Spooky Rose Cake for Halloween
This Spooky Rose Cake for Halloween is made with black cocoa powder and activated charcoal for a naturally black cake that’s perfect for Halloween! This rich and fudgy chocolate marshmallow cake is topped with black flowers and marshmallow spider web for a festive and delicious cake!
If you’re looking for more Halloween recipes, check out some of my other favorites like Pumpkin Spice Latte Protein Brownies, Caramel Lollipops, Halloween Dessert Board, Brown Butter Pumpkin Cookies With Caramel, or Organic Halloween Cookies With Sprinkles.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Spooky Rose Cake for Halloween
- Ready In: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Makes: 6-inch layer cake
- Main Ingredients: canola oil, cane sugar, black cocoa powder, activated charcoal
- Flavor Profile: rich chocolate with creamy marshmallow
- Dietary Info: gluten free swap available
- Difficulty: Medium
- Why You’ll Love It: dye free black cake that's perfect for Halloween
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Halloween Cake: You will love this Spooky Rose Cake for Halloween because this black cake is perfect for a Halloween party! I love that this is festive, but not traditional Halloween such as just orange, black, witches or ghosts. It's a little different, but still festive!
- Black Cake: I use black cocoa powder inside this moist and fudgy chocolate cake (think Matilda cake). And I use black cocoa powder and activated charcoal for a seriously black buttercream with no artificial colors!
- Spooky AF: This Spooky Rose Cake for Halloween is topped with black roses and leaves in the theme of a haunted garden! And, I use organic marshmallow crème to drizzle over the cake so it looks like spider webs! So, this dark chocolate and fudgy Halloween cake tastes just as good as it looks!
Ingredients
- Canola Oil: I use organic canola oil for the most neutral flavor in this Halloween cake. If you are avoiding seed oils, you can use EVOO in its place.
- Vanilla Extract: Use a high quality vanilla extract, not imitation.
- Heavy Whipping Cream: I use organic heavy whipping cream in the cake, which adds more moisture and fat which helps keep this chocolate cake from drying out.
- All Purpose Flour: I use organic all purpose flour, making this Halloween cake simple to make with no fancy flour required!
- Black Cocoa Powder: Organic black cocoa powder provides flavor and is also what gives this black cake its daringly dark color!
- Baking Powder: Make sure to use baking powder, not soda for a tender crumb. Be sure to check out my post the Difference Between Baking Soda and Baking Powder for more info on leavening agents.
- Activated Charcoal: Using Organic Activated Charcoal makes a black frosting without any artificial colors!
- Marshmallow Creme: I use Toonie Mooni Vanilla Marshmallow Crème for the “spider webs” on this black cake.
*For a full list of ingredients and measurements, visit the recipe card below.
Baker's Tips for Spooky Rose Cake for Halloween
- Always use a digital food scale for the best results.
- You can use a hand mixer in place of a stand mixer if you prefer, either works.
- If you're avoiding seed oils, jus replace the canola oil with EVOO or avocado oil.
- You can use different numbered tips, for example, Wilton tips will have a different number so long as they are star tips for the roses and leaf tip for the leaves.
- Be sure to store leftover cake in an airtight container.
- Gluten Free — Replace the all purpose flour with 308 grams gluten free flour blend, I tested this with Namaste Organic Perfect Flour Blend.
- High Altitude — Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
How to Make a Spooky Rose Cake for Halloween
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two 6-inch cake pans with parchment paper. To make the batter: In a large mixing bowl, add the canola oil, heavy whipping cream, cane sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract.
- Whisk together until combined.
- Add the flour, black cocoa powder, baking powder, and fine sea salt.
- Mix on low until combined into a smooth batter.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pans, they should weigh about 400 grams each.
- Bake for 35 to 37 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely in the cake pans.
- To make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, powdered sugar, black cocoa powder, heavy whipping cream, and vanilla extract. Mix on low until combined and then speed mixer up to high and mix for at least 1 minute or until light and fluffy. Fit a piping bag with Ateco tip #827 and add most of the black frosting into the bag. Transfer the remaining frosting to an additional piping bag with a coupler. Add in Ateco tip #30 to the piping bag.
- To assemble the cake: Pipe a dollop of frosting onto your cake stand or cake plate. Then add the first cake layer. Pipe a spiral of frosting, starting on the outer edge of the cake and working your way into the middle. Add a bit of marshmallow fluff into the center of the frosting and swirl it around.
- Top with the second cake layer and repeat this process.
- Then top with the third cake layer.
- Once the cake is fully assembled, pipe a few large rosettes on top of the cake with Ateco tip #827. Fill in the gaps with small roses using the piping bag with Ateco tip #30. Then switch to Ateco tip #68 and pipe leaves anywhere you like.
- Place some of the marshmallow crème into a piping bag and cut a small hole. Pipe small drizzles of fluff onto the top and sides of the cake to resemble spider webs. Or you can also do this drizzling it on top with fork.
Make Ahead Instructions
If you plan to make this ahead of time for a Halloween party, you can totally do that! There's a few tips I'm sharing to easily make this cake in advance.
- If you plan to make the cake more than a day in advance you can bake the cake layers and wrap in plastic wrap. Store in the freezer and then thaw the day before your party and assemble the day of.
- If you want to make the entire cake the day before your party, just ensure you can store it in a cake dome.
- This is a naked cake, so the sides are exposed. This means they will dry out unless they are covered under a cake dome.
More Halloween Party Ideas
Celebrate Halloween organically! It's easy to swap out decorating ingredients for ones without artificial colors. Check out my post Best Halloween Decorating Ingredients without Artificial Colors.
Make nostalgic candies like Healthy Almond Joy Bars, Homemade Twix Bars, Vegan Snickers Bars, Vegan Dark Chocolate Mini Peanut Butter Cups, Organic Caramel Corn Without Corn Syrup, or Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups.
Recipe FAQ's
No, if you use Dutch cocoa powder then this cake won't come out as dark and black as it does. It will be much lighter.
Yes, replace the all purpose flour with 308 grams gluten free flour blend, I tested this with Namaste Organic Perfect Flour Blend.
Yes, if you're using Wilton tips they will be labeled differently. But, basically you can use any kind of star tip for the roses. You could also even make more traditional roses using Ateco tip #104 if you are more familiar with this style of rose!
Yes! This is a great cake to make ahead of your Halloween party. You can store it in the fridge if you make it the day before. Always let cake come to room temperature before cutting it, about an hour.
More Organic Halloween Recipes
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Spooky Rose Cake for Halloween
Equipment
- Digital Food Scale
- Stand Mixer
- 6-inch Cake Pans
- Parchment Paper Cake Rounds
- Piping Bags
- Ateco Tip #827
- Ateco Tip #30
- Ateco Tip #68
- Ateco Coupler
Ingredients
Batter
- ¾ cup canola oil
- ¾ cup heavy whipping cream
- 326 grams cane sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 308 grams all purpose flour
- 85 grams black cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
Frosting
- 226 grams salted butter (softened)
- 454 grams powdered sugar (sifted)
- 57 grams black cocoa powder (sifted)
- 28 grams activated charcoal
- 6 to 7 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Topping
- Toonie Moonie Organic Vanilla Marshmallow Fluff
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line three 6-inch cake pans with parchment paper.
- To make the batter: In a large mixing bowl, add the canola oil, heavy whipping cream, cane sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract. Whisk together until combined.
- Add the flour, black cocoa powder, baking powder, and fine sea salt.
- Mix on low until combined into a smooth batter.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pans, they should weigh about 400 grams each.
- Bake for 35 to 37 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely in the cake pans.
- To make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, powdered sugar, black cocoa powder, heavy whipping cream, and vanilla extract. Mix on low until combined and then speed mixer up to high and mix for at least 1 minute or until light and fluffy. Fit a piping bag with Ateco tip #827 and add most of the black frosting into the bag. Transfer the remaining frosting to an additional piping bag with a coupler. Add in Ateco tip #30 to the piping bag.
- To assemble the cake: Pipe a dollop of frosting onto your cake stand or cake plate. Then add the first cake layer. Pipe a spiral of frosting, starting on the outer edge of the cake and working your way into the middle. Add a bit of marshmallow fluff into the center of the frosting and swirl it around.
- Then top with the third cake layer and repeat this process. Top with the third cake layer.
- Once the cake is fully assembled, pipe a few large rosettes on top of the cake with Ateco tip #827.
- Fill in the gaps with small roses using the piping bag with Ateco tip #30. Then switch to Ateco tip #68 and pipe leaves anywhere you like.
- Place some of the marshmallow crème into a piping bag and cut a small hole. Pipe small drizzles of fluff onto the top and sides of the cake to resemble spider webs. Or you can also do this drizzling it on top with fork.
Video
Notes
- Always use a digital food scale for the best results.
- You can use a hand mixer in place of a stand mixer if you prefer, either works.
- If you're avoiding seed oils, jus replace the canola oil with EVOO or avocado oil.
- You can use different numbered tips, for example, Wilton tips will have a different number so long as they are star tips for the roses and leaf tip for the leaves.
- Be sure to store leftover cake in an airtight container.
- Gluten Free — Replace the all purpose flour with 308 grams gluten free flour blend, I tested this with Namaste Organic Perfect Flour Blend.
- High Altitude — Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Nutrition
The Bake Shop
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This cake is not only spooky, but it’s so delicious!
Perfect Halloween treat!