Chocolate blackberry elegantly gothic Halloween cake - three layers of moist chocolate cake, filled with blackberry jam, iced with blackberry swiss meringue buttercream & topped with blackberry ganache & chocolate bark
It does occur to me that seeing as my blog name is the Domestic Gothess there is a serious lack of gothic bakes...this cake is here to rectify that oversight. I went all out with the food colouring for this one so make sure that you have a couple of pots of each colour, one probably won't be enough!
This is a Halloween cake for those of you who don't like the gory side to the holiday, but it isn't just about the decoration; take away the food colouring and bits on top and you are left with an utterly delicious chocolate blackberry cake which would be suitable for any occasion.
Indeed you don't even really need the colouring as the blackberry puree in the buttercream dyes it a beautiful natural shade of purple, and the blackberry ganache is a purply-red; natural just wasn't what I was going for here!
There are three layers of moist chocolate cake (dyed black), filled with blackberry jam and iced with blackberry swiss meringue buttercream, topped with blackberry ganache and purple marbled chocolate bark shards and black fondant roses; it is delicious, decadent and thoroughly over the top gothic.
I baked the cakes in three 15cm/6inch cake tins for a really tall but not overly large cake, but you can also use two 20cm/8inch ones instead.
I used a couple of different types of dye, black gel
for the cake and ganache (you will need two pots), violet gel
for the buttercream, and powdered violet colouring for the chocolate bark.
It is very important to use only powdered or oil based food colouring for the chocolate, as if you use a water based one (including gel) your chocolate may seize. I used shop bought black fondant to make the roses on top, following this tutorial.
Don't be intimidated by the long recipe, the cakes can be baked the day before assembly, or even a good while in advance if you wrap them well once cold and freeze them; just remove them from the freezer an hour or so before you want to ice them.
The chocolate bark can be made up to a week ahead and stored in an airtight container; the fondant roses can be made a couple of days in advance, in fact it is best to do so so they can dry out.
However, I don't recommend making the buttercream or ganache in advance; you can make the buttercream a few days ahead and store it in the fridge, but if you leave it sitting around for any length of time (even for a couple of hours) you may find that it splits (don't worry, this doesn't happen once the cake has been iced).
This isn't the end of the world and if it happens all you need to do is microwave a dollop of the buttercream until it melts then gradually drizzle it back into the remaining buttercream while whisking at a high speed and it will come back together.
You will probably have a bit of blackberry puree left over after making the buttercream and ganache, don't throw it away, it will keep in the fridge for a few days and is delicious swirled into yoghurt or with pancakes.
More Halloween Recipes:
- Witches' finger cookies
- Chocolate glazed black cat doughnuts
- Mini bleeding heart Halloween cakes
- Haunted pavlova
- Meringue bone palace Halloween cake
- Jack-O-Lantern pumpkin pies
- Monochrome cake
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Chocolate Blackberry Elegantly Gothic Halloween Cake Recipe:
Chocolate Blackberry Elegantly Gothic Halloween Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 60 g (½ cup) cocoa powder, sifted
- 6 tbsp boiling water
- 4 tsp black gel food colouring optional
- 100 g (⅓ cup + 1 heaped tbsp) softened butter
- 175 g (1 cup) light brown soft sugar
- 100 g (½ cup) caster sugar
- 175 g (1 + ½ cups) self-raising flour, sifted
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3 large eggs beaten
Chocolate Bark
- 150 g (5oz) dark chocolate, chopped
- 75 g (3 oz) white chocolate, chopped
- about ½ tsp purple powdered food colouring optional (DO NOT use water based colouring (including gel), powdered or oil based only)
Blackberry Puree
- 500 g (17 oz) blackberries (fresh or frozen)
- 50 g (¼ cup) sugar
Blackberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- 200 g egg white (5 large)
- 275 g (1 + ⅓ cup) caster sugar
- 375 g (1 + generous ½ cup) softened butter
- 125 g blackberry puree (⅓ + ⅛ cup)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- about 1 tsp purple gel or powdered food colouring optional
Blackberry Ganache
- 100 g (3.5 oz) dark chocolate, chopped
- 100 g blackberry puree (generous ⅓ cup)
- 30 ml (⅛ cup) full fat milk, plus extra as needed
- 30 g (2 tbsp) butter
- about 1 tsp black gel food colouring optional
To Assemble
- about 4 heaped tbsp blackberry jam
- black fondant for the roses
- Silver lustre dust
- black and purple sprinkles as desired
Instructions
To Make The Cake
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4, grease and line three 15cm/6in round tins (or two 20cm/8inch ones).
- Mix the cocoa powder and boiling water together in a large bowl until it forms a smooth paste, mix in the food colouring then add all of the other ingredients and beat with an electric mixer until it forms a smooth, thickish batter.
- Divide the mixture between the tins and bake for about 25 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean, leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To Make The Chocolate Bark
- Line a baking tray with a sheet of greaseproof paper.
- Melt the dark and white chocolates in separate bowls over a pan of gently simmering water, do not allow the water to become too hot and don't get any in the chocolate.
- Mix the powdered food colouring into the white chocolate a little at a time until you reach your desired shade.
- Pour the dark chocolate onto the greaseproof paper and spread it out into an approx 15x25cm/6x10in rectangle, drizzle the white chocolate over the top and drag a toothpick through it to swirl the two colours together.
- Set the chocolate aside until it has set but is still slightly soft then use a very sharp knife to cut it into triangular shards of varying sizes, place in the fridge until hard. Store in an airtight container.
To Make The Blackberry Puree
- Place the blackberries and sugar in a saucepan, bring up to a simmer and cook until the blackberries have broken down and become mushy. Pour into a blender and blitz until it becomes a puree then pass it through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl, cover and refrigerate until cold.
To Make The Blackberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Place the egg whites and sugar in a spotlessly clean heatproof bowl (the bowl of your stand mixer if you have one) and place the bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, make sure that the base of the bowl doesn't touch the water.
- Gently whisk the eggs (with a hand whisk, not an electric one) until the sugar has dissolved, if you rub the mixture between your fingers it should feel smooth with no hint of graininess. It should measure 60C/140F on a thermometer.
- Remove the bowl from the heat and whisk with an electric mixer/stand mixer on high until the egg whites have formed a stiff, glossy meringue and the mixture is completely cold, the base of the bowl should feel cool to the touch, this will take about 10 minutes.
- Turn the mixer down to low and gradually add the butter, a tablespoon at a time, mixing to incorporate after each addition. The mixture may curdle or begin to look soupy, just keep on whisking and it will come back together.
- Once all of the butter has been incorporated and the buttercream is smooth and silky, whisk in the blackberry puree gradually, a spoonful at a time. The mixture shouldn't split, but if it does don't worry! Just place a couple of heaped tablespoons of the buttercream in a small bowl and microwave it until it has melted, then drizzle it back into the rest of the buttercream slowly while whisking on a high speed, after a couple of minutes of whisking it will come back together.
- Finally whisk in the vanilla extract and add the food colouring a little at a time until you reach your desired shade.
Assemble The Cake
- Trim the tops of the cakes if necessary to level them then place one layer on a cake stand or serving platter, spread over a thinish layer of the buttercream. Place a generous dollop of the buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a large (1.5cm) plain nozzle; pipe a ring of the buttercream just inside the edge of the cake, this forms a dam to stop your jam from leaking out.
- Fill the gap in the middle of the ring with a couple of heaped tablespoons of blackberry jam. Spread a thinish layer of the buttercream over the bottom of one of the other cake layers and place in buttercream side DOWN on top, press down gently. Spread a thinish layer of buttercream on top of the cake, pipe another ring of buttercream around the edge and fill with jam. Spread a thinish layer of buttercream over the TOP side of the remaining cake layer then place it buttercream side DOWN on to the cake so that the top surface of the cake is the base to create a completely flat surface, press down gently.
- Crumb coat the cake by spreading a very thin layer of buttercream over the entire cake, don't worry about being too neat at this point, just make sure that the whole cake is covered. Place in the fridge for 15 minutes until the buttercream has set.
- Spread a thick layer of buttercream over the whole cake, using an offset palette knife or plastic dough scraper to get it really smooth, take your time and fill in all the gaps but don't worry too much about getting it absolutely perfect. Place the cake in the fridge while you make the ganache.
To Make The Blackberry Ganache
- Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl, heat the blackberry puree and milk together in a small pan until boiling then pour over the chocolate and stir until smooth, add the butter and stir until it has melted.
- Add the food colouring a little at a time until it reaches the desired shade. Due to the blackberry puree the ganache is a little thicker than usual and will not set as firm as regular ganache. If you find that it is too thick to pour so that it drips down the sides of the cake, stir in some warm milk a little at a time until it reaches a pourable consistency.
- Pour the ganache over the top of the cake, using a palette knife or the back of a spoon to encourage it to drip over the edge and down the sides.
- Allow the ganache to set a little then place any leftover buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a small star nozzle. Decorate the top of the cake with the chocolate shards and fondant roses, pipe blobs of the buttercream and sprinkle with edible lustre dust and black and purple sprinkles if you have them.
I am sharing this with Saucy Saturdays Hosted By The Flavour Bender, Take Two Tapas, La Petit Chef and Mid-Life Croissant, Fabulous Foodie Fridays, Fiesta Friday hosted by Cooking With Aunt Juju and I'll Cook You Wash, Foodie FriDIY, Foodie Friends Friday, Friday Favourites, Friday Features and Cake Club
Emily
I made this for my birthday this week and it was so incredibly fun and delicious! We ran out of time so I couldn't do the chocolate bark or the flowers, but the rest of the process was so enjoyable. My friends and I had a blast putting it all together. My cake did turn out dry, but I may have just let it go for too long. We ended up putting a bit of cream on it to remoisten it. I loved that the buttercream wasn't overly sweet and the ganache had a bitterness from the chocolate and a bright tartness from the berries. Very elegant and mature. I absolutely loved it! Great for my 27th birthday.
Lisa
I was wondering why the recipe calls for adding baking powder, when self rising flour already has baking powder in it. There was no baking soda, which is usually added to cakes with cocoa powder to cut the acidity. My cakes all sank in the middle, which could be from too high temp, or too much raising agent. The purple color of your chocolate pieces is gorgeous- mine came out more lavender, which is ok but I would have preferred a more dramatic color. I will be assembling and frosting the cake tomorrow. Ill take a pic and tag you on Instagram
Lisa Daly
Im glad that you added measurements for the egg whites. 200gm turned out to be almost 7 whole large egg whites. I also was wondering if you added some red or pink to the frosting, as the pictures show a distinct reddish hue to the purple frosting. Unfortunately my attempt did not turn out like yours. The frosting wasnt smooth enough and it certainly didnt have the velvety appearance that yours does. What did you do to get it to look like that? The ganache also wasnt smooth. Mine looks more um...rustic, shall we say? Lol. I definitely didnt have enough color. You did say get extra. I should have listened
Melissa
Ok this cake is amazing. I am trying it this weekend but I don’t expect it to turn out too well as I have never used half of these ingredients nor do I have the experience but it is a head turner and I have to try it. Looks amazing!
Barbara Guth
My frosting is pure liquid. It didn't form into a frosting. What did I miss?
Hannah
Hi Barbara, this is a common problem with swiss meringue buttercream and in most cases it just needs to be whisked for longer. You can also try whisking in a little more butter.
Morgana
My dough came out sooooo thick. Like THICC. (could be because I vegan-ised the recipe but never had that happen before...) and I was really concerned it would be dry so I made a red wine syrup and did a soak. Well, it probably was fine without it because it came out so well! super moist and rich (and the red wine flavor went so well with the chocolate and blackberry). The blackberry swiss meringue came out really well (I used aquafaba instead of egg whites). I had so much fun making all the decorative components as well. Gorgeous cake.
Donna
I plan to use your recipe for the blackberry chocolate ganache I was wondering if I could use some blackberry jam I made instead of making the purée? Also is the dark chocolate the same as semi- sweet? The blackberry chocolate sounds like a delicious combination.
Hannah
Hi Donna, yes jam should work fine. We don't get semi-sweet chocolate in the UK (at least not labelled as such) but I think that it is the same as a lower cocoa percentage dark chocolate. I use dark chocolate with a cocoa percentage between 50-70% depending on how rich I want the ganache to be.
mare
i just made the buttercream from this recipe and it was a keeper & wonderful (I wanted a red velvet cake). I also wish i had just made the ganache instead of the shortcut i took. next time
Stacy
Hi
My cakes all sank in the middle.
There was no response to another comment where they had the same problem.
Why self raising flour then the addition of more baking powder. Too much raising agent is my guess why they sank. What would you say. 8/ there a typo in the recipe there ?
Hannah
Hi Stacy, sorry to hear you had issues. I have been vegan for many years now and this is one of my very old pre-vegan reipes so I am unable to re-test it.