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Halloween… here we are almost end of the year! Everything is different. We are not going to take James for trick or treating, so we will be doing a surprise candy hunt at home. Every year, I want to make the cake gory and gorier for Halloween and I think we are getting there. This halloween its a “The Hills have Eyes Cake” . The cake is moist dark chocolate cake, its extra special with buttermilk. The filling is pumpkin spice infused dulce de leche. Let me just say you are going to blame me for eating it by spoonfuls. Dark double chocolate fudge frosting covers the cake. lastly garnish the Hills have eyes halloween cake with chocolate ghoul tree and chocolate skulls buried in chocolate dirt.

The Garnishes are

1. chocolate tree covered with lustre black coated wafer paper, black sprinkles, ruby red sprinkles and black sanding sugar. All supplies are the ones i found at Scoop and Save.

2. Candy skulls, silicone skull mold with black candy melts

3. Chocolate Dirt, recipe in from Haunted Bone Church Halloween Cake

4. Spiced Dulce de leche

The hills have eyes Halloween cake

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Chocolate Cake, Dark Chocolate Fudge, Double Chocolate, halloween cake

Prep Time 5 hours

Cook Time 2 hours

decorating time. 1 hour

Servings 10 people

Ingredients

Spiced Dulce de leche

1 can Condensed Milk
2 tsp Pumpkin Spice Vanilla heilala vanilla
2 tsp Pumpkin spice powder

Chocolate Ghoul Tree (7 inch height)

100 gm Bittersweet Chocolate
1 tsp Black sanding sugar
10-15 pieces of wafer paper for leaves
Black and red sprinkles (optional)
1 tsp Black Cocoa powder

Candy Skulls (15-20)

100 gm Black Candy Melts

Dark Devils chocolate cake ( 1x 7", 2x 6", 1x 4")

180 gm Salted Butter 1½ stick
120 ml Canola oil ½ cup
5 L Eggs
150 gm Brown sugar ¾ cup
150 gm Granulated white sugar ¾ cup
2 tbsp Instant coffee powder
80 ml Hot water ⅓ cup
150 ml Buttermilk ½ cup + 2 tbsps
75 gm Black Cocoa powder ¾ cup
300 gm All purpose Flour 2½ cups
2 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Baking soda

Double Chocolate fudge frosting

180 gm Salted Butter 1½ stick
100 gm Melted Bittersweet chocolate ½ cup
50 gm Black Cocoa powder ½ cup
250-275 gm Icing sugar 2½ cups
30 gm Sour cream 2 tbsp

Chocolate dirt (recipe link in text)

Instructions

Spiced Dulce de leche

In a large pot of water, add the closed can of condensed milk and let it simmer for 2-3 hrs. Make sure the can is submerged under water at all times. Once you take it out, let the can come to room temperature.
Pour out the contents of the can the rich dulce de leche into a bowl. Add the pumpkin spice vanilla and the pumpkin spice powder into the bowl and mix thoroughly.
Store in a clean bottle until needed.

Chocolate Ghoul Tree (7 inch height)

Melt the chocolate, using free hand. Spoon melted chocolate in a tree shape on a parchment paper. Dust it lightly with cocoa powder and decorate it with the wafer paper leaves, edible sparkly sprinkles and sanding sugar.
Let it cool in the freezer until needed.

Candy Skulls (15-20)

Melt the black candy melts and pour it in the silicone mold. Store it in the freezer until needed for decorating the cake

Dark Devils chocolate cake ( 1x 7", 2x 6", 1x 4")

Preheat the oven to 350°F/ 180°C. Grease and line the cake tins with parchment paper.
In a bowl fitted with the paddle attached on a stand mixer. Add the butter, oil and sugars. Beat and cream the fats and sugars.
Add and beat one egg at a time. Add Buttermilk into the bowl.
Add the instant coffee powder to the hot water and keep aside.
Sift all the dry ingredients (AP flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda) into the bowl, mix on low speed while adding the hot coffee. Mix thoroughly until all the ingredients are incorporated
Pour the batter into all the prepared pans and bake for 20 (for the smallest) and 30-35 mins for the bigger ones. Remove from oven and let it cool on a cooling rack.

Double Chocolate fudge frosting

Add the butter and melted chocolate in a bowl fitted with the paddle attached on a stand mixer. Sift the cocoa powder and icing sugar in batches and beat for a couple of minutes.
Add the sour cream and whip the buttercream until smooth and silky.

Assembly

I wanted the cakes layered in a staggering arrangement. I had to cut one of the 6" cake to stack up as i wanted.
Add a dollop of frosting on a cake board/ cake stand, place the larger layer on the bottom. Make a dam with the fudge frosting, add the spiced dulce de leche in the middle.
Repeat for all layers. Because the layers are smaller as they are stacked, mark the smaller cake on the larger one using a pick for making the dam for frosting.
The frosting coating need not be perfect, this is a halloween cake!
Decorate with the chocolate tree, candy skulls and chocolate dirt.