Haunted house cake
Serves 16-20 | prep 1 hr 20 mins | total time
Haunted house cake
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Serves 16-20 | prep 1 hr 20 mins | total time
Like a gingerbread house, but much simpler – all you need for this impressive bake is a square cake tin. The delicate orange flavour will be a hit with children and adults alike
Rate
Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
638Kcal
Fat
28gr
Saturates
17gr
Carbs
87gr
Sugars
62gr
Fibre
2gr
Protein
8gr
Salt
1gr
Ingredients
- 300g soft salted butter
- 400g golden caster sugar (we used Billington’s)
- 6 medium eggs, beaten
- 450g self-raising flour (we used Allinson)
- 1⁄2 tsp baking powder
- grated zest of 3 oranges and the juice of 1
To decorate
- 150g soft salted butter
- 50g cocoa, sifted
- 375g icing sugar, plus extra to dust
- 1-2 x 125g packs mini jaffa cakes
- 75g orange ready-to-roll icing
- 1 x 75g pack jelly beans or jelly tots
- about 4 curly toffee chocolate bar
Step by step
Get ahead
The decorated cake will keep for up to 3 days in a cake tin.
- Grease and line the base and sides of a deep 20cm square cake tin. Heat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4.
- Put the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat for at least 5 minutes with an electric hand mixer until the mixture is pale in colour and really light and fluffy.
- Gradually beat in the eggs a little at a time until the mixture is smooth and creamy, adding a little flour if the mixture begins to curdle, then carefully stir in the remaining flour, the baking powder and orange zest and juice.
- Spread the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 1-11⁄4 hours, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out cleanly.
- Cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then turn out, remove the lining paper and leave to cool on a wire rack.
- Meanwhile, mark a 20cm square template on a piece of card or paper and draw out a simple wonky house cake shape – we made ours slightly narrower at the base with two pointed roofs.
- Make the buttercream by beating the butter, cocoa and 325g icing sugar together with 2-3 tablespoons boiling water until smooth. Keep covered until needed, at room temperature.
- Place the cake flat side up on a chopping board. Using your wonky house template, cut out the cake shape. Spread the top surface and all the sides with buttercream, using a small palette knife to give the texture of wooden planks. Cover a 20cm round cake board or plate with buttercream, then stand the cake upright, towards the back of the board. Place 3 tablespoons of buttercream in a small disposable piping bag and set aside for adding detail. Spread the remaining buttercream over the back of the upright house. Arrange the jaffa cakes overlapping onto the roof.
- Roll out the orange icing on a work surface dusted with icing sugar to about the thickness of a pound coin. Cut out a coffin-shaped door and 2 windows, then place in position on the cake as desired.
- Snip off the end of the piping bag to make a small hole, then pipe window panes and a squiggly outline around the windows, and markings on the door.
- Mix the remaining 50g icing sugar with a drop of water – just enough to make a thick, pipeable consistency. Place in a small disposable piping bag and snip off the end to give a small hole. Pipe decorations, such as cobwebs, skeletons and ghostly faces, onto the cake.
- Add orange and green sweets around the roof and use red and purple ones to make a path. Bend the toffee chocolate bars slightly and use as a fence around the edge of a board. You could also use one to make a tree, like we did, on the side of the house, and decorate with yellow sweets.
