Eerie, Easy Ghost Smears Give This Halloween Cake Some Soul
Everyone loves a fun, creepy Halloween cake, but you don't need to get fancy to make a ghostly good dessert! A few smears of frosting will do the trick (or treat)!
After coating a standard cake in pitch black icing, simply smear a little white frosting on top—then decorate with eyes and a mouth. All of a sudden, you have a cake covered in ghouls!
Yields: 12-16 servings
Prep Time: 50 mins
Total Time: 1 hour 15 mins
Ingredients
For the cake:
Unsalted butter, for pans
3 c.
all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, plus more for pans
1 tsp.
baking powder
1 tsp.
baking soda
1/2 tsp.
kosher salt
2 c.
granulated sugar
3/4 c.
canola oil
4
large eggs
1 tsp.
pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 c.
buttermilk
For the chocolate buttercream:
2 c.
(4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 c.
unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 c.
dark chocolate chips, melted and cooled
1 tsp.
pure vanilla extract
1/4 c.
heavy cream
4 c.
confectioners’ sugar
Pinch kosher salt
For the vanilla buttercream
1/2 c.
(1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tsp.
pure vanilla extract
2 tbsp.
whole milk
2 c.
confectioners’ sugar
Directions
Make the cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour three 8-inch cake pans. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a bowl. Mix together oil, eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk in a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir to combine. Transfer batter to prepared pans, dividing evenly. Bake, until cakes are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean, 23 to 25 minutes. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn out onto the rack to cool completely.
Make the chocolate buttercream: Beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in cocoa powder, melted chocolate, vanilla, and cream until combined, scraping down sides as necessary. Beat in half the confectioners’ sugar until combined. Beat in remaining confectioners’ sugar and salt; beat for 1 minute.
Make the vanilla buttercream: Beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and creamy, about 1 minute. Beat in vanilla, milk, and confectioners’ sugar. Beat for 1 minute.
Cut off domed cake tops with a serrated knife to flatten, if desired. Reserve about 1/4 cup chocolate buttercream. Place one cake layer on a cake stand or plate and frost top with 3/4 cup chocolate buttercream. Repeat with second layer. Top with third layer. Frost top and sides of cake with remaining buttercream. Chill until frosting is firm, about 30 minutes.
Transfer vanilla buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a large round pipping tip. Pipe a 1- to 1 1/2-inch circle of vanilla buttercream on the top of the cake. Use an offset spatula to smear the vanilla buttercream in a slightly curved, ghost-shaped swipe. Repeat, on the top and sides of the cake, smearing the circles of buttercream at different heights to create visual interest, until desired coverage is achieved. Transfer reserved chocolate buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a small round piping tip. Pipe eyes and a mouth on each ghost. Store covered, at room temperature, for 2 to 3 days.
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