Spiced Spider-Web Double Chocolate Fudge Cake

Since when is it Halloween?

I must have missed something because clearly it’s not October 31. Is it? My mind is playing tricks on me. The rest of the world is playing tricks on all of you, too. It isn’t Halloween. Really, it’s not.

But if it is… What you choose to wear for this holiday says a lot about you. For instance, if you dress yourself in a giant banana suit, that says you like bananas. It also says you’re an awkward person. If you dress up as a kitten or a witch, it really just means you lack creativity. Or if you choose to stay inside and hoard all the Halloween candy for yourself… Well, then you’re pretty much just like me.

If it is Halloween, which I really believe it’s not, then I’m totally allowing myself to have Halloween candy for dinner. I’ll allow an itty bitty sweets binge. Does that sound good? Or bad? It’s bad, right? Totally bad. But oooooh so good.

I’ve made a lot of cakes in my life. Seriously, I mean A LOT. Just ask my totally not there 6-pack. Growing up, we had a cabinet literally stacked to the top with pre-made brownie, cookie, and cake mixes. We know how it was done.

After years of making the pre-made stuff, I realized something… There is no such thing as a bad cake made from scratch. Seriously, not even this batch where I actually forgot to add the flour during my first attempt.

This cake understands what I need this Halloween. There are seriously some wonky bonkers ingredients in here to make it fabulous. Each slice is chewy, rich, a tad spicy, and oh so chocolatey… The best stuff. It has lightly crackly top and is a little charred around the edges, just the way anyone likes it. Double, triple, or even quadruple the frosting recipe and keep it on hand as your go-to when needed.

Try it. No really… I insist.

Spiced Spider-Web Double Chocolate Fudge Cake

(yields 12 servings)

For the brownies:

Recipe from my chocolate fudge cake

1 heaping tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

pinch of cloves

1 tbsp unsalted butter

extra 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

For the frosting:

2 tbsp unsalted butter

2 tbsp 1/3-fat cream cheese, softened

2 tbsp powdered sugar

1/2 tbsp low-fat milk or cream

1/2 tsp vanilla

pinch of cinnamon

Preparation:

To make cake:

Preheat oven to 350°F and coat a square cake pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Follow directions for my chocolate fudge cake recipe. Add in cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves when the recipe calls for the dry ingredients to be mixed together.

Once all ingredients have been combined, melt remaining chocolate and butter together in a large bowl over a simmering pot of water (or in the microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring between each) until melted. Remove from heat and continue to stir until smooth and thick.

Pour melted chocolate into prepared fudge cake recipe and mix to combine. Spread into prepared pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool.

To make frosting:

While cake cool, combine butter, cream cheese, and powdered sugar together in a medium bowl. Beat together until fluffy. Pour in milk, then vanilla. Lastly, add cinnamon and stir until combine.

Pour mixture into a frosting pipe bag or a plastic zip lock bag. Cut a small whole in the corner. Make one small circle in the middle of the pan. Make another, larger circle around the smaller one.

With the remaining frosting, draw lines from the inner circle outward toward the edges of the pan, passing through the outer circle. Repeat until all frosting has been used up.

Happy (?) Halloween!