What happened when a ghost asked for a brandy at his local pub?

The landlord said “Sorry, we don’t serve spirits.”

You do, however, want to serve this spooktackular cake the first chance you get.

The Red Velvet Cake is one of the best I have tried yet. It is so fantastic paired with the Marshmallow Buttercream and thick Chocolate Ganache. I loved how the red cake was so vibrant (and unexpected to my guests) against the white of the icing.

Those ghosts are kind of cute, too.

Boo!

Red Velvet Tuxedo Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons cocoa powder
2 ounces red food coloring
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vinegar
Marshmallow Buttercream Icing (recipe follows)
Chocolate Ganache (recipe follows)
Black gel food coloring

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350℉.

2. In the bowl of a mixer, cream together the shortening, eggs and sugar. Add cocoa and food coloring.

3. Sift the flour and salt together. Add to the batter alternately with the buttermilk in 3 additions. Add the vanilla extract. Fold in the baking soda and vinegar.

4. Pour the batter into 2 greased 9-inch cake pans. Bake for 30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let cool on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Invert the cakes from the pans and cool completely.

5. Frost the cake layers with the marshmallow icing.

6. Drizzle chocolate ganache over the top of the cake and allow to drip down the sides. (I find this is a lot harder to do than it sounds. If you work too quickly it can be a messy glop down the sides instead of an attractive drip.)

7. To make ghosts, spoon remaining icing into a pastry bag fitted with a round tip. Pipe using moderate force for bottom and ease up on the pressure to the bag to have the top of the ghost ‘taper off’. (Again, I found this not at all easy to do. If you look at the photos over at I Am Baker, the ghosts look almost to be made of Cool Whip, they are so soft and lovely. I might try using Cool Whip next time, actually.) Put a tiny drop of black gel food coloring on a small square of plastic wrap or waxed paper. use a tooth pick to dip into the food coloring and then make your ghost faces.

Marshmallow Buttercream Icing

Ingredients:

8 oz (1 cup) butter, softened
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
7 oz marshmallow creme such as Fluff
2 teaspoons clear vanilla extract

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar together. Mix until fluffy. Add marshmallow and vanilla, and mix well.

Makes 3 3/4 cups

Note: if you want to have enough icing to make a bunch of ghosts to pipe on the cake, make a double batch of icing.

Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients:

16 oz bittersweet chocolate
12 oz heavy cream

Note: This made way more than I needed to cover the 9 inch cake with some drips. I would suggest making a half batch.

Directions:

1. Chop chocolate into small pieces and place in heat safe bowl. Heat cream to a boil then pour over chocolate. Stir and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit about a half hour before using.

Recipes from I Am Baker

How about some Warm Ghost to go with the cake?

Haunting music at its best.

“a slow dance is the motor of time
and time is of memory
I am a memory myself”

Check out Warm Ghost on the band’s Website where you can also buy their music.

Cheers!