Chocolate Skull Cake

Equipment:

• Skull cake pan
• Deep metal bowl
• Sauce pan
• Cake lifter or bench scraper
• Non-toxic flowers (optional)
• Cake plate

Ingredients:

• Butter and cocoa powder for the cake pan
• Ragged Coast Cake mix (or other cake mix of your choice)
• 10 ounces Ragged Coast 71% bittersweet discs
• 12 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons corn syrup (preferably nonGMO)

Method:

1. Following the instructions on the cake mix, make and cool the cake. Take special care to prepare your pan. Butter and dust with cocoa powder. Cool the cake completely before glazing.
2. Place the chocolate, butter, and corn syrup into a deep metal bowl and place the bowl over a pot of simmering water. Allow to melt, stir, and remove the bowl from the heat when it’s about 2/3’s melted.
3. Continue to stir off the heat until the glaze is smooth and there are no chunks left.
4. Place the bottom half of the skull on a cooling rack. spoon a little glaze onto the flat surface and spread out to the edges.
5. Holding the top half of the skull with both hands, dip it, face first, into the bowl of glaze. Lift it out, letting the glaze drip back into the bowl (give it a little spin if you can). Then place the skull, face up, on top of the first layer of cake. Let the glaze drip down.
6. Once the glaze has set, move the cake to a platter using a cake lifter or bench scraper, decorate with flowers, and serve.

Notes:

• In this photo I have piped buttercream flowers, but you can use fresh (non-toxic) flowers instead. 
• To watch a step-by-step tutorial on how to make this cake, go HERE.