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Halloween Chocolate Orange Layer Cake with Meringue Ghosts 👻
Today's post is a Halloween chocolate and orange cake, with a chocolate orange buttercream, a chocolate drip and sweet meringue ghosts to add extra spookiness to the ensemble! Talk about spook-tacular, right?! 👻
This cake combines some of the trendiest techniques out there for decorating layer cakes, like stripes and drips, and the chocolate orange flavor is a combo made in Halloween heaven. Or hell 🤷♀️
Halloween Chocolate Orange Layer Cake with Meringue Ghosts
Ever since I embarked on the layer cake craze a few months ago, I have been trying to surpass myself and learn new techniques each time I bake. I've also been posting my recipes and experiences here on the blog with you (and behind the scenes, real-time action on Instagram here), in an attempt to share what I learn, and hopefully encourage you to get baking too!
This Halloween cake was my first EVER attempt at using a cake comb to achieve a striped look, and I love how it turned out! Are the stripes perfect? Not exactly. But I'm quite proud of myself for not giving up and trying this fun technique at last!
Plus, it's just cake we're dealing with here, so if it ain't 100% perfect, it's not the end of the world, am I right?! As long as it's edible, of course! 😁
I'm not gonna lie to you, stripes aren't easy to master. There are soooooo many things that can go wrong. But my biggest advice to you (learned the hard way) is not to skimp on the quantity of buttercream frosting you apply to your cake!
If your buttercream layer is too thin, then when you use the cake comb you'll end up scraping cake with it and the grooves won't be deep enough to accommodate your next color (in this case, the orange buttercream).
I had to scrape off the orange buttercream and re-do my grooves because I hadn't made them deep enough first time 'round. And let's just say it wasn't fun! 😓
It's also a time consuming cake due to all the homemade elements used, BUT if you bake and freeze the cake layers ahead of time like I did (3 weeks ahead), and make the meringue ghosts a couple of days earlier, then it's much easier to assemble on the day, and you can really focus on mastering your stripes technique.
The chocolate orange flavor of the cake was suggested by my husband, and it matches the colors of the frosting perfectly! At first, I debated whether to make it a black and white striped cake, but I decided on orange and black instead to really bring home the chocolate/orange flavor combo.
Perhaps next year I'll do a black and white version? Let me know int he comments if you'd like to see that? 👇
The cake sponge itself was my delicious and decadent chocolate cake recipe, whihc is my own variation on a Victoria sponge. Then I filled the cake with the same black buttercream for a really dark and intense look, perfect for Halloween.
To color the Swiss Meringue Buttercream with gel food coloring, I learned a technique from my friend Haniela's, which I explain in the recipe card below.
For the meringue ghosts, I was inspired by a gorgeous three-tiered spider web cake from Sprinkles Bakes, and thought they'd be perfect to decorate the top of my cake!
So I made my own meringue ghosts, which tasted so amazing (you may have seen it on my IG highlights?). And the best way to add the ghosts faces that I found, was to paint them on with melted dark chocolate and a very fine paintbrush. The food coloring pen worked okay, but the color wasn't very strong.
Halloween Chocolate Orange Layer Cake with Meringue Ghosts
Yield: 8
Halloween Chocolate Orange Layer Cake with Meringue Ghosts with Chocolate Drip - delicious dessert to serve at your Halloween party!
ingredients:
Chocolate Sponge Cake - for three 6 inch layers
- 250 g butter
- 250 g soft brown sugar
- Zest of one orange
- 1/2 tsp orange blossom water or 10 drop of orange-flavored essence or oil
- 4 eggs
- 160 g flour
- 90 g cocoa powder (100%)
- 10 g baking powder
Chocolate Orange Swiss Meringue Buttercream (SMBC)
- 5 room temperature egg whites
- 300 g caster sugar
- 452 g room temperature butter
- 2 teaspoon of orange extract
- 200 g dark chocolate melted and cooled slightly
- 1-2 teaspoon black gel food coloring
- 1 teaspoon orange gel food coloring
Chocolate Drip
- 1 cup (250 ml ) chocolate chunks
- 1/4 cup cream
Meringue Ghosts - 40 to 45 ghosts
- 3 large egg whites
- 180 g caster sugar
- teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- Melted dark chocolate or black food pen
instructions:
How to cook Halloween Chocolate Orange Layer Cake with Meringue Ghosts
Chocolate Orange Sponge
- In a mixer fitter with paddle attachment beat sugar and butter for about 10 minutes until paler and fluffy.
- With the mixer on medium speed, add the orange zest and flavoring, then add one egg at a time until combined.
- In a separate bowl mix together the dry ingredients.
- Take the mixture off the mixer and fold in the dry ingredients with a large metal spoon until combined.
- Divide the batter equally into 3 six inch round cake pan lined with parchment paper and greased (about 300 g in each tin).
- Bake at 180 deg. C. for about 25-30 minutes until a skewer come out clean when inserted into the center.
- Let cakes cool in pan, then transfer onto wire rack to cool completely.
- After cooling you can freeze the cake layers for about 2-4 weeks. I wrap them in a double layer of plastic wrap and then foil and freeze.
- Defrost int he fridge overnight before decorating.
Chocolate Orange SMBC
- In the bowl of a standing mixer, add sugar and egg whites and heat over a pan of water on medium heat until sugar is dissolved.
- Rub with fingers to test if the sugar has dissolved.
- Beat using the whisk attachment on your standing mixer, for about 15-20 minutes until the mixture comes to room temperature and the bowl is completely cool to the touch.
- Add the butter in cubes, piece by piece, on medium speed with mixer on until all the butter has been incorporated.
- Add orange extract and beat to combine.
- Separate 1/3 frosting and color it orange and place inside a piping bag.
- Add melted chocolate to other 2/3 of frosting, mix to combine and add gel black food coloring.
Chocolate Drip
- Add chocolate and cream to a heat-proof bowl and place int he microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring until melted.
- met the mixture cool slightly, then transfer to a drip bottle ready to sue.
- The chocolate drip should be runny but cool to avoid your frosting melting!
Meringue Ghosts
- Pre-heat your oven to 150 deg. C.
- In a standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat egg white until stiff peaks form.
- With the mixer on high, and add 1 tablespoon of sugar at a time.
- Add vanilla and salt and whisk for about 6-7 minutes until glossy, test with fingertips until no more sugar grains.
- Place meringue in a piping bag fitted with large round nozzle.
- Pipe host shapes onto a tray lined with parchment paper.
- Turn oven down to 100 deg C and bake meringues for about 30 minutes or until they come away from paper easily.
- Let them cool completely on the tray.
- Draw ghostly faces with melted chocolate or a black food pen.
Assembling The Cake
- Place a 6 inch cake disc (acrylic or cardboard) on top of a cake turntable and add a little buttercream to it.
- Add your first cake layer, then about a cup of chocolate frosting. Spread with a palette knife to level it out.
- Repeat for the second layer, finishing with the last cake layer on top, flat side up.
- Crumb coat your cake and place it in the freezer for about 10 minutes.
- Cover your entire cake with a generous amount of chocolate frosting. Smooth sides with a flat cake smoother, then use a cake comb to create grooves on the side of the cake.
- Place your cake in the freezer for about 20 minutes.
- Add orange frosting to the grooves of the cake.
- Smooth out sides of the cake with a flat cake smoother or scraper until you have removed the excess orange frosting and are left with stripes.
- Freeze your cake for another 10 minutes, than tidy up the top of the cake with a sharp knife. Freeze the cake for another 10 minutes.
- Add the chocolate drip to top and sides of the cake. Refrigerate the cake until ready to serve.
- Just before serving, add your meringue ghosts on the top and front of the cake.
NOTES:
Coloring SMBC with gel food coloring (technique by Hanielas.com):
1) Add a tablespoon of SMBC to a heat-proof bowl and add a teaspoon of the gel food coloring.
2) Place it in the microwave for about 20 second, then stir to combine.
3) Add this soft paste to the main buttercream mixture and whisk to achieve your desired color hue.
4) You can repeat this process until you reach the color your want.
Bird's Party (c) 2019 All Rights Reserved
I love the final flavors and look of this cake, and hope you enjoy the little decorating video I made below to inspired you to bake up a storm this Halloween! 🎃🕸💀👻
Hope you like the ideas and feel inspired to have a go! If you do, tag us on social media #BirdsParty so we can see and share your creativity! 😍
This post Halloween Chocolate Orange Layer Cake with Meringue Ghosts appeared first on Bird's Party Blog
This is absolutely gorgeous! What a fun cake. Pinning. :0
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This is totally adorable!! LOVE those meringue ghosts. Great job!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful cake and the meringue ghosts are adorable. I would love to be able to bake like this. You're very talented!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun idea! Those ghosts are awesome! Pinned for later. I'm visiting today from the Wonderful Wednesday link up. Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your gorgeous cake with us at the Snickerdoodle Party. You are being featured this weekend.
ReplyDeleteThis is just stunning and those meringue ghosts just make it extra special! Featuring when my link party opens up tonight!
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