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Bone Cake
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Meringue Bone Cake

A spooky cake perfect for Halloween. Moist chocolate cake wrapped in chocolate buttercream all covered in meringue bones.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings 12
Calories 350kcal
Author John Kanell

Ingredients

For the Cake:

  • 1/2 cup sour cream 120mL
  • 1 cup buttermilk 240mL
  • 3 large eggs room temp
  • 1 1/2 cup strong hot coffee 360mL I use a Moka pot so it's basically espresso
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil 180mL
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract 15mL
  • 3 cup all-purpose flour 360g
  • 2 2/3 cup granulated sugar 535g
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder 65g
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 6g
  • 1 tbsp baking soda 18g
  • 1 tsp kosher salt 5g

For the Chocolate Buttercream:

  • 1 1/2 lb confectioner's sugar 450g
  • 1 1/2 cup unsalted butter 375g room temperature
  • 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream 60mL
  • 1/4 cup Cocoa powder 30g
  • 1 tsp vanilla 5mL optional
  • 1 tsp espresso 5mL optional
  • 1/4 tsp salt 1g
  • 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate 45g

For the Ganache:

  • 3/4 cup chocolate 135g semi-sweet
  • 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream 80g

For the Meringue:

  • 3 egg whites large
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar 150g
  • 1/4 tsp cream of tartar 4g
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 3mL
  • 1 pinch kosher salt

Instructions

For the Meringue:

  • Preheat oven to 215 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  
  • In a very clean bowl, whisk egg whites with a wire whisk on medium low. (I wiped the inside of my bowl with a lemon.) Add cream of tartar, vanilla and salt
  • When your egg whites are foamy, begin to beat on medium, then gradually add sugar. Add remaining sugar when whites reach a "soft-peak" stage. Increase speed to medium-high, until "firm-peaks" appear.
  • Cut off the edge of a piping bag, fill with meringue. On the parchment, piping bone-like shapes. Bake for about 60 minutes. Use a wooden spoon to crack the oven open open and allow to cool in the oven for another hour.
    Meringue Bone Cake

For the Cake:

  • Butter and flour three 8-inch cake pans. I highly recommend using cake strips for a more even bake.
  • Sift together the dry ingredients (including the sugar) into the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk to combine.
  • Add the wet ingredients into a large bowl and whisk together.
  • Add the wet ingredients the dry ingredients.
  • Whisk to combine then mix on level 2 for two minutes.
  • Distribute batter evenly to the three pans and bake for about 35-40 minutes at 350F or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. I recommend rotating the pans halfway through the bake.
  • Allow time to cool for 10 minutes then invert onto wire racks to cool fully.

For the Chocolate Buttercream:

  • In a small bowl combine the semi-sweet chocolate with 2 tbs of cream then microwave for 40 secs on half power. Stir to combine then set aside.
  • Whip the butter, salt, and cocoa powder for about 5 minutes using a paddle attachment.
  • Scrape the bowl down and beat in the confectioner’s sugar slowly.
  • Add the cream.
  • You may add the optional vanilla and espresso at this step.
  • Mix until you have a fluffy, even consistency.
  • Beat in the melted and cooled chocolate ganache.

For the Ganache:

  • Melt the chocolate and cream in a microwave for a few 30 second bursts at 50% power. 
  • Transfer to a piping bag with and cut the tip off. 

For the Assembly:

  • Spread chocolate buttercream and chocolate ganache between each layer. 
    Meringue Bone Cake
  • Spread the buttercream on the outside of the cake. Smooth it.
  • Add a smooth coat of chocolate buttercream to the surface of the cake.
  • Use meringue bones to decorate outside layer.  
    Meringue Bone Cake

Video

Notes

  • Broken bones are no problem so don't worry if they crack! I think they make the cake look all the more menacing. If you really want to up the gore factor you can add some raspberry reduction for blood and drizzle that all over. I opted to skip that as my husband is a bit squeamish...
  • If you’re not using 6-inch pans, double the recipe for 8-inch pans or triple the recipe for 9-inch pans.
  • To get FLAT layers that are moist inside and out try using cake strips! You can buy a set online or make your own from foil and paper towels at home. I made a whole blog post on it so check it out if you’re interested!
  • Don't take the "bones" out of the oven too soon! They need to dry out while the oven is off. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 350kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 55mg | Sodium: 212mg | Potassium: 133mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 100IU | Calcium: 50mg | Iron: 1.4mg