For the cakelets:
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cake flour
- 1 cup extra-dark cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon orange extract
- 1/2 teaspoon Fiori di Sicila
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 teaspoon black food color, if desired
Chocolate Glaze:
- 3.5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
Preheat oven to 325°F. Prepare the Skull Cakelet pan with baking spray or brush with butter and dust with cocoa. Whisk the flours, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt together. In a separate bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the butter and sugars together until creamy and lightened, about 2-3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Add the extracts. Put the mixer on low speed and add the buttermilk alternately with the dry ingredients in 4 additions. Mix until smooth. Add black food color to desired shade if using. Fill pan no more than 3/4 full in each well. Tap pan on top of a cutting board covered with a heavy kitchen towel to evenly distribute batter and eliminate air bubbles from the batter. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Allow cakelets to cool in pan 5-8 minutes before inverting onto a cooling rack. Repeat with remaining batter.
Prepare the glaze by adding chocolate to a heat-proof bowl. Warm cream until just beginning to steam and pour over chocolate, stirring with a spatula to incorporate while chocolate melts. When all chocolate has melted, pour over cooled cakeletes. Garnish as desired with candy decorations or decorating sprinkles. Makes 12 cakes.
Posted by Jennifer Lohmann
This cake recipe is delicious! I’ve been halving it and using it in the Star Wars cakelet pans from Williams Sonoma. With some cake goop, these come out perfectly. It’s richly chocolate without being overly sweet. May be my standard chocolate cake recipe from now on (without the food coloring). I didn’t use the glaze.
Posted by Kris
The cake is great. The frosting, not so much because it did not drip properly even with additional cream. I will try it again.
Posted by LINDA THOMPSON
Do you have the instruction on use store brought brownies or cake mix to do these skull? Any suggestion on use cake mix would be lots of help.
I have done the pizza skull, they turned out great and taste good.
Posted by Nordic Ware
Hi, thanks for reaching out. Most cake recipes and mixes will work in our pans, but cakes that are heavy and/or dense will show more detail than light, fluffy cakes, especially for more detailed pans. Be sure to prep the pan with baking spray and use a pastry brush to evenly coat the details of the cavities before adding brownie or cake mix. Tap the pan to remove any air bubbles as well before placing in the oven. Please reach out to info@nordicware.com if you have more questions! Thanks.
Posted by Valerie
I made these yesterday and they were delicious. A big hit at the party, with a nice chocolate flavor and the cake gave good definition for the skull shapes.
Please note the preparation and cook time are way off, as it took at least 20 minutes to get them in the oven, and unless you have 2 of these pans it’s 30 minutes x 2, plus a few minutes for the pan to cool before pouring in the batter for the second batch. I removed the cakes to a wire rack to cool, which leaves some dents on the backside. The glaze was more thick like ganache than thin and pourable, it covered all the definition on the first skull. So I reheated it over a double boiler with a little oil and some golden syrup (corn syrup would work) to make it a glaze that worked beautifully to dip the front of the skulls. I added in some candy eyes and sprinkles, they looked fantastic.
Posted by Marcy
Delicious cake. Followed the recipe and read comments before I began. Need to GENEROUSLY grease the pans and the fall right out. So so on the ganache. Next time maybe be a white simple glaze (or coconut).
Posted by Kath
This cake is delicious, with a nice balance of chocolate and orange flavors. Crumb texture is tender, fine, and takes the shape of the skull details really well. Don’t overfill the molds! I did on the first batch. Those cakes were still delicious, but the details weren’t as sharp, and the overflow made a mounded ridge around the back of the skulls. I learned my lesson and turned out beautiful (albeit fewer) skulls for the second batch. Will make this recipe again, for Halloween and any other occasion that calls for great cake.