Spooky Chocolate Bark Cake

I couldn't resist. We had a bunch of spooky candy left over from our Gluten Free Chocolate Pumpkin Jack-o-lantern Cookies that I had to put to good use.

Have some spooky fun with this Spooky Chocolate Bark Cake.

So, we spooky-fied a cake - just for fun!

First, the boys and I made some Spooky Chocolate Bark to decorate our cake. I used my Movie Candy Chocolate Bark recipe replacing the movie candy with spooky candy.

Next, I baked up a deep dark chocolate cake. I baked my batter in a couple of 6 inch pans and a few cupcakes liners. I thought a small cake would be cute, but you can also use two 8 inch pans. Make sure to butter your pans, line the bottom of each with parchment paper, and butter the parchment paper. This ensures easy removal from the cake tins.

Then, I whipped up an easy ganache by warming some cream in the microwave, pouring it over some chocolate chips, stirring it all up until smooth, and letting it cool and set for a bit.




While my ganache was cooling, I whipped up my favorite cream cheese frosting. I chose cream cheese because it is unbelievable with rich dark chocolate cake. Fab - u - lous!!

To put my cake together, I piped some cream cheese frosting onto the bottom cake layer leaving a rim to hold the ganache. I poured in some ganache and put it in the fridge to set up a little. Then, I put on the top layer and frosted the whole thing with a thin layer of frosting. After another brief spell in the fridge, I put on another layer of frosting and piped some puffs around the top of the cake. I filled a Ziplock freezer bag with the rest of the ganache, drizzled it all around the piped puffs on top, and sprinkled on some Halloween sprinkles.

Then, to finish off the cake, I pushed a shard of spooky chocolate bark into each puff and lined the bottom of the cake with them as well.

Homemade chocolate bark adds loads of fun to this Spooky Chocolate Bark Cake.

The cake turned out adorably spooky! The boys were in heaven. I just love making their day.




I also decorated the extra cupcakes. You can bake the whole batter into cupcakes if you want. They're much easier to decorate than a layer cake.



Spooky Chocolate Bark Cake

INGREDIENTS

For the deep, dark, chocolate cake:
(Recipe adapted from My Baking Addiction)
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cup dark cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp Kosher salt
2 Tbsp instant coffee granules
about 1 cup warm water
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
about 1 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract

For the chocolate ganache:
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

For the cream cheese frosting:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
5 to 6 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract

A batch of spooky chocolate bark for decorating (I used my Movie Candy Bark recipe replacing the movie candy with spooky candy)

Halloween sprinkles for decorating

DIRECTIONS
1. Make your spooky chocolate bark using my recipe. Set in the fridge and break into shards.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, butter your cake tins, line the bottoms with parchment paper, and butter the parchment.
3. For the cake batter, pour enough warm water over your coffee granules to make 1 cup and set aside. Also, pour enough milk over the apple cider vinegar to make 1 cup of sour milk and set aside for 15 minutes.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients for the cake batter.
5. Pour all wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk together until batter is smooth.
6. Pour into prepared cake tins and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Cool cakes for 20 minutes, loosen edges with a butter knife, remove cakes, and cool completely.
8. To make the ganache, pour chocolate chips into a heat proof bowl. In another microwave safe dish, heat 1/2 cup whipping cream for about a minute (watch it carefully) until just simmering. Pour over the chocolate chips and set a timer for 5 minutes. Then, stir ganache until smooth and set another timer for 15 minutes so ganache can set a bit.
9. For the frosting, beat cream cheese and butter for 30 seconds. Beat in 3 cups powdered sugar. Beat in vanilla and then beat in 2 to 3 more cups powdered sugar until you get the consistency you like. Then, scrape down the bowl and beat on high for 3 minutes.
10. Put half the frosting into a Ziplock freezer bag prepared with a piping tip.
11. Pipe a layer of frosting onto the bottom layer of the cake making a little rim to hold the ganache.
12. Pour in some of the ganache and set the cake in the fridge to set for about 15 minutes.
13. Top with the other cake layer and frost the whole cake with a thin layer of frosting. Then, set in the fridge for 15 minutes.
14. Put another layer of frosting onto your cake making it as smooth as you wish.
15. Pipe puffs of frosting all along the top of the cake.
16. Fill another Ziplock freezer bag with ganache. Snip a teeny tiny piece off of one corner and drizzle onto the top of the cake. Sprinkle with Halloween sprinkles.
17. Push a shard of spooky chocolate bark into each frosting puff and line the bottom of the cake with more.