Double Damage Oblivion, coming to a (computer) screen near you

Well it does sound a bit like an action film (starring a burly type with no neck), and if you love melodrama in your food then this is the cake for you. The Double Damage Oblivion packs a lot of punch with the fans for not a great deal of effort. 

This cake was a box offiice smash, both with the baker and the tasters. I did make it over two evenings but it would be relatively easy to make it in one go. The finished cake had a delicious deep chocolate flavour but was not overly sweet. I think I'll be adding this to my repertoire of go-to cakes. It also lends itself (with a bit more care than I took with this one) to some relatively high impact but low skill decoration.

I don't recommend that you make the oblivion part of the cake while talking on the phone to your mother. It can lead to a rather cavalier attitude to cake tin sizes, egg beating and baking times. It can also lead to difficulties in finding a pan the right size to provide a water bath for the cake tin (refer to previous cavalier choice of cake tin). All in all it was a rather cack-handed attempt which didn't end too badly.  The oblivion was overcooked and a bit firmer than it probably should have been but it didn't ruin the finished cake at all.

The finished oblivion cake looks rather unprepossessing. It only has chocolate, butter, eggs and vanilla; with the raising 'agent' coming from the beaten eggs. It cooks in a water bath and for most of the cooking time has a lid over it so it's virtually steamed. My water bath was a bit inadequate, so I cooked my cake for longer than suggested and, from the rather rubbery texture, I suspect it was too long.

The second cake, which in the finished cake sandwiches the oblivion, is a standard cake texture. However it's made with a curious method which involves mixing egg yolks and oil with a cocoa and boiling water mixture. Flour and sugar is then added to the mixture in the stand mixer. I fully expected to beat the whites separately but they're simply added to the stand mixer bowl and whisked in.

Rose describes the batter as a thick soup and mine certainly fit that description.

It wasn't the highest cake I've ever made but it looked pretty good. Then I dropped the knife on the top and made a hole.

To finish the cake you need to cut the second cake in half and sandwich the oblivion between the two halves, all glued together with chocolate ganache. I took very little care in cutting the cake in half and whipped the ganache up by melting the cream and chocolate together in the microwave. Despite my slap-dash approach it all came together very easily and relatively successfully.

The oblivion is trimmed and smoothed with a hot knife to meld with the top and bottom cake pieces. Before this I thought it looked like a giant whoopie pie (I shall refrain here from making comment about strange American cake names since it went down like a lead balloon last time.)

The finished product - a little bit fancy; a little bit blobby. That sums up my cake decorating skills. 

I had no special occasion to take this cake to so I took it to work. I put the cake in the kitchen with a note. I went back a very short time later to find no more cake but some unsolicited feedback.

Next week the Alpha Bakers are making Praline Pecan Meringue Ice Cream Sandwiches.