One of my favorite Halloween desserts I've made to date is this adorable 'Haunted Graveyard' themed chocolate delight! I drew inspiration from some adorable spooky strawberry centered desserts I've seen on social media, but wanted to take it a haunting step further with an all chocolate cake with chocolate toppings.
JOANN Fabrics had some adorable Halloween candy and chocolate molds, and I especially loved the grave stones, bones and skulls that would create a beautifully chilling treat. It's a perfect dessert for any Halloween party, movie night and even a fun, interactive cake to make with your kids!
INGREDIENTS
Cake + Frosting
For the cake recipe, I always use this classic Food & Wine Mom's Chocolate recipe - it's the delicious blend of moist and rich cake. For the topping, I made a chocolate buttercream like this Martha Stewart recipe and added crushed Oreo cookies on top for the dirt effect.
Chocolate Molds
2x bags of Ghirardelli Bittersweet chocolate chips
2 - 4 Tbl shortening
Eyeball and Bones candy mold
Halloween tombstone and skull candy mold
Sprinkles *optional
Ghost Strawberries
1 pint Strawberries *my favorites are Driscoll's
1 bag Ghirardelli white chocolate chips
DIRECTIONS
Cake + Frosting
Follow the cake recipe instructions above! Let cool, then see below for assembling.
Chocolate Molds
You can make these several hours before or even a day before! All you needs is to melt chocolate with 1 Tbl to 2 Tbl of shortening. If you're like me and don't have a microwave, use the double boil method by boiling a pot of water then placing a glass bowl on top of the pot, then putting the chocolate into the bowl with the shortening and stirring until melted (and no lumps).
Take a spoon and place the melted chocolate into the molds. For a fun effect, you can also add sprinkles inside the mold for the graves (or any of the shapes!).
Once the chocolate is filled to the top, take the backside of a knife and scrape across the top so the excess chocolate is removed. Wipe the knife with a paper towel and repeat until the chocolate molds are completely flat with chocolate.
Place in the fridge and let harden. You can also save some of the melted chocolate and remelt it for the strawberry ghost eyes.
Once harden, remove the chocolate pieces from the molds by gently inverting the mold so it pops out!
Ghost Strawberries
Follow the same melting method as the chocolate molds, but this time with white chocolate.
Wash your strawberries and dry them with a paper towel.
Dip the red part of the strawberries into the chocolate to cove it. Place on a wax paper surface and let the chocolate harden. You can either let harden and add dots with the melted chocolate or place a small chocolate chip as the eyes on the strawberry while the chocolate is still wet.
Assembling the graveyard cake
Take your cake out of the pan and flip on top of an upside down cookie sheet or place on a platter. Spread the chocolate butter cream frosting on top with a generous layer.
Place your Oreos in a plastic bag and smash with a rolling pin or wooden spool. Once crushed, sprinkle on top of the frosting to cover it, giving it a dirt effect.
Next, place your chocolate mold bones, grave stones and skulls around the top of the cake. Fill in gaps with the ghost strawberries.
Turn on spooky Halloween music and ENJOY!
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