Happy Friday! Halloween is quickly approaching and this week I’m excited to share Pluto’s Graveyard Cake! This black and white marble cake is topped with black cocoa frosting, Oreo crumb dirt, and meringue bones. A spooktacular Halloween treat!
A few years ago, I made a black and white marble cake as part of my Mickey Boo Spiderweb Cake. It was a super fun and delicious cake and I’ve been getting requests to make it again ever since. So for this week, I returned to the black and white marble cake for this Pluto inspired bake!
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The cake itself is a black cocoa and vanilla marble cake with black cocoa frosting. To add to the graveyard atmosphere, the cake is topped with crushed Oreo cookie dirt and decorated with meringue bones. I also added a meringue tombstone and a Pluto figure to complete the look.
For this recipe, you’ll want to start by making the meringue bones so that they’re ready for when you want to decorate the cake. To make the meringue, you’ll need egg whites, granulated sugar, and cream of tartar. Ideally, you’ll want a ratio of 1:2 egg whites to sugar so for this recipe it can be helpful to use a scale to measure the egg whites and sugar. For me, 5 ounces of egg whites was 5 large eggs and so then I doubled that for 10 ounces of granulated sugar. If your egg whites are little bigger or smaller, just adjust the sugar so that it’s double the weight of the egg whites.
To make the meringue, place the egg whites and cream of tartar in a medium bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer. Make sure the bowl is metal or glass and is very clean. Beat the egg whites on low speed (use the whisk attachment of the stand mixer) until they become frothy.
Gradually add in the granulated sugar, continuing to beat until the meringue forms soft peaks. Then, beat the meringue on high speed until it is glossy and forms firm peaks, about 5 minutes. Transfer the meringue to a large piping bag fitted with a large round tip and pipe it into bone shapes onto parchment lined baking sheets. Since the cake will be between 4-6 inches in height, aim to have the bones be about that long. You can always trim them later.
Bake the meringues at 215 F for 1 hour or until the bones are dry to the touch and lift easily from the baking paper. Once the bones have baked, turn the oven off and leave the door open slightly. Leave the bones in the oven until they’re completely cool. Keep the bones in an airtight container until ready to use.
Now you’re ready to make the cake! In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the butter and beat until combined.
Next, add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the sour cream and beat until smooth. Add the milk and vanilla extract and beat on medium speed for 1-1 ½ minutes.
In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and hot water. Add half of the cake batter to the bowl and beat until combined.
Scoop spoonfuls of the two batters into two 6-inch cake pans greased and lined with parchment paper. If you have too much batter, you can bake off any remaining batter in a 4-inch cake pan. Vary their placement in the pan and aim to have equal amounts of vanilla and chocolate batter. Use a knife to swirl the two batters together and make the marble pattern.
Bake the cakes at 350 F for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean. Cool the cakes for 10 minutes in the pan before transferring cakes to a wire rack to cool completely.
Next make the black cocoa frosting by placing the melted butter in a medium bowl and whisking in the black cocoa powder. Alternately add the powdered sugar and milk and beat until combined and spreadable. Add additional milk if needed. Stir in the vanilla extract and transfer the frosting to a large piping bag.
To assemble the cake, first use a serrated knife to trim the top of each cake so that all of the tops are level. Then, place one of the cakes, cut side up, on a cake board or plate. Pipe frosting on the top of the cake and then smooth it into an even layer using an off-set spatula.
Place the second cake, cut side down, on top of the first cake. Pipe frosting on the top of the cake and then smooth into an even layer using an off-set spatula. Pipe lines of frosting around the sides of the cake and then smooth into an even layer using an off-set spatula. Place the cake into the refrigerator to chill for 10-15 minutes.
Remove the cakes from the refrigerator. Using a clean off-set spatula, gently smooth the sides of the cakes in small strokes to give the cake a matte feathered texture.
Gently press the meringue bones into the sides of the cake. In some cases, you may need to trim the bottoms off the meringues to make adjust the height. Also cut one one of the tops of the bones off to make a gravestone. Use a little leftover frosting to pipe RIP on the meringue.
To complete the cake, spread a layer of Oreo cookie crumbs onto the top of the cake. Then place the meringue gravestone and the Pluto figure on top of the cake.
Enjoy Pluto’s Graveyard Cake!
Pluto’s Graveyard Cake
Ingredients
Meringue Bones
- 5 ounces egg whites (about 5 large eggs) room temperature
- 10 ounces granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
Black and White Marble Cake
- 2 ¼ cups cake flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 large eggs
- ⅔ cup sour cream
- ½ cup milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup black cocoa powder
- ⅓ cup hot water
Black Cocoa Frosting
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ⅔ cup black cocoa powder
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- ⅓ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Equipment
- off-set spatula
- piping bags
- 1 6-inch cake board
- 2 6-inch round cake pans (2-inches deep)
Decoration
- Pluto figure
- 15 Oreo cookies, crushed
Instructions
Meringue Bones
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Preheat the oven to 215 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
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Place the egg whites and cream of tartar in a medium bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer. Make sure the bowl is metal or glass and is very clean. Beat the egg whites on low speed (use the whisk attachment of the stand mixer) until they become frothy.
-
Gradually add in the granulated sugar, continuing to beat until the meringue forms soft peaks.
-
Beat the meringue on high speed until it is glossy and forms firm peaks, about 5 minutes.
-
Transfer the meringue to a large piping bag fitted with a large round tip.
-
Pipe the meringue into bone shapes on the prepared baking sheets. Since the cake will be between 4-6 inches in height, aim to have the bones be about that long. You can always trim them later.
-
Bake the meringues for 1 hour or until the bones are dry to the touch and lift easily from the baking paper. If they still are too soft, continue baking for an additional 30 minutes.
-
Once the bones have baked, turn the oven off and leave the door open slightly. Leave the bones in the oven until they’re completely cool, about 1 hour.
-
Keep the bones in an airtight container until ready to use.
Black and White Marble Cake
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Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper rounds. Set aside.
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In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the butter and beat until combined.
-
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the sour cream and beat until smooth.
-
Add the milk and vanilla extract and beat on medium speed for 1-1 ½ minutes.
-
In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and hot water. Add half of the cake batter to the bowl and beat until combined.
-
Scoop spoonfuls of the two batters into each prepared cake pan, varying their placement in the pan. Aim to have equal amounts of vanilla and chocolate batter. Use a knife to swirl the two batters together and make the marble pattern.
-
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean.
-
Cool 10 minutes in the pan before transferring cakes to a wire rack to cool completely.
Black Cocoa Frosting
-
Place the melted butter in a medium bowl and whisk in the black cocoa powder.
-
Alternately add the powdered sugar and milk and beat until combined and spreadable. Add additional milk if needed.
-
Stir in the vanilla extract.
-
Transfer frosting to a large piping bag.
Cake Assembly
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If desired, wrap your cake board in aluminum foil. Place on top of a cake decorating turntable, overturned bowl or plate.
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Use a serrated knife to trim the top of each cake so that all of the tops are level.
-
Place one of the cakes, cut side up, on the cake board. Pipe frosting on the top of the cake and then smooth into an even layer using the off-set spatula.
-
Place the second cake, cut side down, on top of the first cake. Pipe frosting on the top of the cake and then smooth into an even layer using the off-set spatula.
-
Pipe lines of frosting around the sides of the cake and then smooth into an even layer using the off-set spatula.
-
Place the cakes into the refrigerator to chill for 10-15 minutes.
-
Remove the cakes from the refrigerator. Using a clean off-set spatula, gently smooth the sides of the cakes in small strokes to give the cake a matte feathered texture.
-
Press the meringue bones into the sides of the cake. If needed, use a sharp knife to trim the bones to fit.
-
Cut off the top of one of the bones to make a gravestone. Place some of the leftover frosting into a piping bag and use it to write RIP on the gravestone meringue.
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Place the Oreo crumbs on top of the cake. Then, place the gravestone meringue and Pluto figure on top.
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Store in an airtight container, not in the refrigerator, as the meringues will break down in the refrigerator.