Saturday, June 13, 2026

Goldie’s Total Blackout Cake #recipe from Molly MacRae

 

 

This recipe was featured during the presentation of Overboard, starring Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, on TBS’s Dinner & a Movie sometime in the late 90s.

My husband, boys, and I loved watching Dinner & a Movie on Friday nights back in the late 90s. Three of the recipes the hosts made during breaks in the week’s featured movie are still among our favorites. This one for Goldie’s Total Blackout Cake is so wicked we only make it very, very occasionally. Lucky for you, though, I made it this week for a special birthday request.

Be forewarned: this is the kind of amazingly rich, chocolaty chocolate cake that calls for almost no flour but lots of eggs, butter, and a whopping 10 ounces of chocolate (plus 8 more ounces of chocolate for the frosting).

 

You’ll find a free, downloadable, printable pdf of the recipe below the cooking directions.


Goldie's Total Blackout Cake


Ingredients

For the cake:

1 1/2 sticks butter, softened

8 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips (or bar, chopped)

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

5 eggs

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 tablespoon almond flour

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

For the frosting:

8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate

1/3 cup cream

1 tablespoon butter

 

Directions

For the cake:

Melt the butter and chocolate in a small, heavy bottomed saucepan over a low heat, stirring often. The low heat is important because when chocolate gets too hot it becomes grainy. When the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth, set aside to cool.


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut a piece of parchment or wax paper to fit the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. Line the bottom of the pan with the paper, then butter the paper and the sides of the pan. Dust the bottom and sides of the pan with flour, tapping out any excess.

Separate the eggs into two large mixing bowls (yolks in one, whites in the other). Add the sugars and vanilla to the yolks and beat until smooth, about three minutes.

Stir the cooled chocolate mixture into the yolk mixture, then stir in the almond flour and all-purpose flour.



Add the cream of tartar to the egg whites and beat them until soft peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture until well blended. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan. 



Bake in the center of the oven for about 45 minutes. (The original recipe says 30 minutes, so you might start checking yours at that point. It took mine the full 45 minutes.) The cake will still be slightly soft at the center and fully set around the edges.

Allow to cool before turning out onto a serving plate and removing the parchment from what is now the top of the cake.

For the frosting:

Combine the frosting ingredients in another small, heavy bottomed saucepan (or the first one). Heat over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth. Allow to cool and thicken before spreading over the cake.


Options: serve with a dollop of whipped cream and a dusting of cocoa powder or studded with chopped crystalized ginger. 


 

🌻 click here for a free, downloadable, printable pdf of this recipe 🌻

 

 


Now available for pre-order – All Shell Breaks Loose

book 3 in the Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries!

 


On North Carolina’s Ocracoke Island, Maureen Nash sells exquisite seashells to locals and tourists—with Bonny the shop cat and the ghost of a Welsh pirate for company. And when needed, she steps in to help the police solve a murder . . .

Dr. Irving Allred is boasting around town that he’s about to get his hands on an authentic haunted sword. But minutes after Maureen hears the story, a woman walks into the Moon Shell, sword in hand. She found it while walking her bulldog on the beach—and its blade is stained with what looks like blood. Looks like it’s time to call the sheriff’s department.

Allred is furious that his prize is now in police custody—and even more agitated that an unknown buyer was trying to outbid him. He’s convinced the sword will lead him straight to the ghosts he’s been hunting. He’s not the only one on the Outer Banks who’s been searching for spirits, though. An odd visitor also showed up at Maureen’s shop claiming the ability to sense them . . . though somehow she didn’t seem to notice Maureen’s spectral friend hanging about.

When a man who’d been camping nearby is found cut down along the shore, Maureen starts providing some unofficial assistance to Captain Rob Tate by digging into the island’s maritime history. But it’s not the only mystery she’s facing—because the shop’s resident ghost is seeing ghosts himself . . .

 

 





Happy reading!

  

The Boston Globe says Molly MacRae writes “murder with a dose of drollery.” She’s the author of the award-winning, national bestselling Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries, the Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries, and the Highland Bookshop Mysteries. As Margaret Welch, she writes books for Annie’s Fiction. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and she’s a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction. Visit Molly on Facebook and Pinterest and connect with her on Instagram or Bluesky.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

26 comments:

  1. Wow, Molly, your Total Blackout Cake sounds utterly delectable! And I can see why it would be reserved for the most special of occasions. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. You're welcome, Kim. I think we've made it about once a decade.

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  2. Now that's what I call a chocolate lovers cake! I love the movie Overboard starring Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell.

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    1. Such a funny movie! The cake definitely isn't for the faint of heart.

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  3. Wow! Chocolate overload! I am tasting the caramelized ginger with the chocolate cake in my mind...it must add an extra special taste to this culinary delight! Thank you for sharing this recipe, Molly! JOY!!! Luis at ole dot travel

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  4. I am drooling! This sounds amazing and oh so rich, a chocolate lover's dream come true. Thanks!

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    1. It's fabulous. So fabulous that I don't think we've made it more than three times since 1998. Soooooo good and so not good for anyone.

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  5. That cake looks so good! Now I really want chocolate!

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  6. That cake sounds incredible! Thank you for sharing the recipe!

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  7. It's made for nights, when the electricity goes out? It looks good.

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    1. The blackout refers to the character's total amnesia, but I like the idea of having it when the power is out. If it's dark, no one can see how much you eat.

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  8. Molly, I remember watching Dinner & a Movie back in the day, and I can see why this recipe became a family favorite. With all that chocolate, it looks like a perfect cake for a special occasion. Thanks for sharing the recipe and the trip down memory lane!

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    1. You're welcome, Ang. Wasn't that show a fun concept?

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  9. This sounds amazing. Basically a chocolate souffle with a smidge of flours.
    I made Julia Child's Triple Chocolate Bomb cake for my husband's birthday years ago. It is only 8" in diameter but it packs a BIG punch. So much so that it needed whipped cream (the real stuff) to balance it out. The servings were very small and one guest got snarky about the size. I challenged them to finish it and come back for more. They didn't.

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    1. Ha! I hope that guest apologized, or at least had the look of someone who'd gone to seventh heaven. I'll have to find Julia Child's recipe. Thanks for the tip, Libby.

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  10. Sounds delicious Thank you Deborah

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  11. I loved that movie. This sounds delicious. aprilbluetx at yahoo dot com

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  12. Yum!
    Dlcnason1@msn.com

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  13. Thank you so much for the Goldie’s Total Blackout Cake recipe. It sounds down right decadent. It's a recipe I can see me making in the near future for one of our special occasions.
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

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  14. Molly, this chocolate cake looks absolutely amazing! I also love that it was on television for Dinner and a Show! I've never heard of that but love the idea. I wish they brought that back. Overboard was a family favorite movie of ours! I have to make this cake! Thank you for sharing it!

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