Cooking Time: 60-70 minutes

A doctored box mix cake with a boozy kick.

Ingredients

• 1 box butter cake mix
• 1 box (3.9 oz) instant chocolate pudding
• 3/4 c. oil
• 1/4 c. (rounded) sugar
• 4 large eggs (room temp)
• 1/4 c. Kahlua
• 1/2 c. vodka
• 3/4 c. water
• For the glaze:
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 1/4 c. (rounded) sugar
• 1/4 c. Kahlua
• powdered sugar

Instructions

1

Preheat the oven to 325 F.

2

Beat all ingredients together, on low at first, then on medium for 4 minutes.

3

Pour into a greased and floured bundt pan.

4

Bake for 60-70 minutes. Cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with only one or two crumbs.

5

Cool in pan for 10 minutes.

6

While the cake is baking, combine the glaze ingredients in a small saucepan and heat until the sugar is melted.

7

Take cake out of pan, poke holes in the surface of the cake with a toothpick and pour 2/3 of the glaze over the cake.

8

Add powdered sugar to the remaining 1/3 of the glaze to thicken, and drizzle over the cake.

Notes

One of the things I did that I ended up liking was leaving the cake in the pan, poking holes in the cake and pouring all of the glaze over the cake while it was still hot and in the pan. I let the cake cool completely in the pan, and that meant the cake absorbed the glaze much better than if it just gets poured over the top on a plate. I don't mind not having a thicker glaze over the top, and am very happy with just a sprinkle of powdered sugar.