Ghost Cake

This easy ghost cake has three layers of moist chocolate cake, purple cream cheese frosting, a dark chocolate ganache drip and meringue ghosts. Make it with all-purpose, whole wheat or tested gluten-free flour, and prepare several components ahead to make decorating easier.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword ghost cake, ghost cake recipe, gluten-free ghost cake, halloween cake, Halloween ghost cake, Halloween layer cake, meringue ghost cake

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 24

Total Time 8 25

Servings people

Calories 477kcal

Author Erin Dooner

Ingredients

Cake:

3 cups granulated sugar or (580 grams) coconut sugar
2 1/2 cups + 2 tablespoons flour see notes
3/4 cup + 2 tbsp Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/4 cup black cocoa powder (or more Dutch-process)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 large (50 grams each), out of shell eggs, room temp or chia eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup olive, canola or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup + 2 tbsp boiling water

Frosting:

3 8-ounce packages (680 grams total) full-fat cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar (or more if you like)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon purple gel food coloring or Color Kitchen food coloring powder

Ganache drip:

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
1/3 cup heavy cream
black gel food coloring or 2 1/2-3 teaspoons black cocoa powder + 1 teaspoon maple syrup

Topping:

meringue ghosts

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make the cake:

Preheat your oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Line three round 8" cake pans with parchment paper on the bottom and grease the pan sides.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, Dutch-process cocoa, black cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3 cups granulated sugar or (580 grams) coconut sugar, 2 1/2 cups + 2 tablespoons flour, 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp Dutch-process cocoa powder, 1/4 cup black cocoa powder (or more Dutch-process), 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla.
3 large (50 grams each), out of shell eggs, room temp or chia eggs, 1 1/2 cups milk, 3/4 cup olive, canola or vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Mix until combined, and then stir in the boiling water. The batter will be quite thin.
1 cup + 2 tbsp boiling water
Divide the batter between the three prepared pans. That’s 658 grams of batter per pan (675 grams per pan if using Bob's GF flour).
Bake for 24-28 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with some moist crumbs but no uncooked liquid.
Let cool for 10 minutes in the pans, and then turn out onto a rack to cool completely - about 2 hours. My cakes weren't flat, but not very rounded, either. If you want to, you can level them (I didn't bother).

Prepare the frosting:

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together with an electric hand mixer at medium speed until well combined. It's okay if it looks a little crumbly.
3 8-ounce packages (680 grams total) full-fat cream cheese, room temperature, 1 cup + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Gradually beat in the powdered sugar until totally combined, and then beat in the vanilla and salt.
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar (or more if you like), 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract, pinch of salt
Beat in a little purple food coloring at a time until you're happy with the color. The photographer used about a teaspoon of Wilton purple gel food coloring.
1 teaspoon purple gel food coloring or Color Kitchen food coloring powder

Assemble the cake:

Place the bottom layer of cake, rounded side down, on the serving plate.
Spread 1 1/4 cups (288 grams) of frosting over the bottom layer, almost until the edge.
Put on the next cake layer, rounded side down, and spread the same amount of frosting over the top of that.
Place the third cake layer on top of the frosting, rounded side up.

Crumb coat:

Use 1/2 cup (115 grams) of frosting as a crumb coat. Keep the frosting refrigerated until it's ready to use. And if you ever think it's not firm enough, put it back in the fridge.
Spread it all over the cake.
Place the cake in the freezer for 20-30 minutes after putting on the crumb coat or for 1-2 hours in the fridge. You can also refrigerate it overnight to help break up the workload.

Frost:

Reserve and refrigerate 3/4 cup (173 grams) of frosting to pipe little swirls at the base of the cake. Cover the cake with the remaining frosting.
Place the cake in the fridge for 4-8 hours, or even overnight, so that it's as firm as possible. How long you'll need depends on if the cake layers were frozen and if/how long you chilled the frosting before and during the decorating process. With my very warm kitchen and not chilling the cake or the frosting, 4 hours was enough to firm it up.
Pipe little swirls, stars, or whatever you'd like at the base of the cake.

Make the drip:

Add the chocolate to a small heatproof bowl.
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
Heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until hot and steamy but not bubbling.
1/3 cup heavy cream
Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let sit for about a minute before stirring.
You can either add black gel food coloring (about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon), and stir the chocolate until totally smooth OR you can stir in black cocoa powder. Taste and add 1 teaspoon maple syrup, if desired.
black gel food coloring or 2 1/2-3 teaspoons black cocoa powder + 1 teaspoon maple syrup
Let cool for about 8-12 minutes or until just slightly warm and thickened a bit.
Pour the ganache into a plastic squirt bottle (if you have one). Use the bottom of a glass to test the drip's consistency. Turn the glass upside down and squeeze some ganache over the top of the glass bottom. If it's too runny, then wait a few minutes and then do another test on the bottom of the glass. If it's too thick, rewarm it just a tiny bit or add a tiny bit of cream.
Do the drip around the cake, spread the remaining ganache on top of the cake, and smooth it out.
Chill until hardened, about 30 minutes.
Add the meringue ghosts just before serving.

How to store:

If you want to make the cake elements in advance, let the layers cool, wrap the layers individually in plastic wrap and place inside a Ziploc bag. They can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 days, refrigerated for 3, or frozen for 3 months. No need to defrost before assembling the cake.
The frosting can be refrigerated for up to 4 days total or frozen for up to 3 months.
You can assemble the cake, add the crumb coat and frosting and then freeze it for up to a week. I would wrap it in plastic wrap and then place it in a big bag, just to be safe. Ghosts should always be added just before serving.

Notes

Cake base is adapted from Hershey's One Bowl Chocolate Cake.

You can use all-purpose flour, white whole wheat flour or whole wheat flour. If you're gluten-free, use 2 1/2 cups + 2 tablespoons (363 grams) Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour.
If you want to make the cake eggless, mix together 3 tablespoons of ground chia seed with 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon (133 grams) of water until well combined. Let sit for about 1-2 minutes or until goopy like regular eggs.
You can use whatever type of milk you'd like. If using canned coconut milk, water it down so that it's runny like regular milk. Keep in mind the potential coconut flavor!
If you're outside the US, your cream cheese is likely different from the US kind, which is firmer and better suited for baking than the kind typically used for spreading on toast (which is all you find elsewhere). For every 8 ounces (225 grams) of cream cheese required, buy a 300-gram package (store brands work just as well as Philadelphia). Place it in the center of a clean tea towel or cheesecloth and squeeze out the liquid until it reduces to 225 grams. For this recipe, you'll need to start with 900 grams of cream cheese and squeeze out the liquid until you’re left with 680 grams. Additionally, keep in mind that medium eggs in the EU are equivalent to large eggs in the US, so if you’re in the EU, use medium eggs.
If using Color Kitchen natural food coloring, follow the directions on the box to make purple.
The nutrition information provided is calculated as a courtesy and is only an estimate. I am not a licensed nutritionist or dietitian. For the most accurate nutritional data, consult a professional or use your preferred calculator.

Nutrition