Halloween Cake with Eyeballs (surprisingly easy chocolate cake)
Servings 16 slices
This Halloween cake with eyeballs is a fun, creepy dessert that's sure to be the hit of any party. The cake is incredibly moist and and it's topped off with cream cheese frosting, canned lychees + blueberry eyeballs and strawberry jam "blood." With a gluten-free and egg-free option.
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 cups (400 grams) granulated sugar or coconut sugar or 1 cup (320 grams) runny honey
- 1 3/4 cups (220 grams) flour see notes
- 3/4 cup (85 grams) cocoa powder I used Dutch-process
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs 50 grams each out of shell; or 2 chia eggs for egg-free, see notes
- 1 cup (240 ml) milk of choice see notes
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) oil see notes
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup (240 ml) boiling water
For the frosting:
- 16 ounces (450 grams) cream cheese room temperature, see notes
- 1/4 cup (56 grams) unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 1/3 cups (160 grams) powdered sugar sifted if lumpy
- pinch salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the decoration:
- canned lychees 1 can should be enough
- blueberries
- strawberry jam without chunks of strawberries
Instructions
To make the cake:
- Preheat your oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Line 2 round 8" cake pans with parchment paper on the bottom and then grease the sides of the pans.
- In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.2 cups (400 grams) granulated sugar, 1 3/4 cups (220 grams) flour, 3/4 cup (85 grams) cocoa powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt
- Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla.2 large eggs, 1 cup (240 ml) milk of choice, 1/2 cup (120 ml) oil, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Mix until combined and then stir in the boiling water. The batter will be almost as thin as water.1 cup (240 ml) boiling water
- Divide the batter between the two pans.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with maybe some moist crumbs, but no uncooked liquid.
- Let cool for 5 minutes in the pans, and then turn out onto a rack to cool. Let cool completely, about 2 hours, before frosting.
To make the frosting:
- In a medium mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together with an electric hand mixer at medium speed until well combined. It's okay if it looks a little crumbly.16 ounces (450 grams) cream cheese, 1/4 cup (56 grams) unsalted butter
- Gradually beat in the powdered sugar until totally combined and then beat in the salt and vanilla. If it's firm enough, frost the cake.1 1/3 cups (160 grams) powdered sugar, pinch salt, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- If you want it firmer, refrigerate for about an hour, stirring the frosting after about 30 minutes. Don't let it chill too long before frosting your cake, though, because it gets quite firm, like a cream cheese tart filling. If that happens, just bring it to room temperature and then frost.
- The frosting firms up once refrigerated but gets softer as it sits at room temperature. I think it's best to chill the frosted cake until firm so that you can add the eyeballs + jam without worrying about the jam getting watery.
To decorate:
- I'd recommend decorating just a few hours before serving so that the jam doesn't start to run. I also recommend not transporting the decorated cake. It's best to transport the frosted cake and then decorate it once you get to your destination. It really only takes a few minutes.
- Rinse the lychees and pat them dry with paper towels.canned lychees
- Place a blueberry in the center of the lychee and place on a paper towel-lined plate until all the eyeballs are ready. Place the eyeballs on the frosted cake (blueberry facing up).blueberries
- Spread about 1 - 1 1/2 teaspoons of jam over each eye and slightly onto the frosting. Use however many you think is enough.strawberry jam
- Keep chilled until ready to serve. It's fine to sit out at a party for a few hours. Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 4 days. The jam will probably get weird. I'd probably remove the decorations if you want to store it more than a day. You can also remove the eyeballs and freeze slices for a few months.
Notes
- For the flour, you can use all-purpose or whole wheat; or for gluten-free, use 1 3/4 cup (242 grams) Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-free Baking Flour.
- To make the chia eggs for this recipe, mix together 2 tablespoons of ground chia seed with 6 tablespoons of water until well combined. Let sit for about 1-2 minutes or until goopy like regular eggs.
- If you want to use canned coconut milk, I recommend using 1/2 cup of that + 1/2 cup of water, as canned coconut milk is much thicker than regular milk.
- If you use coconut oil, melt it. I also recommend using refined coconut oil so that your cake has no coconut taste to it.
- We have a different type of cream cheese in the US than the rest of the world (as far as I know) that's firmer and meant for baking, rather than the kind for toast, like in Europe. For 8 ounces (225 grams) of cream cheese, buy a 300-gram package (the stuff at Aldi, Lidl, etc. works just as well as Philadelphia), put it in the center of a clean tea towel or cheesecloth, and squeeze out the liquid until you have 225 grams of cream cheese. You can now make cream cheese frosting without issue. So for this recipe, buy 600 grams of cream cheese and squeeze out the liquid until you have 450 grams of cream cheese left.
- Adapted from Hershey’s One Bowl Chocolate Cake.
- The nutrition information was calculated using 2% milk and the decorations are not included.
- The nutrition information provided is calculated as a courtesy and is only an estimate. I am not a licensed nutritionist or dietitian. For the most accurate nutritional data, consult a professional or use your preferred calculator. The values were calculated without the canned lychees, blueberries and jam.
Nutrition
Calories: 398kcalCarbohydrates: 50gProtein: 5gFat: 21gSaturated Fat: 9gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 58mgSodium: 394mgPotassium: 144mgFiber: 2gSugar: 37gVitamin A: 514IUVitamin C: 0.03mgCalcium: 79mgIron: 1mgNet Carbs: 48
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