Halloween Cake

Halloween Cake
  • Author: Jayne Cross

This delicious Halloween graveyard cake is a spooky treat that will impress your family and guests. With rich chocolate cake layers, ginger biscuit tombstones, and a buttercream mud topping, this cake is not only fun to make but also a delightful addition to your Halloween celebration. Complete with chocolate fence posts and spooky decorations, this graveyard cake is sure to be a hit at any spooky gathering.

— Constant Cookbook

Ingredients

  • 250g/9oz butter
  • 250g/9oz caster sugar
  • 4 free-range eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 200g/7oz self-raising flour
  • 50g/2oz cocoa powder
  • 350g plain flour
  • ½ tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 100g/3½oz butter
  • 175g/6oz light soft brown sugar
  • 4 tbsp golden syrup
  • 1 free-range egg
  • white icing (such as royal icing
  • 125g/4½oz butter
  • 250g/9oz icing sugar
  • 2 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1 tbsp milk
  • ½ pack Oreo cookies or bourbon biscuits
  • 1 pack chocolate
  • halloween sweets

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
  • Grease and line a 20x30cm/8x12in rectangular cake tin with baking parchment.
  • Beat together the butter and sugar with a hand-held mixer until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Add the eggs a little at a time, beating well between each addition, adding the vanilla extract with the last of the egg.
  • Sift together the flour and the cocoa powder into a bowl. Fold the flour mixture into the butter mixture until fully incorporated.
  • Spoon the cake batter into the prepared tin and smooth the surface with the back of a spoon.
  • Bake for 30 minutes until firm to the touch (a wooden skewer inserted in the centre should come out clean).
  • Leave to cool for 10 minutes in the tin before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
  • For the ginger biscuit tombstones, place the flour, ginger and bicarbonate of soda into a mixing bowl. Rub the butter in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
  • Add the sugar, syrup and egg and mix together until it forms a soft dough. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
  • Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4.
  • Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut out your shapes – you will only need a few for the cake so cut out some other Halloween shapes for extra biscuits.
  • Place the shapes on to greased baking sheets and bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the sheets with a palette knife and place onto a wire rack to cool completely before decorating with white icing.
  • For the buttercream, beat the butter in a large bowl with a hand held mixer until creamy then add the icing sugar a spoonful at a time beating well between each addition. Add the cocoa powder and milk and beat again for a further five minutes until light and fluffy.
  • Blend the Oreo or bourbon biscuits to fine crumbs in a food processor.
  • Spread the buttercream over the cooled cake, covering the top and sides – don’t worry if it’s not smooth - a few lumps and bumps will make it more mud-like.
  • Break the chocolate sticks in half unevenly, then stick around the sides of the cake to form the fence.
  • Sprinkle the biscuit soil over the surface before sticking in the tombstones and decorating with spooky sweets.

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Cook Time

1H

Prep Time

PT1H

Yield

Serves 10