New Hampshires Graveyard Cake Recipes

GRAVEYARD CAKE

Steps:

• In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a saucepan, combine butter, water and cocoa; bring to a boil over medium heat. Add to flour mixture; beat well. Beat in sour cream and eggs. , Pour into a greased 13x9-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 35-38 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes., Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine butter, milk and cocoa; bring to a boil. Remove from the heat; stir in sugar and vanilla. Pour over warm cake. Crumble chocolate cookies; sprinkle over frosting while still warm. Cool completely. , For tombstone, use icing to decorate vanilla cookies with words or faces; place on cake. For ghosts, make mounds of whipped topping; use icing to add eyes and mouths as desired. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Just before serving, add pumpkins and gummy worms if desired.

GHOSTS IN THE GRAVEYARD CAKE

Steps:

• Line a 13x9-in. baking pan and an 8-in. square baking dish with foil, and grease the foil. Prepare brownie batter and bake according to package directions, using prepared pans. Cool on wire racks., Break pretzel rods into various sizes; dip into melted chocolate. Arrange into a tree shape on a waxed paper-lined baking sheet., Place melted white candy coating in a heavy-duty resealable plastic bag; cut a small hole in a corner of bag. Outline three small ghosts on waxed paper. Fill in ghost outlines, adding a lollipop stick to each for support. Place unmelted chocolate chips on ghosts for eyes. Let dry completely., Using foil, lift brownies out of pans. Discard foil; place 8-in. square brownie on a large serving plate for graveyard. Spread chocolate frosting over top and sides., Cut remaining brownie into 3-in.x1-1/2-in. tombstone shapes. Combine confectioners' sugar and cocoa; sprinkle over tombstones. With black food coloring, tint vanilla frosting gray; decorate tombstones., Using toothpicks, insert three tombstones into graveyard. Insert tree into graveyard (support as needed with brownie scraps). Insert ghosts into graveyard; sprinkle with wafer crumbs for dirt and coconut for grass. Place remaining tombstones on a serving platter.

PEEPS® SPOOKY GRAVEYARD CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. Make cake as directed on box for 13x9-inch pan. Cool in pan on cooling rack until completely cooled, about 1 hour.
• Spread chocolate frosting on top of cake; place marshmallows around edges of cake. Sprinkle with cookie crumbs to look like dirt. Cut into 5 rows by 4 rows.

GRAVEYARD CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter a 9-by-13-inch cake pan. Line with parchment paper; butter lining. Dust with flour; tap out excess. Set pan aside.
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves in a large bowl; set aside. Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; beat on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce speed to low; alternate between adding flour mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour. Add pumpkin, and beat until completely combined.
• Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake until golden and a cake tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes. Unmold; peel off parchment. Let cool completely on rack, top side up.
• Set cake and rack on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Pour warm chocolate glaze over cake. Using a small offset spatula, gently smooth glaze over top of cake, letting it drip down sides. Let stand at room temperature, or refrigerate until set. Arrange 6 headstones on top; serve with the remaining.

HAUNTED GRAVEYARD CAKE

Steps:

• To make the ghosts, heat oven to 110C/90C fan/gas ¼. Whip the egg white in a clean bowl until stiff peaks form. Whisk in the sugar a tbsp at a time and keep whisking for a couple of mins until the mixture is thick and resembles shaving foam. Gently spoon the mixture into a large freezer bag, then cut a 1.5cm hole in one of the corners. Cover a baking sheet with some baking parchment. Carefully squeeze a small circle of whipped egg white out of the bag, pulling upwards as you do to make a ghost shape. Repeat until the mixture is used up - you should get about 15 ghosts. Bake for 1½ hrs until crisp. Can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
• Now make the cake. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Tip the cocoa powder, self-raising flour and sugar into a large bowl, breaking up any clumps of sugar. Mix together the eggs, milk and oil in a measuring cup or bowl, then pour over the dry ingredients and stir everything together until smooth. Grease and line a deep baking dish (20 x 30 x 5cm) with baking parchment. Pour in the cake mixture and bake for 30 mins. Leave to cool, then turn out onto a serving plate. Alternatively, wrap well and store for up to 2 days.
• Finish decorating the cake: heat cream in a saucepan until just boiling. Place the dark chocolate in a large bowl and pour over the hot cream. Stir until the chocolate melts. Use a clean brush to paint a layer of chocolate over 7 rich tea finger biscuits, then set aside to cool. Pour the rest of the chocolate mixture over the cake and smooth over with a knife. Whizz the chocolate cookies, or bash in a freezer bag with a rolling pin, until small crumbs form. Sprinkle over the top of the cake.
• Place the white chocolate in a small bowl, set over a pan of simmering water. Leave for 5 mins or until melted, then spoon into a small freezer bag. Wait for 10 mins so the mixture is not too runny, then cut a tiny hole in one corner of the bag. Pipe out 2 small blobs onto each ghost, place a silver ball on each to make eyes, then pipe out suitable words and shapes on the gravestones. Leave for 30 mins to set, then push the biscuit gravestones into the cake and arrange the ghosts around. To get the ghosts to 'fly', push a thin wire (you can get these from a florist shop - remember to remove before eating) into the bottom of the ghost, then place in the cake, hiding the wire behind a gravestone.

GRAVEYARD FAULT LINE CAKE

Steps:

• Place the cake on your cake board in the center of a turntable cake stand. Using your hands, press the crumbs into the side of the cake in a strip around the center of the cake. Create a horizontal strip of crumbs around the center of the side of the cake.
• Place your chocolate icing in a piping bag and cut a small tip. Ice the top and bottom of the cake leaving the crumbed area exposed. Smooth out the icing using your offset spatula and a bench scraper to make the sides smooth. Cover the top of your cake in crumbs to resemble dirt. Chill for 30 minutes.
• If you would like to add an extra dimension you can use copper or gold petal dust to paint the edges of the fault line. Place a small amount of dust in a small bowl and dilute with a few drops of vodka or other alcohol. Using a paint brush, paint along the edges where the icing meets the crumbs (this will be easier to execute if the cake has been chilled).
• To make the decorations, warm the modeling chocolates by kneading them in your hands. Marble some gray, brown and black modeling chocolate together to create a stone color and press into a tombstone mold. (If you do not have a mold you can sculpt the shape using a picture for reference.) Roll long tubes of white modeling chocolate and wrap them around toothpicks. Manipulate the end of the tube to resemble a skeleton hand. Place all your decorations on the top of the cake to create a scary graveyard scene.

CUPCAKE GRAVEYARD

Steps:

• Prepare and bake cake mix according to package directions for cupcakes.
• In a medium bowl stir 1 package of frosting with the cookie crumbs. Frost cooled cupcakes.
• Fill a pastry bag, fitted with a plain tip, with remaining white frosting. Write R.I.P. on each chocolate covered graham cracker cookie. Stand a decorated cookie on top of each cupcake so that it looks like a tombstone. Place the cupcakes on a large cookie sheet that has been covered with green paper. Place paper ghosts and bats randomly through the graveyard. Serve!