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Black Velvet Cake is the perfect Dessert for Halloween!
We all know about the deliciousness of red velvet cake. But, have you ever tried Black Velvet Cake??
Add a few chocolate skulls to the top and you have a spooky Halloween cake perfect any ghoulish gathering!
What is Black Velvet Cake?
Black velvet cake is a chocolate cake made with black dutched processed cocoa, which gives it that deep dark color. There’s no activated charcoal in this cake, which is often used to make baked goods black. I’ve used it often as well.
Dutched cocoa powder is cocoa powder that has been treated with an alkaline solution to neutralize acidity, which makes it darker than regular cocoa powder. Black dutched processed cocoa powder is ultra Dutched. It has smoother non-bitter taste.
What is the difference between red velvet and black velvet cake?
Red velvet cake is a vanilla cake recipe with a small amount of cocoa powder and an added amount of red food color.
Black velvet cake differs by the amount of cocoa powder. It has a lot of cocoa, black cocoa, making it a chocolate cake. And there is no red food color.
How is it made?
I use my standard chocolate cake recipe and substitute the dark cocoa powder for the black dutched processed cocoa power. I also add in a mix of baking soda and vinegar just like red velvet cake. Mixing the baking soda with the vinegar is an interesting technique with the purpose of generate extra rising power. When they combine, they release carbon dioxide, a gas that helps cakes rise as they bake.
How to make the cake decor:
To make the chocolate drip, I used black candy melts and a spoonful of oil. I didn’t make a ganache type drip because I wanted the drip to resemble candle wax dripping.
For the Mini Skulls, I used a silicon skull mold. I melted black candy melts and oil and filled each skull mold with the mixture. Then, it needs to cool until completely hardened. This can be for 30 minutes to an hour in the freezer or refrigerator or overnight. Remove the skulls form the molds and add them on top of the cake.
Making the Black velvet cake with black buttercream makes a dark and spooky Halloween cake!
Here’s a link to get The Cocoa Trader Dutch Processed Black Cocoa Powder on Amazon
These are some other great Halloween themed bakes:
Black Velvet Cake
A spooky, dark, rich black velvet chocolate cake perfect for any Halloween gathering!
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 3/4 cup black dutched processed cocoa
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup oil
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 1/3 cup boiling water
Frosting
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- 2/3 cup dutched processed cocoa
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla
Drip
- 1 cup black candy melt
- 1-2 tbsp oil
Skull Heads
- 2 cups black candy melt
- 2-3 tbsp oil
Instructions
Cake
- Pre-Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour three 6-inch round baking pans. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat on medium speed of stand mixer 2 minutes.Mix baking soda and vinegar in a small dish. Pour into the batter and mix. Stir in boiling water. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
Frosting
- Add butter, cream cheese and cocoa to a stand mixer. Alternately add powdered sugar and heavy cream, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional heavy cream, if needed. Stir in vanilla. Frost the bottom layer. Add the second layer. Frost the second layer. Add the last layer and frost the whole cake.
Drip
- In a microwave safe bowl add candy melts and oil. Microwave for 45-50 second. Stir until mostly melted. Add more time in 10 second increments and stir until its fully melted. Pour into a pastry bag and cut off the tip. Pipe around the edges to make the drip resemble candle wax.
Skulls
- In a microwave safe bowl add candy melts and oil. Microwave for 45-50 second. Stir until mostly melted. Add more time in 10 second increments and stir until its fully melted. Pour into a pastry bag and cut off the tip. Squeeze into mini skull mold. place in to the freezer for 30-60 minutes or until completely hardened. remove from molds and place on top of the cake.
Sonia
October 27, 2021 at 6:51 amI’ve never had to purchase ‘activated charcoal.’ Each time I google it, dental cleaning products pop up. Is this correct? Sorry, for some reason it wouldn’t let me respond when I was looking at your red velvet cake with black frosting.
Peaches2Peaches
March 29, 2022 at 10:43 amHi Sonia! I use Anthony’s Goods Activated Charcoal. It’s a food grade charcoal. Here is the link. Hope this helps!
https://anthonysgoods.com/products/activated-charcoal-ultra-fine-powder-batch-tested-gluten-free