A sinfully rich, deep, dark chocolatey cake frosted with sweet vanilla buttercream! Perfect for any Halloween gathering!
Although Christmas is my favorite holiday overall, Halloween is my favorite holiday theme to bake for. There are just so many fun possibilities, and I’m always captivated by all of the clever ideas associated with this amusingly dark holiday.
Last year, I made the most amazing Bloody Red Velvet Cake, and I can’t tell you how much fun I had making it. As disturbingly gruesome and gory as it looked, it tasted quite exquisite. This year, however, I decided to go a different direction by doing something a little less grisly and MUCH more cutesy…
As black as night, this Ghostly Black Velvet Cake is incredibly moist, irresistibly chocolatey, and gorgeously ghoulish!
And can you believe how stinkin’ adorable these little ghosts are?? I seriously can’t get over it.
I’m sure most of you have heard of red velvet cake. Known for its vibrant red hue and tangy cream cheese frosting, it’s definitely become quite the “It Girl” of the cake world. As much as I adore a good red velvet cupcake from time to time, I must admit that I prefer something a little deeper, darker, and richer in flavor. That’s why I instantly became intrigued when I first heard about BLACK velvet cake.
In case you’ve never heard of this marvelous confection, Black Velvet Cake is a deeply rich chocolate cake. The texture is similar to that of red velvet cake, however, that’s the only thing the two have in common. While red velvet has a much more subtle cocoa flavor, black velvet has a more intense chocolate flavor. Moreover, red velvet uses lots of red dye to achieve its bold red hue, while black velvet doesn’t require any food coloring at all. Thanks to a special kind of cocoa powder known as black cocoa, there’s no need to worry about black stained teeth or how it might affect…well, I won’t get into that…
What is black cocoa powder?
Black cocoa powder is ultra Dutch-processed, which means that it has been treated with an alkalizing agent to reduce the natural acidity of cocoa. This results in a smoother flavor that’s less bitter compared to natural cocoa.
Where can I find black cocoa powder?
I have yet to see black cocoa powder in a normal grocery store. Stores like Whole Foods or World Market might have it, but your best bet is to order it online. I was able to find a few different brands on Amazon and ended up ordering King Arthur’s brand of black cocoa powder.
What can I substitute black cocoa powder with?
If you can’t find black cocoa powder, you can easily substitute any Dutch-processed cocoa powder. And if you want your cake to bake up as dark as this one, add a few drops of black food coloring.
Ok, back to the cake…
Originally, I was planning on frosting the cake with black velvet frosting. However, I soon realized how difficult it is to make black frosting. No matter how much black food coloring I added to the frosting, it just wasn’t getting close to achieving the pitch black color I was aiming for. I even added some black cocoa powder, but it still wouldn’t budge from that dark gray charcoal shade. So I decided to cut my losses and frost the cake with vanilla buttercream instead.
Thankfully, the black buttercream debacle turned out to be a blessing. Although I love a rich slice of chocolate-frosted chocolate cake, there’s just something so perfect about a moist and velvety slice of chocolate cake covered in creamy vanilla buttercream. The stark contrast between the two flavors provides an exquisite balance between the intensity of the dark chocolate cake and the delicate sweetness of the vanilla buttercream.
Now let’s talk cake decorating…
The first thing I did was frost the cake with a layer of white buttercream. This is basically the crumb coat, so it doesn’t have to look perfect. The next step was to create the purple night sky. To do this, I used the “watercolor” technique, which is a lot like painting a canvas in that you’re creating a smooth blend between colors.
The first thing you’ll do is dye some of the buttercream. I would make about 1/2 cup purple buttercream and 1/2 cup light purple buttercream. Add thick patches of each color all around the cake, then use some of the reserved white to go over any large empty spots. Finally, use an offset spatula to smooth the buttercream all around the cake until you’ve got the look you want. To get a more visual instruction, head on over to my Peach Watercolor Cake post.
The next step is to make the cutie-patootie ghosts. It’s honestly super duper simple! Just scoop some white buttercream into a large pastry bag fitted with a large round tip. I used Ateco Tip #807. Take the piping bag and position the piping tip close to the side of the cake. Using a little pressure, squeeze the piping bag until a circle of buttercream forms on the side of the cake, then slowly drag to create a little curl as you lessen the pressure and pull away from the cake.
To create the eyes, just place two black sprinkles onto each ghost. I used tiny black nonpareils, but any black sprinkle will work. You can even add a little mouth if you want!
To finish things off, I stuck a variety of different sprinkles along the outside of the cake. Then I piped a white border of vanilla buttercream on top using Wilton’s 1M tip. However, you’re more than welcome to decorate your cake as you please. You don’t even have to make it purple. You could do a green sky, blue sky, or even a red sky. The possibilities are literally endless, so have fun with it!
Ghostly Black Velvet Cake
Ingredients
Black Velvet Cake:
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 ½ teaspoon instant espresso powder
- 3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped or chips
- 1 ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup black cocoa powder (I used King Arthur brand)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk*
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla
Vanilla Buttercream:
- 1 ½ cup (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 4-6 Tablespoons heavy cream
To Decorate:
- Purple gel food coloring
- Sprinkles
Instructions
Make the Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line four 6-inch round cake pans with parchment paper and grease with butter or nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
- In a medium bowl, stir the boiling water, espresso powder, and semi-sweet chocolate together until chocolate has dissolved and mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, sugars, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together until combined.
- In another bowl, whisk the eggs, buttermilk, vegetable oil, and vanilla together. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until smooth. Add the cooled espresso-chocolate mixture, stirring until just combined.
- Divide batter evenly among the four pans and bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
Make the Buttercream:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, salt, and vanilla on high until fluffy and pale in color, about 4-5 minutes.
- Decrease speed to low and slowly add the powdered sugar, a cup at a time. Add 4 Tablespoons of heavy cream and beat until combined. Add more heavy cream, if buttercream is too thick.
- Increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
To Assemble:
- Place one cake layer onto a cake plate or pedestal. Spread an even layer of buttercream on top. Place another cake layer on top, and repeat steps until the final layer of cake is added. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes to stabilize cake for easier frosting.
- Once chilled and solid, frost the entire cake with buttercream, then return to the freezer until buttercream has hardened, about 30 minutes.
To Decorate:
- Place 1/2 cup of the buttercream into a separate bowl, and dye it purple. Place another 1/2 cup of buttercream into another bowl and add dye it light purple.
- Add thick patches of each color all around the cake, then use some of the reserved white to go over any large empty spots. Finally, use an offset spatula to smooth the buttercream all around the cake until you’ve got the look you want.
- To make the ghosts, transfer some white buttercream to a large piping bag fitted with a large round tip (I used Ateco #807). Take the piping bag and position the piping tip close to the side of the cake. Using a little pressure, squeeze the piping bag until a circle of buttercream forms on the side of the cake, then slowly drag to create a little curl as you lessen the pressure and pull away from the cake. Add black sprinkles for the eyes.
- Transfer the rest of the buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe a border on top. Add sprinkles along the sides of the cake and on top of the buttercream border, if desired.
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