Sliding into Ecstasy
Three-Layer Chocolate Cake
with Blackout Filling

Extravagantly rich (though not too sweet), The Chocolate Room's signature three-tiered cake keeps customers begging for more.

THE CREATION:
A luscious and perfect three-layer blackout cake courtesy of The Chocolate Room, an intimate Brooklyn chocolate store and dessert café as devoted to sensuousness as any dimly lit French boudoir (86 Fifth Avenue; 718-783-2900; thechocolateroombrooklyn.com).

THE CREATORS:
Co-owners Jon Payson and Naomi Josepher, who, along with a team of chefs, took almost a year to get the texture and not-too-sweet flavor just right. "It had to slide right off the fork and bring indescribable pleasure," says Payson, who serves slices accompanied by a small glass of Bonny Doon Framboise liqueur.

MMMM FACTOR:
The ménage à trois of opulent, buttery filling, rich but not overpowering frosting, and perfectly moist cake turns most Chocolate Room customers into basket cases—and addicts. The café goes through more than 220 slices a week. (The owners are also happy to concoct their cake in a variety of sizes, including a woozy-sounding triple-tier wedding cake.)

THE HEART OF THE MATTER:
Chocolate = happiness. "You just can't walk in here and be in a bad mood," says Josepher. After tasting a single slice, one customer spent ten minutes convulsed in laughter; another burst into tears. Late-night crowds line up outside the Chocolate Room for up to two hours, as if for the late-night dessert equivalent of Woodstock.

Created by Naomi Josepher & Jon Payson
from Great Food in the February 2007 issue of
O, The Oprah Magazine.

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