Chocolate Layer Cake with Meringue Ghosts
First, make and frost your favorite chocolate cake recipe.
Recipe for Meringue Ghosts
Ingredients
2 large egg whites (at room temperature)
⅛ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar
7 tablespoon sugar (or more, to taste)
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 chocolate chips (melted, add more as needed)
Directions
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Preheat your oven to 200°F (93°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
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Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, whisk the egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar together (using the medium setting) until they are extra foamy and thick with white color.
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Increase the mixer to medium-high and gradually add the sugar one tablespoon at a time. Once the sugar is dissolved, about 1-2 minutes, add in the vanilla. Beat the mixture until stiff peaks form, about 5-8 minutes.
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Transfer the meringue into a piping bag with a round, wide tip (such as a Wilton 2A). Holding your bag straight up, squeeze a dollop of meringue onto the parchment paper or non stick mat. Slightly lift up the bag and, continuing to add pressure, squeeze out a smaller dollop on top of the first.
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Repeat this process one more time for the third, smaller, section on top of the ghost. Stop squeezing and lift the bag straight up to create the pointed top of your ghosts. Repeat this process with the remaining meringue to create the rest of your ghosts.
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Bake at 200°F (93°C) on the lower middle rack (one place lower than the center rack) of your oven until the meringue is dry and firm, about 1 hour 15 minutes.
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Then, turn off the oven and leave the door ajar for the ghosts to cool. Leave them in the cooling oven for another hour.
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Once completely cooled, remove the cookies from the oven.
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Dip the end of a toothpick into your melted chocolate chips and dot on the eyes.
This recipe is from bakeitwithlove.com.
Poison Candy Apples
Ingredients
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6 Granny Smith apples
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3 cups white granulated sugar
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¾ cup light corn syrup
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1 cup plus 2 tbsp water
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Black food dye
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¾ tsp salt
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1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions
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Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
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In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine sugar, water, corn syrup, and black food dye.
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Place over medium-high heat and stir everything together to combine.
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Place the candy thermometer in the pan and let the candy mixture heat up and boil until it reaches 290 degrees F (about 8-10 minutes).
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While the candy coating heats up, prepare the apples.
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Rinse them under water, dry apples with a paper towel, and remove the stems.
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Push a wooden stick all the way down into the center of each apple.
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Once the candy coating reaches 290 degrees F, remove it from the heat. Add the salt and vanilla extract and stir well.
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Dip each apple into the saucepan and coat fully. Swirl a couple of times to get a thick, darker black coating. Lift the apple out of the sugar coating and let the excess drip off.
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Place the dipped apple on the parchment-covered baking sheet that you set aside earlier.
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Repeat with the rest of the apples and let cool until hardened.
This recipe is from homemadeheather.com.