26 Oct Scary Boo Cake

Boo! Scared you, huh?

Indeed it is that time of year where all things spooky and creepy permeate our Instagram feeds. Of course, I had to get on that bandwagon myself and contribute a terrifying typography cake that will frighten the bravest of humans.

Halloween treats must be both terrifying and tasty, and the crunchy dark chocolate shortbread dispersed amongst a white vanilla cake takes care of both of these criteria. Serve with a splash of blood-red jam to maximise the scary surprise!

Ingredients:

Chocolate Boo Biscuits
150g butter, softened
110g sugar
185g flour
85g cocoa powder
1 bottle of black gel food colouring

White Cake
115g butter
200g sugar
7ml vanilla extract
4 large egg whites
125ml milk
165g flour
7ml baking powder
pinch of salt

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C.  To make the biscuits, cream together the butter and sugar until light and creamy.
• Beat in the food colouring until well mixed.
• Sift together the flour and cocoa powder, and gradually add to the butter mixture until completely incorporated.
• Roll out the dough on a floured surface to 4-5mm thick. Use small letter cookie cutters to cut out “B” and “O” shapes. You’ll need about 20 “B”s and 40 “O”s.
• Bake the biscuits for 5 minutes, then remove from the tray and allow to cool.
• Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C.
• To make the white cake, cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla extract for 3-4 minutes, until well blended.
• Stir the egg whites and milk together in a jug until just mixed.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
• Add a third of the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, and mix well. Now add a third of the milk mixture and beat well.
• Repeat until all the ingredients have been added, and you have a smooth, light batter.
• Pour about a third of the cake batter into a greased loaf tin. Carefully push the letters into the batter to spell out “BOO”.
• Repeat with the remaining letters until you have filled the length of the loaf tin. They should be placed close together (even closer than in the image below!) so that they don’t fall over when the remaining batter is added.
• Carefully spoon the remaining batter over. Bake for approximately 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Allow the cake to cool completely, then slice and scare your friends!