Boo-tiful Halloween Cake

 

Sorry.  That is a bit presumptuous to just assume I can call my cake beautiful.  

Trust me, I'm just trying to pretend I am funny.

Anywho, I have been thinking about this particular cake for about a month now, but just never felt good enough to make it.  Well, I am feeling better and better everyday, and I suddenly had the urge to tackle this cake!

Ahhh!  Is it scary or what?

I kid.

I have made a cake similar to this before, but I really wanted to attempt ganache again.  I wanted to see if I could make it shiney and beautiful like my culinary hero Ina Garten.

I did.  But then I used waaaaaayyyyyy to much and it got all gloppy.

Ganache

16oz bittersweet chocolate

12 oz heavy cream

Chop chocolate into fine chips (or use a bag or chips) place in heat safe bowl.  Heat cream to a soft rolling boil then pour over chocolate.  Stir and cover with saran wrap.  Let sit anywhere from 1 hour to overnight.

But now for the fun part.

Or, the "boo" tiful part.

I tried a brand new recipe for a sweet marshmallow buttercream to make some whimsy little ghosts on my cake.

Frosting

2 sticks butter (I use unsalted)

2 cups powder sugar

1 jar marshmallow fluff (7 oz)

2 teaspoons clear vanilla extract

In a bowl, add room temp. butter and sugar together.  Mix until fluffy.  Add marshmallow and vanilla, and mix well.

I used a bit of my glaze icing and added some scary expressions to the ghosts.  

Ok, ok, so they arent scary.  My kids even laughed at me.

But I sorta liked them. 

 

The super scary and halloween inspired inside is red velvet.

I gotta tell ya, I was on the HUNT for a good red velvet.  I didnt want one the burned your eyes out it was so red, (we all know I can make those) I just wanted one that would taste good.

What I discovered was that a good red velvet cake needed to have a few key ingredients to be yummy. Cocoa, buttermilk, and vinegar.  If you have some variation of these ingredients, you will have a decent tasting cake!

I used a version of this one on Food Network.

Red Velvet Cake

• 1 cup shortening
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons cocoa powder
• 2 ounces red food coloring
• 2 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In the bowl of a mixer, cream together the shortening, eggs and sugar. In a separate small bowl, mix together the cocoa and food coloring. Add the paste to the shortening mixture. Sift the flour and salt together over parchment. Add to the batter alternately with the buttermilk in 3 additions. Add the vanilla extract. Fold in the baking soda and vinegar. Pour the batter into 2 greased 9-inch cake pans. Bake for 30 minutes or until an inserted cake tester comes out clean. Let cool on a cooling rack. Invert the cakes from the pans.

And there you have it!  A boo-tiful and fun cake that is sure to be the hit of any Halloween celebration!

Comments

[Audrey]

Hello! I wanna make this for a Halloween party this saturday and just wanna check - the recipe for the buttercream frosting is enough to frost the entire cake and make the ghosts as well? :D Kudos on how awesome it looks btw!!!

[Jess]

Wow! The cake looks amazing!

The link to the marshmallow buttercream leads me to the frosting recipe by Martha Stewart. Is this correct?

[Alexis]

I am such a huge fan of your art (your baking is TRULY art!). This is my second year making this "boo" cake, and I can't wait to bring it in for my colleagues tomorrow! It's so SPOOOOKY!

Thanks for sharing all your amazing recipes!

[Erin]

This is so cute! Love it! I much prefer cute ghosts over scary ghosts! ;)