I have been thinking about this particular cake for about a month now, but I just never felt good enough to make it. Well, I am feeling better and better every day, and I suddenly had the urge to tackle this cake! And, it’s just in time for Halloween! For other Halloween treats, check out my Halloween Candy Overload Cookies and my Pumpkin Buttercream Cupcakes with Chocolate Halloween Toppers!
Boo-tiful Halloween Cake
Ingredients
RED VELVET CAKE
- 1 cup (240g) buttermilk, room temperature
- 1 tsp. McCormick vanilla
- 1 tsp. vinegar
- 1 oz red food color
- 2 cups (450g) granulated sugar
- 1 cups (224g) vegetable oil, or olive oil
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 1/2 cups (320g) cake flour
- 1/4 cup (32g) good quality cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
GANACHE
- 16 ounces bittersweet chocolate
- 12 ounces heavy cream
FROSTING
- 2 sticks butter, unsalted
- 2 cups (250g) powdered sugar
- 1 (7oz) jar marshmallow fluff
- 2 teaspoons clear vanilla extract
Instructions
RED VELVET CAKE
- Heat oven to 350°F. Prepare three 8-inch round baking pans by spraying with baking and lining with parchment or spreading GOOP and lining with parchment.
- In a 2 cup measuring cup (or medium bowl) pour buttermilk.
- Add the vanilla, vinegar, and red food color to buttermilk and whisk to fully combine. Set aside.
- In a large bowl add sugar, oil, and eggs and whisk together by hand until it is smooth and light yellow.
- Add cake flour, cocoa, and baking powder to the sugar mixture and whisk until just combined.
- Now add the buttermilk mixture and whisk until just combined. You do not want any lumps, but I do recommend being gentle with this batter.
- Pour about 1 3/4 cup batter into each pan and bake for 22-32 minutes. When using my convection oven I will bake these at 325°F for 22 minutes. The cake is done when it does not appear wet on the top and if you press your finger gently in the center of the cake it feels firm.
- Allow to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack. Chill cakes until ready to assemble.
GANACHE
- Chop chocolate into fine chips (or use a bag of 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.
FROSTING
- In a bowl, add room temp. butter and sugar together. Mix until fluffy.
- Add marshmallow and vanilla, and mix well.
Did you make this recipe?
Thank you for making my recipe! You took pictures, right? Well go ahead and post them on Instagram! Be sure to mention me @iambaker and use the hashtag #YouAreBaker.
Boo-tiful Halloween Cake
What did the ghost that crashed the Halloween party say? I am looking for the Boo-tiful Halloween Cake! Ha! Well, I have what the ghost is looking for! This red velvet cake layered with ganache and sweet (literally) ghosts will not scare anyone; it will simply be so cute that it will be hard to eat it! But, you better, since it’s so delicious!!!!
Boo-tiful Halloween Cake Recipe
There are three main parts to my Boo-tiful Halloween Cake. There are the ghosts, of course–BOO! Then, there is the ganache layered over the all-important red velvet cake. I will break down each of the parts so it’s not so scary to make😉.
Red Velvet Cake Ingredients
- Buttermilk–Make your own homemade buttermilk for this recipe, and all your other recipes that call for buttermilk!
- Vanilla
- Vinegar
- Red food color
- Sugar
- Vegetable oil–You can also use olive oil if that is what you have on hand.
- Eggs–Room temperature eggs work best for baking!
- Cake flour
- Cocoa powder
- Baking powder
Ganache Ingredients
- Bittersweet chocolate
- Heavy cream
Frosting Ingredients (for your ghosts)
- Unsalted butter
- Powdered sugar
- Marshmallow fluff
- Vanilla extract
How to Make a Boo-tiful Halloween Cake
Let’s start with the all-important Red Velvet Cake. This cake has been around forever and started out with simple ingredients like cocoa, buttermilk, and vinegar. The red color was added later, resulting in the vibrant colors we see today. For this recipe, I recommend using the highest quality ingredients. You could use a special dark cocoa or apple cider vinegar or extra rich vanilla which would all impact the flavor. I recommend making your own homemade buttermilk for this recipe! While the cake is baking, heat the cream to pour over the chocolate for your ganache. This will be the chocolaty goodness your ghosts will sit on!
How to Make your Ghosts (Frosting)
Before you make your ghosts, you need to mix the ingredients together to make the frosting. Then, I used a piping bag fitted with a 2A (large open round) tip. I used this tip to create my ghosts. It is not essential to use a 2A tip, you can achieve a similar effect by just cutting off the tip of the piping bag. You can make your ghosts as big or small as you want them to be!
How to Bring the Ghosts Alive!
I used a bit of my glaze icing and added some scary (or not so scary) expressions to the ghosts. Ok, ok, so they aren’t scary. My kids even laughed at me. But I sorta liked them. Just mix 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon milk, 1 tablespoon corn syrup, and 1-3 drops of lemon juice together. You can add more milk if you need to. Have fun with giving your ghosts facial expressions!
And there you have it! Boo-tiful Halloween Cake is a boo-tiful and fun cake that is sure to be the hit of any Halloween celebration!
Don’t be afraid to try a few more Halloween Treats!
Halloween Cake {with an awesome surprise treat!}
Monster Cake with Monster Cookies
Did we ever get an answer on what’s under the ganache? Is it fondant?
This is one that I HAVE to do.. my family will simply LOVE it!! And the fact that I am kinda sorta stalking ganache and have been for the past year!
lol Yes, the question was answered, but as my commenting system doesnt let me insert answers below the specific question, it is often hard to find and understand. So I just respond to each question individually!
It is plain ole vanilla frosting below the ganache. 🙂
Okay…so I made the cake for my son’s birthday party last weekend. Turned out great! Though my ghosts were a little floppy! Check out my version: http://mmmmmama.blogspot.com/2010/10/vampire-weekend.html
the best part of this is that the innards are blood red. a close second is your more-adorable-than-scary batch of ghosts. 🙂
This is SPOOK-TACULAR!!(sorry, corny) One question, does it need to be refridgerated? I am traveling from AL to SC for Halloween and would love to bring this along, but can’t if it has to be kept cold. Thank you!!
Wow this cake is amazing 🙂 I am nowhere near as seasoned as you, baking is a hobby of mine but I am going to attempt this cake for a Halloween party at work. Hoping it comes out half as good as yours 🙂 How did you apply the expressions to the faces of the ghosts?
Jen
This is so so so amazing!!
I am going to feature it on my blog soon — come on over and check it out
Jenny
http://www.simcoestreet.blogspot.com
I LOVED THIS ICING AND GANACHE!!!!! I didn’t get a photo of the cake before it was eaten, but here’s the leftover slice http://melindaj365.blogspot.com/2010/10/123-aka-it-was-good.html it’s on my 365 Photo Challenge blog. (and if you just go to melindaj365.blogspot.com and scroll down, you can see some carved pumpkins from the party) =o)
Thanks for the inspiration!
speaking of inspiration, you’re bat cake top with the tree and moon are what inspired my pumpkin that I carved =o) THANK YOU!!
I’m going to attempt to make this AWESOME Cake for the ladies that work for me.
wish me luck!
Carrie