Thursday, October 10, 2013

BE-WITCHING CAKE


You may have seen this
BE-WITCHING CAKE
on the cover of
Woman's World Magazine!

Of course I was smitten at once 
and had to give it a try.


It took a good afternoon to make
but it was a lot of creative fun.

Cute little witches are gathered
with their brooms around the
cake to create an enchanting Halloween cake.


I began with two recipes of my favorite
cake which I divided into 3-8 inch pans to get
a really nice tall cake and baked them for 30-35
minutes.

Next the creativity began.  
I made some quick chocolate clay for the shoes
and the brooms and found that I could harden
the clay by putting it in the fridge rather
than sitting it on the counter overnight
so that was a great new trick.


Then instead of making royal frosting
to cover the pretzel rods for the
legs (that was what the magazine
directed, but you had to wait overnight)
 I dipped them in colored
molding chocolate.  I found a tall narrow
glass that I could put the chocolate in
so that I could use the least amount
of molding chocolate and tipped the glass
so I could get the chocolate up as high
on the rod as I needed.

I filled a bowl with sugar
to sit them upright in while they dried.


If you want to add candy decorations
to the legs, use a tweezers and 
apply while still slightly tacky.


For stripes I tried an edible marker but
it didn't want to write on the chocolate
so I used Americolor black gel food
coloring and painted it on.  It took a little
longer to dry but worked great.

I also made polka dots with the black gel
by dipping the end of my paint brush into
the gel and touching the paint onto the
leg.  Be sure and dip between each dot.


These legs got a sprinkling of purple
sanding sugar while still wet.



The brooms are made from yellowish 
clay rolled around a twisted pretzel.


The shoes are formed out of 
black chocolate clay
which I finished off with
black sanding sugar.




Be-Witching Cake Recipe
3 8 inch cake layers, baked and cooled
Buttercream Icing (follows)
Pretzel Rods (I got Snyders - less salt to
scrape off so the legs are smoother)
Pretzel twists - Rold Gold Honey Wheat
Molding Chocolate in
Black, White, Purple, Green and Orange
Sanding sugars
Candy decorations

Chocolate Clay Recipe
5 oz molding chocolate
1 1/2 T. light corn syrup

Either weigh out your chocolate
with a kitchen scale or it measured
out to a slightly heaped 3/4 C.
Place in a microwave safe bowl
and heat at 30 second intervals
stirring each interval whether it
looks like it or not.  Your greatest
risk to scorch your chocolate comes
from choosing a bowl that is not
microwave safe and not stirring it.
Remove and stir the last few lumps
out.  This small amount should take
60 seconds or just a little longer.
Stir in the corn syrup.  It will become
like a thick frosting.  Place this on
a small place covered in plastic
wrap and place in the fridge until firm.
When you remove it, it will need some
kneading but will become very pliable.
It can be a little greasy, but just wipe
your hands off often.

Make some black clay using black
chocolate molding if available or
add black gel food coloring and
make some yellowish clay by adding
brown and yellow.

Witch Shoes

Black Chocolate Clay
Black Sanding Sugar

Knead the clay until soft and
well mixed and pinch off about
a 3/4 inch ball.  Roll it into a ball
and then pinch one end into the 
pointed toe, curling it up.  Flatten
the other end and using a pretzel rod
make an indentation for the leg to go
into, making sure it is a little bigger
as it will be covered with chocolate.
Form the heel by cutting a wedge out
with a knife.  Coat with sanding sugar


Pretzel Rod Legs
3/4 C. melting chocolate in
purple, orange and green
3 tsp. vegetable oil, divided

Melt 3/4 C. of one color
molding chocolate with 1 tsp. 
vegetable oil by
placing in a microwave safe bowl
and microwaving in 30 second intervals
making sure to stir between each interval.
When smooth, pour into a narrow
glass that you can dip the rods
in.  

Have a bowl full of sugar to stand the
pretzel rods in or a block of styrofoam
so that they can dry upright.

Measure about how high you
want the chocolate to be on your
rods based on the height of your cake.  
you will want them to be about 1 inch
down from the top of the cake
and account for the height of your shoes.
I dipped mine and then cut the 
undipped part off later before I 
assembled the cake using a knife.
Decorate each pair as you go along
if you are going to attach decorations
to the wet chocolate.

Buttercream Frosting
1 1/2 C. butter, room temp
pinch of salt
4 tsp. almond extract or
clear vanilla if you prefer
12 C. powdered sugar
about 1/2 C. water or milk

In a large mixing bowl with the
whisk attachment, place the ingredients
except the water.  Add most of the water
and turn it on to whip it.  Add additional
water if needed.  It is always easier 
to add a little more water than more
powdered sugar.  Beat about 7 minutes.
It should be spreadable but stiff
enough to pipe.


When all of the shoes and legs are
prepared, fill and frost the cake.  You
need the frosting to be soft so that
you can press the legs into the sides
of the cake.  

Evenly space the desired number
of legs around the cake.  Place
the shoes on and then place the
legs into the shoes and the sides
of the cake.  

Color the remaining frosting
purple, orange and green and
using a rose tip pipe on the skirts
making sure the thick end is next
to the cake.

Brooms
Rold Gold Honey Wheat Pretzels
Yellowish chocolate clay

Knead the clay and roll it
into a snake.  Roll it out flat
and cut it into a 1 inch x 4 inch
piece.  Cut fringe on one side.
Roll it onto the pretzel and pinch
the top.  Attach the brooms
around the cake with a little
frosting.

Pipe bowls on shoes and brooms
and buckles onto shoes.  

Decorate the top of the cake as 
desired.



Decorate the top as desired.  I had made
6 sets of legs and found that 5 fit better so
I used the extra pair of legs and shoes
to make a cute topper!



Beaulah is always happy 
when we feature
witches on Purple Chocolat Home.

We will be posting this with


Jacqueline
Jacqueline

Chocolat - French for Chocolate. I adored chocolate from a young age when I had to sneak in the cupboard to find where my mother had hidden the Nestle's Chocolate Chips. Having read about the famous chocolat shoppes in Paris, when I finally got there I was determined to try a chocolate from every Paris shoppe. I invite you to share my adventures in creating, in travel, and in life.

18 comments:

  1. Your cake really turned out great Jacqueline! I'll bet you had a lot of fun making it... And everyone had a lot of fun eating it:@)

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  2. Kudos:)

    Prize winning!
    The patience you have:) And dexterity..
    Bravo.

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  3. That is the cutest cake ever! Great job...You are the queen of baking....
    Love the little legs and shoes. I bet you had a lot of fun too. xo Linda

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  4. Wow, that is a masterpiece, Jacqueline! Thanks for sharing.

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  5. That's such a fun cake! Much nicer than the bakery. :)

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  6. No question, you had to make this adorable cake. It's got your name all over it. Great job!

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  7. You leave me speechless. This is incredible. I hope you will share with us at our seasonal Pink Saturday.

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  8. This cake is so you and you nailed it!

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  9. Jacqueline, I am in awe of your creativity and skills! I was just thinking of the cake decorating I used to do with my mom when I was a kid and she was taking various craft classes, and wondering if I could still do it--but I think not, at least not like this! I love it! Linda

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  10. SO much work!
    SO adorable!
    SO worth it!
    SO HAPPY YOU SHARE!

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  11. This is too incredible, you put bakery cakes to shame. I adore "cute" food, but have no patience. If I tried to make this it would be a hot mess! You are a master cake baker! Well worth an afternoon!
    Jenna

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  12. I was looking for more Halloween Recipes and found your blog site. I hope it’s fine with you if I could pin some of these photos on my Pinterest boards. Thank you and keep sharing :D They look yummy than scary btw! Haha

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  13. You are an artist! I cannot believe that you made this adorable cake. It has so many tiny details and you pulled it off beautifully!! I know it will be hard to actually cut it, but it looks yummy, too!

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  14. Your cake is amazing, Jacqueline. I can see that it was a ton of work and your attention to detail is awesome. That is one of the cutest Halloween cakes I have ever seen. Fantastic!

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  15. Absolutely adorable!!!! How I wish I had the patience to do that...but alas...I do not. Off to the bakery I go!
    Wait.....how far away do you live from me? heheheheh

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  16. You're always welcome at Seasonal Sundays.

    - The Tablescaper

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  17. This cake is amazing and I love it so much! I'm tickled (orange AND pink!) that you shared it at the What's Scarier link party. Thank you so much and of course, pinning! Have a fabulous week!

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