Spooky Cinnamon Chocolate Skulls

I love Halloween, and these cinnamon chocolate skulls with white chocolate glaze that are resting on a bed of super creepy blood (raspberry coulis) are the perfect thing to snack on while you watch Hocus Pocus on repeat.

I'm such a sucker for campy Halloween treats. Anything vampire, ghost, or zombie-themed gets me so over the top excited. So I nearly died when I saw this skull cakelet mold from Nordic bakeware. It's just too fun! I'm now trying to think of 5 billion other things I can make in this guy. Right now, I'm leaning towards a peanut butter swirl something.

For the Cake:

The base for this cake is my favorite bourbon chocolate cake, and I've added a heavy helping of cinnamon for some heat and a touch of Cointreau to add some depth of flavor. I wanted some heat packed into this recipe to add to the spooky ness. It's sooooo good. This is also a super wet batter, so don't freak out that it's not thicker it will bake well and come out of the mold nicely. Grease the mold with nonstick spray and a heavy dusting of cocoa powder.

 For the glaze:

White chocolate glaze is excellent because it's so freaking easy to make. Just heat the cream until it starts to boil and then pour that over white chocolate chips. Let it set and boom; you have got a glaze!

For the blood (coulis):

This also such an easy thing to make, and it add such a fun, creepy vibe to the skulls. Just heat the sugar and water to make a simple syrup, purree that with the raspberries, and a touch of Cointreau, and you have yourself some delicious coulis. If you want a smoother finish, you can remove the seeds with a sieve. 

Spooky Cinnamon Chocolate Skulls

• Author: pate giltner

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

For the cake:

1. 1 ¾ cups of all-purpose flour 
2. 2 cups of sugar
3. ¾ cups cocoa powder 
4. 2 teaspoons baking soda 
5. 1 teaspoon baking powder
6. 1 teaspoon salt 
7. ¾ cup buttermilk 
8. ¼ cup bourbon
9. 5 tsp ground cinnamon
10. 3 tbsp Cointreau 
11. ½ cup canola oil
12. 2 large eggs
13. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
14. 1 cup hot coffee

For the glaze:

1. 1 pound white chocolate chips
2. ⅔ cup heavy cream

For the coulis:

1. ½ cup sugar 
2. 3 tbsp water 
3. 12 ounces raspberries 
4. 1 tbsp Cointreau

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Instructions

For the cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease and cover the bottom of the cake pan with cocoa powder. 
2. Whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
3. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, vanilla, Cointreau, and bourbon. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry.
4. Next, add in the coffee and mix to combine.
5. Pour the mixture into each skull until ¾ full. You will need to make these in two batches. Bake for 20 minutes. Set aside to cool completely. 

For the glaze:

1. Cook the cream on medium heat until it starts to boil. 
2. Place the white chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl, pour the boiling cream on top and let sit for 15 minutes.
3.  Stir until smooth and pour over the cooled skull cakes. 

For the coulis:

1. Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and heat to make s simple syrup. Puree the simple syrup, raspberries, and Cointreau until smooth.  

 

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