Meringue Ghost Halloween Cake
My Ghost Meringue Cake has a rich, velvety red velvet base, creamy frosting, and crisp, airy meringue ghosts that melt in your mouth.
Ingredients
Meringues
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 2 large egg whites 55g each
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartare
- 120 g caster sugar
- 7 g pure vanilla extract
- Black food gel for eyes and mouth
Red Velvet Cake
- 450 g cake flour see notes
- 24 g unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/4 tsp bicarb soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 260 g caster sugar see notes
- 600 g buttermilk see notes
- 175 g vegetable oil or canola oil
- 4 large eggs room temperature (55g each)
- 14 g vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp red liquid food dye not food gel (see notes)
- 1 1/4 tsp white vinegar
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 500 g unsalted butter softened (see notes)
- 500 g full-fat cream cheese block not spreadable, chilled
- 7 g vanilla extract
- 300 g milk powder see notes
- 600 g powdered sugar sieved
Instructions
Meringue Ghosts
- Preheat a fan-forced oven to 100C / 210F (120C / 245F for no fan). Line a large baking tray with baking paper.
- Clean the bowl - Pour the vinegar into a metal or glass mixing bowl. Use a paper towel to wipe until dry. This will ensure your meringue whips up properly.
- Whisk the egg whites - Add egg whites and cream of tartar to the mixing bowl. Use a stand mixer with a whisk attachment or a hand-held mixer on a medium-high speed. Whisk until the mixture becomes frothy, about 60-90 seconds.
- Adding the sugar - With the mixer on medium-high speed, add 1 tbsp of sugar at a time, waiting a few second between each addition. Once all the sugar is added, continue whisking on medium-high speed for 3 - 4 minutes until the meringue is thick and glossy. Stop the mixer, add the vanilla extract, whisk for 30 seconds.
- Preparing the baking tray - Transfer the meringue to a piping bag, fitted with a large round tip and twist the end to secure. Pipe small dots of meringue on each corner of the baking tray, then press the baking paper on top to hold it in place.
- To pipe the meringue ghosts - Hold the piping tip 2 cm above the baking tray. Squeeze to create a round base. Lift slightly while easing pressure to form a tall shape. Stop squeezing and lift to create a peak.
- Bake - Bake the meringues for 1 hour. Once baked, leave in the oven to cool completely with the door slightly ajar, about 3 hours. Overnight is best.
- Painting the faces - Use a food-safe brush to apply the black food gel for the eyes and mouths on the meringue ghosts. Refer to the notes for storage instructions. Allow them to dry completely before using, about 10 minutes.
Red Velvet Cake
- Preheat a fan-forced oven to 140C / 285F (160C / 320F for no fan). Spray two 20cm / 8-inch cake tins with oil spray and line the bottoms with baking paper.
- Combine dry ingredients - Add the cake flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarb soda, salt and caster sugar to a large mixing bowl and use a whisk to combine. Set aside.
- Combine wet ingredients - To a large jug or medium sized mixing bowl add the buttermilk, vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla extract, red food dye and white vinegar. Whisk until fully combined.
- Combine wet with dry - Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk until no dry ingredients are showing. Small lumps are ok, the key is to not overmix.
- Bake - Divide the batter evenly between the two cake tins. Bake in the middle rack of your oven for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Once baked allow to cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cream butter and cream cheese - Place the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Alternatively, you can use a hand-held mixer to make the frosting. Mix on low speed to begin with, to help break up the cream cheese a little, then increase the speed to medium-high for a couple of minutes to help combine the cream cheese and butter.
- Add sugar and milk powder - After a couple of minutes, stop your mixer and scrape down the side of the bowl with a spatula. Add the powdered sugar, milk powder and vanilla. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are fully incorporated, then bring the speed back up to high. Continue beating on high speed, about 5 minutes, until your frosting is fluffy and turns pale in color. Scrape down the bowl and beat on high speed for a final 2 minutes. Add to a piping bag.
Let’s decorate!
- Trim cakes - Start by trimming the tops off your cake layers to give them level on top.
- Layer cake - Add the first layer of cake to a serving plate or cake board. Pipe some frosting on top and use an offset spatula to spread around flat. Add the next layer of cake.
- Final layer of frosting - Cover the cake in frosting and even off the sides and top as neatly as you can.
- To finish decorating - Drizzle with chocolate sauce and allow to set before placing the meringue ghosts on top right before serving.
Video
Notes
Cake Flour - Cake flour is a low protein flour that is used to make desserts light and moist. You can use store bought which has a much finer flour consistency, or simply make your own with my simple recipe. Click here to get the recipe and learn all the tips and tricks.
To make your own buttermilk - Combine 250g of whole milk with 1 teaspoon of white vinegar. Whisk and let it sit for 5 minutes to curdle, then whisk again. Use dairy milk for the best results.
Red Food Dye - For this recipe, you need to use liquid food dye. Not food gel. To get that bright red color, you would have to use the entire bottle of red food gel. Trust me, I’ve tried it.
Caster sugar - Caster sugar, also known as superfine sugar, is a fine sugar often used for cakes which helps give you a finer and more delicate cake crumb. If you don’t have it, you can use granulated sugar.
Butter - It’s important to use butter that is high in fat and softened. Usually, butter made in New Zealand and France is good quality butter. Using cheap butter can cause your frosting to split. You also want to make sure your butter is softened. If you keep your butter in the fridge you can soften it by adding it to the microwave for 10 seconds at a time, turning over each time until softened. It usually takes about 2-4 goes.
Cream cheese - You want to use what is called ‘block style’ cream cheese for this recipe and straight out of the fridge, cold. This is different to ‘spreadable’ cream cheese which is soft even when it’s cold. ‘Block style’ cream cheese helps give this frosting structure. If you’re in the UK, you can use any brand block style cream cheese, I would recommend the Philadelphia brand cream cheese. It’s important that you use cold cream cheese, straight out of the fridge.
Milk Powder - Milk powder adds richness to the frosting. You can use skim or full-fat milk powder. Find it in the long-life milk aisle at the supermarket.
How to use the meringues - Place the meringues on top just before serving to keep them from softening. Wait until the chocolate sauce is fully set before adding them.
Black food gel alternative - You can use a food safe marker instead of black food gel if you prefer.
For clean slices - chill the cake in the fridge for 20-30 minutes before slicing. Run a sharp knife under hot water, wipe dry and slice. Repeat this with every slice.
Storing the cake - Store the cake in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. Bring it to room temperature before serving for the best texture.
Storing the meringues - Store meringues in an airtight container with baking paper between layers. Make them up to three days in advance, but keep them away from moisture to maintain their crisp texture.
A note on measurements – This recipe uses weight measurements for the most accurate results. Cup measurements can vary depending on where you are, which affects the precision needed for a recipe like this. Here is where you can learn more about how to measure ingredients using digital kitchen scales.
Nutrition
Calories:363kcal | Carbohydrates:35g | Protein:6g | Fat:15g | Saturated Fat:11g | Polyunsaturated Fat:1g | Monounsaturated Fat:3g | Trans Fat:1g | Cholesterol:36mg | Sodium:325mg | Potassium:205mg | Fiber:2g | Sugar:12g | Vitamin A:88IU | Vitamin C:1mg | Calcium:82mg | Iron:2mg
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