Halloween Bat Cake

Ingredients

• 1 chocolate cake box mix
• 1 can fluffy white or buttercream frosting*
• 9 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 inch black ribbon
• floral wire
• white writing gel

Directions

1. For cake: Prepare cake mix and bake 8-inch layers according to package directions. Cool completely.
2. Frost between layers with ½ of the white frosting. Lightly frost top and sides of entire cake with remaining frosting. Set aside.
3. For ganache: Chop chocolate and pour in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream to a boil and pour over chocolate. Whisk continually until smooth. Set aside to cool for 15-20 minutes.
4. For bats: Cut about 3-4 inches of ribbon. Cut a 3-inch piece of floral wire. Tie ribbon around wire tightly and bend top of wire over to secure bat.  Use white gel for two eyes. Trim edges of wings.
5. When ganache has cooled, pour over cake, starting in the center and working out to the edges of the cake. Let set at least ½ hour. Place bats on top of cake.

 Tara’s Tidbits®

Although I love the “supermarket shortcuts,” buttercream is the easiest frosting to make and is well worth the effort. Here’s the recipe:

• ½ cup butter, softened
• 2 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla

In a medium bowl beat butter and vanilla until fluffy. Slowly add sugar, continually beating until it reaches the right consistency. If it seems too thick you can add milk, a few drops at a time. That’s all there is to it, and you can add chocolate or extracts or fruit—yum!!