Chocolate Buttercream For Haunted House Cake Food

TOWERING HAUNTED HOUSE CAKE

Steps:

• Make cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9- by 13-inch pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease parchment.
• Whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined, about 1 minute. Add eggs, oil, vanilla, and milk. Whisk on medium-low until smooth, about 1 minute. Increase speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes.
• Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake, rotating once, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack, 15 minutes. Turn out onto wire rack, right side up, and cool completely. Make a second cake. Wrap cooled cakes in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour and up to 2 days.
• Make buttercream: Beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in confectioners' sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well and scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in vanilla and salt. (Use within 2 hours or refrigerate for up to 1 week. Before using, bring to room temperature and beat until smooth.)
• Transfer 1 2/3 cups buttercream to a separate bowl, stir in 10 crushed cookies. Color remaining buttercream gray with black food coloring; transfer 1 cup to a zip-top bag and snip a small hole in one corner (or to a piping bag fitted with a #16 open star tip).
• Set fence template on a baking sheet; top with parchment paper. Melt black candy melts per package directions; transfer to a zip-top bag and snip a very small hole in 1 corner. Pipe melted candy on to parchment, following template; chill.
• Cut cake according to template. Place 1 base layer on a platter; frost top with about 2/3 cup cookie buttercream. Repeat with remaining base layer; frosting only the left- hand side. Place second-story layer on frosting; frost top with about 1/3 cup frosting; top with remaining second story layer. Place tower pieces next to the second story, frosting between the layers. Top with roof pieces, frosting between layers. Frost outside with gray buttercream. Use a cake comb to create siding texture.
• Roll black fondant to about 1/8-inch thickness. Using templates, cut windows and door; gently press a butter knife onto the windows to create panes. Brush windows and door lightly with luster dust; attach to house. Roll together some black and white fondant and make small marbled stones for the walkway.
• Using the gray frosting in the piping bag as "glue," decorate the roof, windows, and all outside with candies. Add the Chocolate Fence. Use remaining 7 crushed cookies to create a path.

CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FOR HAUNTED-HOUSE CAKE

Steps:

• Combine egg whites and sugar in the heatproof bowl of a standing mixer; set over a saucepan of simmering water, whisking (by hand) until sugar dissolves and mixture registers 160 degrees on a candy thermometer, about 5 minutes.
• Transfer bowl to mixer, and whisk on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form and mixture is cool, about 10 minutes. 3. Reduce speed to medium, and add butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking until combined before adding more. Reduce speed to low; whisk in chocolate, then whisk over medium-high until well combined. Buttercream can be refrigerated up to 3 days, or frozen up to 1 month, in an airtight container. Before using, bring to room temperature and beat on low speed until smooth.

HAUNTED-HOUSE CAKE

Steps:

• To assemble the cake: Secure one 11-inch cake layer to corresponding-size round foam board with a dab of chocolate buttercream. Spread 2 cups buttercream on top. Stack another 11-inch cake on top of buttercream, and frost as before. Top with remaining 11-inch cake. Spread 1 cup buttercream over top and sides of tier, scraping lightly to create a thin layer, or crumb coat, and refrigerate until frosting is firm, about 30 minutes. Spread 2 cups buttercream over entire tier until smooth.
• Repeat with 9-inch cake layers on second foam board, using 1 cup frosting between layers, 1/2 cup for crumb coat, and 1 cup for the final coat.
• Trim 5 dowels to height of 9-inch tier and 6 to height of 11-inch tier. Insert dowels in corresponding tiers in a circle, 2 1/2 inches from the edge of cake. Center 9-inch tier over 11-inch tier, pressing gently to secure. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip (#806) with remaining buttercream. Pipe pearls around bottoms of tiers for a border, as shown below. (Cake can be refrigerated up to 3 days before proceeding.)
• Make the steps: Fill a small bowl with cocoa powder. Cut torrone into 2-to 2 1/2-inch-long blocks. Cut toothpicks in half (1 for each block). Roll torrone in cocoa powder to coat. Insert toothpicks into torrone blocks, and push blocks into cake, starting from top of 9-inch tier and curving to bottom of 11-inch tier. Using a vegetable peeler, shave milk chocolate; sprinkle over tops of tiers.
• Finish the cake: Carefully transfer assembled cookie house to top of cake. Press cookie doors into cake in front of house. Decorate cake with cookie tree, tombstones, and candy cats, if desired. Press caretaker cutout onto top of cake, behind door. Arrange a flashlight behind cake to shine through door and windows.

CHOCOLATE LAYER CAKE WITH SWISS BUTTERCREAM AND GANACHE

Steps:

• Make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Butter and flour two 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Put the cocoa powder and chocolate in a medium bowl. Add the boiling water and whisk until the chocolate is melted. Whisk in the sour cream until smooth; let cool to room temperature.
• Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl; set aside. Beat the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla, beating well after each addition. Reduce the mixer speed to low. Beat in the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the cocoa mixture in 2 additions. Finish mixing gently with a rubber spatula, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl.
• Divide the batter evenly between the cake pans. Tap the pans against the counter to eliminate any air bubbles. Bake until the cakes spring back in the center when gently pressed, 35 to 40 minutes. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then run an offset spatula around the edges and turn out the cakes onto a rack to cool completely. Remove the parchment.
• Make the frosting: Bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk the egg whites, granulated sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Set the bowl over the saucepan (do not let the bottom of the bowl touch the water); cook, whisking, until the sugar dissolves, the egg whites are frothy and the mixture is warm, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Transfer the bowl to the stand mixer and beat with the whisk attachment on medium-high speed until stiff glossy peaks form and the mixture cools to room temperature, about 5 minutes. With the mixer running, add the butter a few pieces at a time, waiting for them to incorporate before adding more. (The mixture will become liquidy, then it will get thick and shiny once the butter emulsifies. It may also look curdled as you add the butter. It's OK: Keep adding butter and beating.) Add the vanilla and beat until combined and fluffy, 3 to 5 more minutes.
• Cut each cake in half horizontally to create 4 layers. Place 1 layer on a cake stand or serving plate. Spread about 2/3 cup frosting on top, then repeat with the remaining cake layers, spreading more frosting in between them. Spread a thin layer of frosting on the top and sides of the cake (this is the crumb coat - it doesn't have to be perfect), then refrigerate until the frosting sets, about 30 minutes. Spread the remaining frosting all over the top and sides of the cake, smoothing it with a bench scraper.
• Make the ganache: Heat the heavy cream in a saucepan over medium-high heat until steaming, then pour over the chocolate in a small heatproof bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes, then stir until smooth. Set aside until cool but still pourable, 20 to 40 minutes (the time will vary depending on the temperature and bowl). Pour the ganache on top of the cake and spread with a small offset spatula, letting it drip down the sides. Let the ganache set 20 to 30 minutes before slicing.

CHOCOLATE GANACHE

Steps:

• Bring cream to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Pour cream over chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Let stand for 2 minutes. Add butter, then whisk mixture until smooth. Let cool, stirring often. Use immediately.

HAUNTED HOUSE CAKE

Steps:

• Prepare cake batter and bake in 13x9-inch pan as directed on package, beating the dry pudding mix into the batter before pouring into prepared pan. Cool cake 10 min.; invert onto wire rack. Remove pan; cool cake completely.
• Melt chocolate as directed on package; cool 5 min. Pour into large bowl. Add sugar, butter and vanilla; beat with mixer on low speed until well blended. Gradually beat in milk until well blended and of spreading consistency.
• Transfer cake to cutting board; cut into pieces as shown in diagram. Arrange cake pieces on tray or platter as shown in diagram, securing pieces together with some of the frosting.
• Frost cake with remaining frosting. Decorate with remaining ingredients as shown in photo.

CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM ICING

Steps:

• Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water (make sure the bowl isn't touching the water). Stir until melted. Alternatively, melt in the microwave, stirring every 30 secs. Leave the melted chocolate to cool for 5 mins.
• Mash the butter and icing sugar together with a fork first, then switch to a wooden spoon or electric beaters if you have them. Sift in the cocoa and pour in the melted chocolate, a pinch of salt and the milk, then mix again until smooth. Use to top cupcakes or cover and fill a chocolate sponge cake.