Halloween Graveyard Cake

A deliciously spooky chocolate traybake cake with oreo soil, biscuit tombstones, a chocolate finger fence and jelly snakes. Perfect for Halloween!

Course Dessert

Cuisine British

Keyword Cake, Halloween, Traybake

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 25

Decorating time 30

Total Time 1 15

Servings +

Calories 800kcal

Author thebakingexplorer

Ingredients

For the cake

225 g Butter or baking spread unsalted, softened
225 g Light brown soft sugar
4 Eggs large
1 tsp Vanilla extract
75 ml Milk
175 g Self raising flour
50 g Cocoa powder
¼ tsp Baking powder
¼ tsp Bicarbonate of soda

For the chocolate buttercream

200 g Butter unsalted, softened
325 g Icing sugar
75 g Cocoa powder
3 tbsp Milk

For the green buttercream

25 g Butter unsalted, softened
50 g Icing sugar
⅛ tsp Vanilla extract
¼ tsp Milk
Green food colouring

For decoration

125 g Dark chocolate melted
8 Biscoff biscuits
25 g White candy melts or white chocolate
200 g Chocolate fingers
120 g Oreos crushed into crumbs
Jelly snakes optional
Fondant pumpkins optional

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Pre-heat your oven to 160C Fan/180C/350F/Gas Mark 4, and grease and line a 12" x 9" traybake tin
Make the cake by mixing the baking spread (or butter) and light brown soft sugar in a large bowl until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes, ideally using an electric mixer
Add the eggs, milk and vanilla extract, and mix until fully incorporated
Gently mix or fold in the self raising flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda
Pour the mixture into the tin, smooth it out if needed to spread it out evenly
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool fully either in the tin or on a cooling rack
While the cake is baking and cooling, make the biscuit graves. Snap about a third of the biscuit off at the end, this makes them a bit shorter and a better size for the cake. Melt the dark chocolate and dip the biscuit into it, shaking off any excess gently, place onto baking paper to set. Once the dark chocolate is set, melt the white candy melts and put in a piping bag. Snip a small bit off the end of the piping bag. Pipe on your chosen designs, then leave to set
To make the chocolate buttercream, mix the butter in an electric mixer with the paddle attachment for a few minutes. Add the icing sugar, cocoa powder and milk and mix until well combined. You can add more milk if the buttercream is too stiff
Ideally using an angled palette knife, spread the buttercream all over the top and sides of the cake
Break the chocolate fingers into varying lengths, stick them around the sides of the cake with the broken side down, push them gently into the buttercream so they stick to the cake. Then cover the top of the cake with the Oreo crumbs
Use a knife to cut slits in the top of the cake where you want the biscuit graves to go, then gently push them into the slits. Decorate the rest of the cake with the jelly snakes, fondant pumpkins, or whatever decor you have
Make the green grass buttercream by mixing together the butter and icing sugar, then add the vanilla and green food colouring, and mix until smooth and the desired shade is achieved. For best results use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a handheld electric mixer
Put the green buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a multi opening grass nozzle, and add some "grass" around the biscuit graves, and in random places all over the cake. Or add small blobs with a spoon and use the back of a spoon to flick the buttercream around and create texture
To serve, slice into squares. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in a cool place and eat within 3 days

Video

Notes

Make sure all your ingredients (particularly the butter and eggs) are at room temperature before you start baking.
I used a baking spread for the cake and unsalted butter for the buttercream.
If you can't get hold of light brown soft sugar, you can also use regular caster sugar for this cake.
You will need a 12" x 9" traybake tin for this recipe. However, if you want to make it in a 9" square tin, check the recipe notes for the measurement details.
I used Cadbury chocolate fingers around the cake, you could also use kit kats or chocolate matchmakers, or any long chocolate stick.
You can use any cocoa powder for this cake, of course the better quality it is, the better flavour it will have. Also do make sure you are using cocoa powder and not a hot chocolate powder.
For the gravestones, you could use bourbon biscuits or shortbread instead.
Although I provide cup measurements, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients out using digital kitchen scales. It is the most accurate way to measure ingredients and will ensure the best results. Digital scales are very low cost and can be purchased for around £12 ($16.50).
For teaspoon (tsp) and tablespoon (tbsp) measurements, please use measuring spoons and not the type of spoons you eat with. Again this will ensure accuracy and provide the best results.

If you want to make this cake in a 9" square tin you will need:

170g Butter or baking spread
170g Light brown soft sugar
3 Large eggs
1 tsp Vanilla extract
130g Self raising flour
38g Cocoa powder
Scant ¼ tsp Baking powder
Scant ¼ tsp Bicarbonate of soda
56ml Milk

Nutrition