Vegan Chocolate Halloween Cake
’Tis the season to be spooky folks so it’s only fitting for me to be baking up a halloween storm. And this vegan chocolate halloween cake is a great way to get into it. And all the components can be made in advance. Which I highly suggest doing to make the process much easier. It’s delicious chocolate cake layered with smooth dark chocolate ganache, topped with “bloody” roses. And if you’re not into decorating, the basic thing is just as good! But if you just want your chocolate fix in a really easy way, check out the recipe for chocolate crinkle cookies.
How to make this vegan chocolate Halloween cake
The Chocolate Cake
The chocolate cake is as easy as stirring the dry ingredients in one bowl, the wet in another, and then whisking the two together. You can make them way ahead and freeze them tightly wrapped then thaw a few hours at room temperature or bake them the day before like I did. For assembly, level them and cut each one into 2 layers.
The Chocolate Ganache
Simply heat up the coconut milk with the salt and once it barely simmers, pour over the chopped chocolate. Let it sit for a few minutes just for the chocolate to soften, then, with a spatula, stir starting from the center until you get a smooth ganache. Then stir in the melted coconut oil.
The day of assembly all you’ll have to do is microwave it in 10-15 second bursts stirring each time until it’s a spreadable consistency. I recommend using chocolate bars or wafers instead of chocolate chips or at least half-half. Chocolate chips are often sweeter and are not as fluid when melted which will make for a very thick ganache that won’t be as smooth.
The Buttercream Roses
Any basic vegan vanilla buttercream will do for these. As long as it’s pipable. I made this recipe by the Minimalist Baker using a homemade vegan butter and piped the roses the day before assembly. I recommend watching videos on piping roses, they’ll explain it much better than I ever could.
For more height, I piped them on strawberries of varying sizes. For that, trim the stem off the strawberry and insert the tip of a flower nail or toothpick into the cut part and pipe. Once you’re done, remove it and place it on a tray lined with parchment or a silicone mat. You’ll need 5 roses, but I made extras just in case. Place the tray in the freezer until the buttercream is solid, then, using a fluffy brush, dust them lightly with cocoa powder to give them a worn look. Store in the fridge in a sealed container until you assemble the cake. They’ll keep for about 3-4 days.
The Strawberry “Blood”
This cake doesn’t require any food colouring except for some gold luster dust so in keeping with that theme, the “blood” is strawberry jam with add-ons to get the right colour. All you’ll need to do is combine the ingredients except the cocoa powder in a sauce pan, cover and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Mashing with a spatula every so often to break down the fruit. Once it’s thickened and broken down, pass it through a sieve twice and adjust the consistency with water. Add the cacao powder as needed to deepen the colour. Store covered in the fridge.
The Assembly
All that’s left is assembling! Start by placing your least pretty cake layer on your cake stand or board and spreading ganache evenly over top. Repeat with the other layers, placing the last one cut side down to get a smooth top with clean edges. Crumb coat the cake and place in the fridge for about 30 minutes until set. Then frost it with the leftover ganache, keeping some for piping the face. Smooth the top first, then the sides to get the ragged top edge. Warm your spatula or bench scraper under hot water to smooth the sides, making sure to wipe the water off before. Place the cake in the fridge again to set, about 30 minutes.
For the face, using a toothpick, trace the eyes before piping them using the ganache and a small round piping tip, I used a #3. Then pipe the mouth and the stitches with the same tip. Smooth the eyes with a small spatula and put the cake back in the fridge for about 15 minutes. Once everything has hardened, brush the eyes, mouth and stitches and the top edge of the cake with gold luster dust. Then with a spatula, place the roses on the cake and spoon some “blood” over them and wherever you want it. And voilà, your cake is done!
If you make this recipe please let me know in the comments! All feedback is very much appreciated and I would love to hear from you! You can also tag me on instagram @the.quaint.kitchen or use the hashtag #thequaintkitchen to share your creations!
Vegan Chocolate Halloween Cake
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 300 g all purpose flour
- 60 g cocoa powder, sifted
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 300 g water, warm
- 230 g white granulated sugar, make sure it’s vegan
- 150 g neutral oil, (grapeseed, canola, vegetable…)
- 4 tsp white vinegar , or apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp instant coffee granules , optional
Chocolate Ganache
- 260 g dairy free dark chocolate bar or wafers, chopped
- 260 g full fat coconut milk, from a can
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 10 g refined or unrefined coconut oil, melted
Strawberry “Blood”
- 90 g cut strawberries , fresh or frozen
- 2-3 blackberries , fresh or frozen
- 1 tsp water, plus more to adjust the consistency after
- 40 g brown sugar
- cocoa powder, as needed
Instructions
Chocolate Cake
- Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F and grease and flour 2 6-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment.
- Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the water, sugar, oil, vinegar, vanilla and coffee.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk until smooth.
- Divide evenly between the two pans and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let them cool almost completely before removing them from the pans because they’ll be quite fragile. Then let them cool on a wire rack.
Chocolate Ganache
- Chop up the chocolate and place in a heatproof bowl.
- In a saucepan, combine the coconut milk and salt and heat until just simmering.
- Pour it over the chocolate and let sit for a few minutes to let the chocolate soften.
- With a spatula, stir starting from the center until you get a smooth glossy ganache. Then stir in the coconut oil.
- Cover with cling wrap directly on the surface and place in the fridge to cool completely. When ready to use, heat it in the microwave in 10-15 second bursts stirring every time until it reaches a spreadable consistency.
Strawberry “Blood”
- In a saucepan, heat the strawberries, blackberries, water and brown sugar until just boiling.
- Reduce the heat, cover and let simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring often and mashing the fruit with your spatula to break them down.
- Once thickened, pass the jam through a sieve twice and adjust the consistency by adding water and add cocoa powder to deepen the colour as needed.
- Store covered in the fridge to cool until you’re ready for assembly.
Notes
- *Disclaimer: I have a tiny not-so-great oven, so your bake time may vary from mine.
- I strongly suggest making recipes by weight, if you make them by cups I can’t guarantee that you’ll get the same results.
- The coffee granules in the cake are optional, they just help intensify the chocolate flavour.