Description
A fun and festive Halloween dessert featuring rich black cocoa chocolate cake layered in jars with vibrant green buttercream frosting and decorated with whimsical fondant witches’ legs and shoes.
Ingredients
Scale
Cake
- 330 g self raising flour
- 360 g granulated sugar
- 360 g butter
- 6 eggs
- 30 g unsweetened black cocoa powder
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 90 ml milk
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Buttercream Frosting and Decoration
- 400 g salted butter
- 800 g powdered sugar (icing sugar)
- 1¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon milk or cream (optional, if the buttercream is too stiff)
- Electric green food coloring (a few drops)
- 250 g orange fondant
- 200 g black fondant
- 1 tablespoon CMC powder
- Sprinkles
Instructions
- Prepare Fondant Legs: Knead half a tablespoon of CMC powder into orange fondant until soft and pliable. Roll into long strips about 5mm in diameter, cut into 10 cm lengths to make 18 legs. Keep covered to prevent drying.
- Add Black Stripes: Roll black fondant into thin strips 2–3mm diameter and about 25–30cm long. Dampen orange fondant legs with a brush, attach black strips as stripes leaving 1 cm spacing, cut excess, and smooth. Repeat to make 5 stripes per leg on all legs. Keep covered.
- Make Fondant Shoes: Knead remaining CMC into black fondant and form 18 balls about 2 cm diameter. Roll each into a short sausage, pinch and shape to form heel, top, and pointy front of the shoe. Use a ball tool or rounded object to make an opening for the leg insertion.
- Attach Shoes to Legs: Lightly moisten the opening inside the shoes with damp brush, fit them onto orange legs, press gently. Stand assembled legs on flat surface to set overnight until dry and firm.
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Tin: Preheat oven to 170℃. Grease and flour a 9-inch square cake tin. Set aside.
- Cake Batter Preparation: Cream butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy for about 2 minutes, scraping bowl halfway. Add eggs two at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: Whisk together flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt in a separate bowl. Sift dry mixture into creamed butter and sugar in three batches, alternating with milk, folding gently each time. Fold in vanilla extract last.
- Bake Cake: Pour batter into prepared tin and bake for 50 minutes. Check doneness with skewer 5 to 10 minutes prior to finish; cake is done when skewer comes out clean and top springs back slightly.
- Cool Cake: Let cake rest in tin for 2 to 3 minutes, loosen sides with a knife, invert onto wire rack, then flip again to cool right side up completely before frosting.
- Make Buttercream: Cream butter until soft and smooth. Gradually add sifted powdered sugar, mixing with spatula first, then using electric mixer until fluffy. Add vanilla extract, beat again. If too stiff, add milk. Blend in green food coloring thoroughly.
- Prepare Cake Layers: Level top of cooled cake if uneven. Slice cake horizontally into two layers. Use a round cutter or cake jar to cut 9 circles from each layer.
- Assemble Cake Jars: Place a spoonful of sprinkles at bottom of each jar, pushing to sides for visibility. Add first cake circle, pipe buttercream layer starting from sides inward, add sprinkles along sides, then second cake circle. Finish with a large buttercream swirl on top, garnishing all over with sprinkles.
- Decorate with Fondant Legs: Use a skewer to make two holes in each cake jar’s buttercream swirl. Insert the prepared witches’ fondant legs into the holes to complete the decoration.
Notes
- Make fondant legs at least one day ahead for drying and firmness to avoid bending after assembly.
- Use a fondant smoother to roll strips evenly without marks.
- In humid environments, add CMC powder and work in air-conditioned space or use lollipop sticks for support in legs.
- Apply water sparingly on fondant with a slightly damp brush to avoid sogginess or color bleeding.
- Keep fondant balls covered while shaping shoes to prevent drying; re-knead if dry.
- The first shoe takes longer; speed improves with practice.
- Use gel food coloring sparingly as it is very concentrated; start with a few drops and add more as needed.
- Plan the layout for cutting cake circles to maximize usage for 9 jars per layer.
- Adding sprinkles to jar bottoms is optional and helps if jar bottoms are uneven.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 jar
- Calories: 620 kcal
- Sugar: 70 g
- Sodium: 160 mg
- Fat: 35 g
- Saturated Fat: 20 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 12 g
- Trans Fat: 0.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 70 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 6 g
- Cholesterol: 140 mg
