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There's lots of Halloween candy and Halloween hard sugar decorations
such as pumpkins, moons, spiders and cats as well as witches
and skulls available at this time of year which will make
great decorations for this Halloween chocolate cake.
Recipe Ingredients
1 cup (4oz) self-rising flour
½ cup (4oz) soft margarine
or butter
4oz superfine sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 tablespoon of cocoa powder
2 teaspoons of warm water
Jam or jelly
And to Cocoa Frost
4 teaspoons of cocoa,
2 tablespoons of cold water
3 tablespoons of hot water
A touch of salt
½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
About 1¾ cups of confectioners' sugar (powdered sugar)
Halloween candy or Halloween hard sugar decorations
2 seven-inch cake pans
Wax paper
Preparation and cooking instructions
The ingredients for this chocolate Halloween cake should,
ideally, be at room temperature, so if you’re using
soft margarine this is best, along with the eggs if left out
of the refrigerator for about an hour or so before starting.
Butter on the other hand needs to be very soft and you may
have to leave this out of the refrigerator for several hours
before beginning. Start by buttering two shallow seven-inch
cake pans and line their bases with wax paper, then butter
the paper – the cake pan makes a good template. Next
preheat the oven to 325°F. Then, sift the flour and the
baking powder together with the cocoa powder into a large
mixing bowl and add the margarine or butter and the superfine
sugar; now just beat everything together with an electric
hand mixer. The mixture should now be of a soft dropping consistency,
this means it should drop easily from a wooden spoon when
shaken, if not then simply add the warm water and beat again.
Now divide the chocolate cake mixture between the two cake
pans, spread it out evenly and bake in the center of the oven
for about 30 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean
or the top of the sponge springs back when touched. Leave
the cakes in the pans for about seven or eight minutes before
turning them out onto a wire rack, carefully peeling off the
wax paper and leaving them to cool. Then when the cakes are
cool sandwich them together with jam or jelly and leave to
one side while you make the frosting. To make the frosting,
first put the cocoa into a small saucepan and add the cold
water, stir until perfectly smooth and then add the hot water.
Then cook for a minute or two before adding the vanilla extract
and just a touch of salt. Next stir in just enough confectioners’
sugar to make the frosting stiff enough to spread nicely,
and then beat the frosting until it is smooth, glossy and
lump free. If you think that the frosting is too runny just
add a little more confectioners’ sugar and beat again,
or if you think it’s too thick just add a little more
cold water and beat again. Now spread the frosting over the
top of the cake and leave for a few minutes before decorating
with Halloween candy or Halloween hard sugar decorations of
your choice. Have a scary Halloween !
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