JenniferDyer.net

by Jennifer Dyer

Spooky Graveyard Halloween Cake

With Halloween around the corner, I thought I would pass along this Halloween Graveyard Cake cake idea that is popular with young and old alike.

I’m no Ace of Cakes, but that means if I can do it, you can too.

For the cake: I used a 15×11 sheet cake pan. A 9×13 would work, but you won’t have as much room. You can put two 9×13 cakes together to make the scene bigger. Just make sure your cake board is large enough. (Cake boards are available at specialty cake stores, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, or Wal Mart in the Wilton isle.) You can also use a cookie sheet.

Frost the cake (I’ve used white and chocolate frosting. BTW, I always use chocolate frosting instead of brown food coloring.) I’ve included the recipes I use in this post.

Graveyard Cake

On the white cake, I used buttercream frosting tinted green and piped on vines. I put the names in the shaky vine handwriting. (It is hard to read because some of it is in Russian.) I wish the picture did the cake more justice. It didn’t look quite as busy in person as it does in the photo.

For the ghosts:

• Dip Nutter Butter cookies into white chocolate.
• Lay on wax paper to dry.
• Once dry, use black piping gel (I used Betty Crocker brand) to pipe on eyes and mouths.
• Stick the ghosts into the cake about 1/4 of their length into the cake so they stay up and that helps to keep the ghost shape.

For tombstones:

• I used Keebler Deluxe Grahams (Chocolate covered graham cracker cookies.)
• With white buttercream frosting or gel, pipe words onto the tombstone.
• I used a spider candy mold and melted milk chocolate to make the spiders that I placed around the chocolate cake.
• For the red tombstones, you can use the larger sized ice cube trays. (I had a rectangle candy mold for small bars.) Just fill about an 1/8 inch thick with red melted chocolate (candy melts are available at cake stores or craft stores such as Michael’s and Hobby Lobby). When hardened, dump out of tray and put on cake.

For grave sites, I used crushed oreos to make it look as though the graves had been opened recently.

Deluxe Grahams lined the bottom like a fence. I decided against using them as tombstones this time because my friend’s son wanted the ghosts to be coming out of the graves. (I wish I had put faces on those ghosts!)

Jenn’s favorite chocolate buttercream frosting:

I based this off of the recipe on the back of the Hershey’s cocoa box, but I use my own set of directions.

• 1 stick of butter (softened, but not melted)
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 2/3 cups cocoa (Hershey’s is my fav)
• 1/3 cup evaporated milk or cream. (I prefer the evap. milk)
• 1 to 2 tsp. vanilla (Mexican vanilla is my fav, but it is NOT gluten free.)

Using the flat mixer paddle, beat softened butter and half of cocoa & powdered sugar. Add milk and vanilla. Add the rest of the dry ingredients. If too stiff, add a little more milk. Too wet? Add some more powdered sugar.

You’ll need a double batch for an 11×15 sheet cake.

Variation:

• add a bar (8oz) of cream cheese. Add about 3 more cups of powdered sugar.