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Spooky Gingerbread House Cake

This spooky cake has an ultra dark chocolate cake base made with Domino Granulated sugar and has haunted Halloween gingerbread house panels surrounding it. It’s the ultimate Halloween dessert!

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Ingredients
Gingerbread Cookies
  • 2 1/2 cups Domino® Dark Brown Sugar
  • 1 cup Unsalted butter 
  • 2 Eggs, large
  • 1 tablespoon Vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons Ground ginger
  • 1/2  teaspoon Allspice
  • 1/4 teaspoon Salt
  • 4 cups All purpose flour + more for dusting
Chocolate Royal Icing
  • 1/3 cup Meringue powder
  • 1/2 cup Warm water + more if necessary 
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
  • 6 cups Domino® Powdered Sugar
  • 3 tbsp Dutched processed black cocoa
  • 3-5 tbsp Black food gel
Orange Frosting for the window
  • 4 tablespoons Unsalted butter
  • 1 cup Domino® Powdered Sugar
  • 1 teaspoon milk
  • 1/4 teaspoon Vanilla extract
  • 2-3 drops Orange food color
Chocolate Frosting for Cookies
  • ½ cup Unsalted butter, softened
  • ⅔ cup Dutched processed black cocoa
  • 1 ½ cups Domino®  Powdered Sugar
  • 1-2 teaspoons Milk
  • 1-3 drops Black food gel
Chocolate Cake
  • 2 Eggs, room temperature 
  • 2 cups Domino® Granulated Sugar Easy Baking Tub
  • 1/2 cup Vegetable oil
  • 2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
  • 1 cup Buttermilk, room temperature 
  • 1/2 cup Sour cream
  • 3/4 cup Black dutched processed cocoa 
  • 2 cups All-purpose flour 
  • 1 tablespoon Baking powder 
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 1/2 cup Boiling water or coffee
Chocolate Frosting
  • 1/2 cup Unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup (4 oz) Cream cheese, softened
  • 2/3 cup Dutched processed black cocoa
  • 3 cups Domino®  Powdered Sugar
  • 1/3 cup Heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
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Instructions
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Prep Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes / Cook Time: 1 hour / Yields: 8 servings

Gingerbread Cookie
Step 1

Pre-Heat the oven to 350°F.

Step 2

Combine brown sugar, butter, and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix until smooth, then add the eggs and mix again.

Step 3

Add the cinnamon, ginger, all-spice, and salt, and beat the mixture until incorporated.Sprinkle in the flour and continue mixing to form a stiff dough.Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Step 4

Trim a piece of parchment paper to fit a cookie sheet, then Sprinkle it with flour. Place half of the dough on the parchment, then place a second sheet on top.

Step 5

With a rolling pin on top of the second parchment, roll the dough to about 1/4 inch thickness. With an Exacto knife, cut out shapes of houses by making 2 parallel line cuts for the body of the house, then a triangle cut top for the roof. It should be one whole shape.

Step 6

Cut out more houses (maybe in different sizes)  about 1 inch apart from each other. Remove the dough around the houses without moving the houses from the parchment.Repeat with remaining dough and scraps on an additional cookie sheet(s)

Step 7

Baking each sheet for 10-15 minutes or until they just begin to brown.Remove from the oven and cool completely before decorating.

Frosting
Step 1

Add butter, cream cheese and cocoa to a stand mixer and beat until smooth. Alternately add powdered sugar and heavy cream, beating to spreadable consistency. Add a small amount of additional heavy cream, if needed. Stir in vanilla.

Step 2

Level each cake with a knife or a leveler. Add frosting to the bottom layer then add the second cake layer on top

Step 3

Add frosting to the sides and top of the cake. Smooth with a spatula or cake scraper.  Place the cookies all around the cake. Add a few cookies to the top of the cake if desired. 

Window Frosting
Step 1

Add butter to a mixing bowl and beat with a hand mixer until smooth.

Step 2

Add powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla and beat to spreadable consistency. Add 1-2 drops of orange food color, and add more if needed. Stir until the color is incorporated and set aside

Chocolate Royal Icing
Step 1

To a stand mixer with the whisk attachment add meringue powder and ½ warm water, and whisk for about 1-2 minutes until doubled in size.

Step 2

Add vanilla extract, the powdered sugar, and the dutched processed cocoa powder and switch to a paddle attachment, then beat until incorporated. Add in 3-5 drops of black food gel and beat some more. 

Step 3

The icing should be thick, but not too thick. Add additional warm water ½ teaspoon at a time until you have a pipeable consistency. Add the icing to a piping bag, and snip off a very small area of the tip. 

Step 4

Take about a teaspoon of the orange frosting and spread it where the windows will go. Pipe a border of the chocolate icing around the house. Pipe rectangles where the windows will go, around the orange frosting.

Step 5

Fill in or flood the rest of the surface of the cookie with the icing. Use a cookie scribbler or a toothpick to fill in any gaps in the frosting. Allow cookies to dry for about 24 hours.

Chocolate Frosting for Cookies
Step 1

Add butter to a mixing bowl and beat with a hand mixer until smooth.

Step 2

Add cocoa, powdered sugar, and milk and beat to spreadable consistency. Add 1-2 drops of black food gel, and add more if needed. Stir until the color is incorporated and set aside

Step 3

Add frosting into a piping bag.

Step 4

Snip off the tip of the bag and use it to draw a door on the front of the house. Also pipe dots of frosting to outline the top edges of the cookies for the roof. You can also use enough dots to fill in the entire roof surface. 

Step 5

Add candy pumpkins, ghosts and bats with a drop of frosting as glue, if desired.

Cake
Step 1

Pre-Heat the oven to 350°F. Spray two 8 inch round baking pans with baking spray. Set aside.

Step 2

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer, beat the eggs and sugar on medium speed for 3-4 minutes, or until the mixture is fluffy and lighter in color.

Step 3

Add the oil, cocoa powder and vanilla and beat the mixture for about 30 seconds. Add in the buttermilk and mix until incorporated.

Step 4

Add the baking powder, baking soda and salt, then add the flour 1 cup  at a time, and  beat the batter just until combined. Stir in the boiling water or coffee. 

Step 5

Divide the batter equally between the 2 prepared pans. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.  

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Meet the Chef:

Monique Polanco

@moniquepolanco_

Monique Polanco is a food blogger, food photographer and author. She was born and raised in New York City, but her roots are from the south. Her family is from St. Augustine Florida, where her great-grandmother was a pastry chef in the early 1900’s. Most of her baking inspiration comes from this region. She has a master’s degree in Social Work, and was a school social worker for several years until she transitioned into blogging and food photography. Her first cookbook, Sweet Soulful Baking, was published in September of this year, and she also owns a business doing recipe development and food photography for brands.