Spooky Halloween Chocolate Cake with Merengue Ghosts Recipe

Spooky Halloween Chocolate Cake with Merengue Ghosts Recipe

• 1 Simple Chocolate Cake Recipe

• 1 and ½ cup soft cream cheese
• ½ cup butter at room temperature
• 3 and ¼ cups icing sugar
• ¼ cup cacao powder
• 1 tsp black food coloring

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 water
• 4 egg whites
• 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

• 4 tbsp. melted dark chocolate in a small pastry bag at room temperature

1. Beat the cream cheese in a bowl with a rubber spatula.
2. Fold in the butter.
3. Combine the icing sugar with the cacao powder and the food coloring. Add this mix in batches into the cream cheese until you get a creamy frosting and reserve it in the fridge in an airtight container

1. Place the sugar and water into a small saucepan over medium-high heat and let it boil until it turns into a syrup. It's ready when it reaches 240 F in a candy thermometer. If you don't have a candy thermometer, you can test that the syrup is ready using a glass of water. After 5 minutes boiling drop a small bit of syrup in the water; it it beads into a ball it's ready, if it dissolves, keep boiling.
2. Meanwhile, whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar to stiff peaks using a stand mixed with whisk attachment. Keep whisking and and slowly pour the syrup, and continue whisking until you get a stiff meringue. Put it in a pastry bag fitted with a piping round nozzle. Keep it in the fridge - you'll have a lot leftover!

1. Put one cake on a cake plate. Cover with 5 or 6 tbsp of frosting, then place the second cake on top and spread around the entire cake so it's black.
2. Take the pastry bag with meringue and pipe it to form the ghosts on the cake surface.
3. With small chocolate pastry bag draw the eyes on ghosts.