Dark Chocolate Skull Cakes
By Nordic Ware
Ingredients
- For the Cakeletes:
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup cake flour
- 1 cup extra-dark cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ cups butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon orange extract
- ½ teaspoon fiori di sicila
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ½ teaspoon black food color, if desired
- Chocolate Glaze:
- 3.5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- ¼ cup heavy cream
Procedure
Add these spooky and festive Dark Chocolate Skull Cakes to your Halloween dessert table! The combination of rich and decadent dark chocolate with a hint of citrus will haunt and delight your guests using our must-have Skull Cakelet Pan.
Preheat oven to 325°F. Prepare the Skull Cakelet pan with baking spray or brush with butter and dust with cocoa. Whisk the flours, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt together. In a separate bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the butter and sugars together until creamy and lightened, about 2-3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Add the extracts. Put the mixer on low speed and add the buttermilk alternately with the dry ingredients in 4 additions. Mix until smooth. Add black food color to desired shade if using. Fill pan no more than ¾ full in each well. Tap pan on top of a cutting board covered with a heavy kitchen towel to evenly distribute batter and eliminate air bubbles from the batter. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Allow cakelets to cool in pan 5-8 minutes before inverting onto a cooling rack. Repeat with remaining batter.
Prepare the glaze by adding chocolate to a heat-proof bowl. Warm cream until just beginning to steam and pour over chocolate, stirring with a spatula to incorporate while chocolate melts. When all chocolate has melted, pour over cooled cakeletes. Garnish as desired with candy decorations or decorating sprinkles. Makes 12 cakes.
Preheat oven to 325°F. Prepare the Skull Cakelet pan with baking spray or brush with butter and dust with cocoa. Whisk the flours, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt together. In a separate bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the butter and sugars together until creamy and lightened, about 2-3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Add the extracts. Put the mixer on low speed and add the buttermilk alternately with the dry ingredients in 4 additions. Mix until smooth. Add black food color to desired shade if using. Fill pan no more than ¾ full in each well. Tap pan on top of a cutting board covered with a heavy kitchen towel to evenly distribute batter and eliminate air bubbles from the batter. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Allow cakelets to cool in pan 5-8 minutes before inverting onto a cooling rack. Repeat with remaining batter.
Prepare the glaze by adding chocolate to a heat-proof bowl. Warm cream until just beginning to steam and pour over chocolate, stirring with a spatula to incorporate while chocolate melts. When all chocolate has melted, pour over cooled cakeletes. Garnish as desired with candy decorations or decorating sprinkles. Makes 12 cakes.