Bone to be Wild

It's mid-October, and I am dying over the fall weather in New Mexico. Chilly walks in the morning get an A+ for spookiness because there's usually several flocks of black birds and Chihuahuan Ravens cawing from the rooftops as the sun rises, and boy, does it ever make me feel right in my creepy element, and I LOVE IT! This inspired me to create a scene of one of my other favorite spooky places: Spiral Hill in Nightmare Before Christmas. Everyone needs a good hill to sing their heart out on, but when you add tombstones and deranged, demented pumpkins, it's just perfect. After all, demons are a girl's best friend.

Let's give 'em pumpkin to talk about.

Oh, I may be all about the terrors of the night, but we also know I am all about the sprinkle sparkle--so I had to make the night sky shine with some luster dust that really only picks up on video. It's a constant war in my head between "make it sparkly, but somehow also make it spooky," because inside, I am the Wicked Witch of the West just wrapped into a Glinda the Good Witch exterior, but I say, if the broom fits, fly it.

 

 Yeah, Jack looks more like a crash test dummy, so he definitely is a good example of why you should always use stencil templates instead of free-handing, especially when you're distinctly aware of the fact that you cannot draw a stick figure, but I am very pleased with how the rest of this cake turned out. The absolute best part is this is my first pumpkin dessert of the season, which means fall has truly arrived! It is a chocolate pumpkin cake because these are two flavors that just go so right together but no one ever thinks to combine them. But the nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon in pumpkin spice and the smooth richness of chocolate are a match made in heaven, even though this is an evil Halloween blog. It's all treats and no tricks, too, because it's only 226 calories a slice for 9 slices total (I like to eat my cake with a side of cake, so you could easily make this 12 servings for 170 calories).

 

Pumpkin spice and everything nice, indeed.

Even if you only sorta like pumpkin, you've gotta try it with chocolate...it's next level. This cake is SUPER easy to make, you just need:

• 1 box of chocolate cake mix
• 1/2 cup (111 grams) unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup (41 grams) egg whites
• 1 cup (244 grams) pumpkin puree
• 3/4 cup of milk
• 1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice (a little goes a very long way...)
  

Did I eat a spoonful of plain pumpkin? Or is there another reason it's still on the counter? ...IYKYK.

Start by preheating your oven to 350 and mixing all ingredients in a stand mixer for 2 minutes on medium high. Pour your batter into a 9x13 baking sheet that has been thoroughly sprayed with Pam or cooking spray beforehand. Bake this for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the cake clean,

I just love a good sheet cake. Sheet dreams are made of this!

Let the cake cool in the pan on top of a cooling rack for 10 minutes before you turn it out onto the cooling rack...I use a tea towel on top of the cake so when I flip the pan over, it's got somewhere soft to land on the rack. Put this in the fridge to cool off while you make delicious black cocoa cream cheese frosting.

Black cocoa is the MVP of black frosting recipes

This is a yogurt and cream cheese frosting, so be sure to strain your yogurt overnight in a sieve. I put a bunch of Viva paper towels (a cheesecloth would also work) in the strainer, then measure out the yogurt I need, put this on the paper towels, cover, and let sit in the fridge overnight to strain. Don't skip this step if you want to have a stiff, pipe-able frosting. You need:

• 8 ounces of 1/3 the fat cream cheese at room temp
• 1 cup (226 grams) yogurt, chilled and strained --I used vanilla, but if you can find pumpkin flavor...
• 1 1/2 cups Lakanto monkfruit or powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp cinnamon extract (alternatively, just use 1 TBS vanilla and omit this if you don't have cinnamon extract)
• 1/4 cup of black cocoa (I find mine on Amazon)
  

Whip the yogurt and cream cheese together for 2 minutes on medium high before adding the sugar and extracts. Mix well, then remove a portion of plain white frosting to save for the yellow moon and orange pumpkins later. This makes a lot of frosting--I only used about 1/3 since I didn't frost the sides of my sheet cake. You can freeze the rest for later because having black frosting on hand is handy even during Christmas (too soon).

You don't need a lot!

Now, turn your attention back to the mixing bowl and add the 1/4 cup of black cocoa. Mix well, until you have a frosting so black, you're worried it might consume your soul.

Given the opportunity, it most definitely would.

Now, take your fully cooled cake and slather a layer of that gorgeous, soul-sucking black frosting on top. It doesn't need to be perfectly smooth; I used a sweeping motion with my angled spatula to give the background some texture. Then place it in the freezer to set for 15 minutes while you make your moon stencils.

It's like staring into the world's most delicious abyss.

Don't worry, you don't need an actual compass.

So I took Parchment paper, a pencil, and a drinking glass to trace the cup upside down for a larger circle, and then right side up for a smaller circle/the base of the glass. Then I used my X-acto knife to cut out the inside of the circles.

Could be the start of a spooky ghost mask.

I cut these into two sheets, as pictured above. You'll need the larger hole to start with. So take some of your reserved frosting, and dye it yellow. You'll also need an angled spatula or a paint brush.

The dark side of the moon.

Place your larger template on top of your chilled frosting. Use your fingers or a paintbrush to gently push the edges down into the frosting so the yellow doesn't bleed everywhere.

Heap some yellow frosting into the center of the circle and spread it out evenly.

Then use your angled spatula to smooth out and sweep off excess frosting. This is going to be the outer glow of the moon, so you only need a very thin layer of frosting. Some black peeping through is fine:

I see the light!

You can remove your template now and use your paintbrush or angled spatula to make small sweeping motions from the outside edges of the moon out to the black on the cake to create that halo.

Hide your werewolves.

Now, throw back in the freezer for 15 minutes to let this layer set. Then you'll repeat with the smaller circle to make the main moon.

1. Smaller Stencil.

2. Even more yellow frosting & smoothing out with angled spatula.

3. Howl at the moon.

Now, grab a toothpick and carefully draw out spiral hill on top of the moon and rest of the cake. I should have moved this down a bit to make my hill bigger. By the time I got to Jack, he had a wee little space to fit in, which also adds to his unfortunate appearance. The Pumpkin King deserved better from me, the Pun-kin Queen of Halloween.

Cake decorating is hard work. You don't know Jack-o-lantern if you think it's a piece of cake. Well, eating it literally is anyway.

I took my bowl full of black frosting and loaded a bunch of it into a piping bag fitted with a coupler and a #5 round tip. I then traced the outline of the hill, and filled it in with more frosting. I used a palette knife, but an angled spatula would also work, to give the hill some texture.

Oh no, this is giving me Florida flashbacks. No waves! No beach!

I used my piping bag to draw a pretty rudimentary fence to meet up along side the hill, then drew out a few tombstones, using my palette knife to smooth them out. I also used a toothpick to draw Jack before butchering his appearance...I piped him out with a #2 round tip, but I HIGHLY suggest cutting out a template like I did with the moon and frosting him on top of the moon that way. And also, make him and the hill bigger. He is a larger than life character, after all.

He was bone to be wild, and I made him look mild. Sadness.

I also drew in some vines in black around each tombstone and along the sides of the cake. Then I took my last little bit of white frosting, dyed it orange, and put it into a piping bag with a #18 star tip. I piped a little field of cute pumpkins all over the graveyard. Simply pipe up and away quickly to create the pumpkin shape.

This is simply not creepy enough.

So, to remedy, I put the rest of my yellow frosting into a piping bag with a #2 round tip and piped tiny Jack-o-lantern faces on some of the pumpkins.

Are they smiling or screaming?

Now, NOTHING IS DONE IF THERE AREN'T SPRINKLES. Or in this case, edible glitter dust.

Always wondered if this would work as an eye shadow, not gonna lie.

This is my black disco dust, or edible food glitter. I ordered it from Amazon sixty-seven years ago, an Id have only ever remembered to use it twice. This being one of those times. I used a paintbrush dipped into the jar and then gently tapped the dust around the top half/sky portion of my cake, avoiding the moon.

Pictures don't do it justice.

This took the cake from being okay to being, OH, KAY! A little sparkle is always needed, even during Halloween.

I mean, it's a cake dedicated to a skeleton that wore a tuxedo. We need flare.

My poor Jack may look jacked up, but I love my creepy pumpkins, the texture and way my Spiral Hill turned out, and my spooky halo moon. I definitely think this is a cake I'll remake in a few years...with a template for Jack. He needs to shine! Like my night sky.

And maybe some different styles of tombstones.

Not every cake can be perfect, and sometimes the flaws make it a little more fun. That's probably why I enjoy Halloween baking so much. Things are supposed to look a little creepy and rough around the edges this time of year!

Turning that baking fail into a baking lesson!

I mean, poor Jack aside (he even looked better than this when he tried to be Santa), it's a still a cake. And oh my, what a yummy cake it is. I know pumpkin flavor has turned into the flavor of the basic white girl thanks to Starbucks (the one thing Seattle didn't get right), but pumpkin is still a solid flavor choice for October and November. And I'm telling you, even if you're on the fence or only kinda tolerate pumpkin flavor, just do me a favor and try it paired with chocolate. I promise it will make you a believer and part-time basic white girl. It is just so good with chocolate, and add in that black cocoa frosting (think Oreo cookie) along with the chocolate in the cake, and pumpkin is not the star player here, but part of a bigger cast of flavor. You know, consider these tastes the Lock, Shock, and Barrel of Halloween Town. Always working together to create havoc and mischief for your waistline. Worth it. I'll be back once more before Halloween with my final bake of Baketober (sad Mayor of Halloween Town face). 'Til next time, my fellow eaters!

"For it is plain as anyone can see. We're simply meant to be." —Jack and Sally, or me, to a slice of this cake.