Easy chocolate mud cake recipe for Halloween

MIXER ACCESSORY/ATTACHMENT: flex edge + whisk

Prep time: 25 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 200g unsalted butter, cubed
• 250g good quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped
• 3 teaspoons instant espresso coffee powder
• 1 cup (250ml) thickened cream
• 3 eggs
• ½ cup (90g) dark brown sugar
• 1½ cups (220g) plain flour
• ⅓ cup (30g) cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Extra cocoa powder, for dusting 

Decoration:

• 3-4 Oreo biscuits
• Popping candy in natural colour tones
• Sweet pre bought biscuits in the shape of grave stones
• Honey comb
• Pre brought black icing
• Pre brought orange icing
• Candy eyes
• Dark chocolate
• x2 paddle pop sticks

Method

1. Preheat oven 160°C fan forced. Grease and line a 20 cm round cake tin with baking paper. Combine butter, chocolate, coffee, and sugar in a heatproof bowl over simmering water. Stir until smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool 5 minutes.
2. Attach the Flex Edge beater to the KitchenAid® Stand Mixer. Add cream and chocolate coffee mixture to the bowl. Mix on speed 2 until incorporated. While the motor is still running, add eggs, one at a time, and mix until combined. Add sugar and mix well.
3. Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder together. Turn off mixer, add the flour mixture and mix on speed 1 until just combined. Do not over mix. Pour mixture into prepared pan and smooth surface with a spatula.
4. Bake on middle shelf of oven for 1 hour, or until skewer comes out clean when tested. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

To decorate the cake:

5. Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler, coat the strawberries and allow to cool slightly before sticking on candy eyes.
6. To make a spooky tree: Melt the dark chocolate in a double boiler, lay a sheet of baking paper out onto a tray. Using a small spoon, spoon out the chocolate half way up of a paddle pop stick completely covering it, forming the tree trunk. Spoon more chocolate on to form the spooky tree branches. Allow to completely harden before adding to the cake.
7. Scrape off and discard the Oreo icing. Place the biscuits into a lip lock bag and smash up using a rolling pin until it turns into a crumb.
8. Draw on the biscuit tomb stones and honey comb pieces.
9. Slice small holes in the top of the cake and very gently push in the tomb stones. Place the spooky trees to the back of the cake, using the paddle pop sticks. Sprinkle the crushed Oreo biscuits around the tomb stones followed by the popping candy.
10. Finish off the cake with the ghost white chocolate coated strawberries and small piped pumpkins with the orange pre-bought icing.

Tips

Having a second mixing bowl, makes easy cooking! Additional bowls are available from stockists in stainless steel (2.8L and 4.8L) and 4.7L glass bowl.