Poe’s raven wouldn’t say “nevermore” to our raven cake bites! The bites are made with rich and moist chocolate cake. Fluffy white buttercream rounds out the deep cocoa flavor, while edible feathers and sprinkles add a spooky yet elegant touch. The cake bites are a yummy treat for Halloween parties and also make a great homemade gift to share with family and friends. You can download a cute printable cake box to package and gift the cakes in this Quick DIY.
More from The Rose and The Raven Halloween Collection
Check out the links below for more fun and creative Halloween themed recipes, crafts and printables.
- Learn all about The Rose and The Raven Halloween collection
- Printable Trick-or-Treat Favour Boxes
- Halloween Fudge with Meringue Kisses and Oreos
- Printable Halloween Wall Art
- Giant Two-Toned Paper Flowers
- Halloween Brookies with Candy
- Printable Window Cake Box
A few tips for making the edible feathers
1) You can use both sugar paste (fondant) or flower paste (gum paste) to make the decorations. If the sugar paste (fondant) seems too soft, knead a small amount of CMC or Tylose powder into the paste, so it becomes more pliable.
2) We recommend making the feathers at least a day in advance, so the sugar paste (fondant) or flower paste (gum paste) dries thoroughly.
3) Use gel paste food colour, not liquid food colours, and the tip of a cocktail stick (toothpick) to tint the paste. To make black feathers, we recommend using either a highly concentrated black gel paste or pre-coloured black sugar paste (fondant) or flower paste (gum paste).
For more tips on creating decorations with a silicone mould, watch our video on moulded sugar roses.
Storage and shelf life
You can keep the raven cake bites in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. The undecorated cake can be stored in the freezer for a month.
Package and gift the raven cake bites
To package the raven cake bites in our printable cake boxes, fold a piece of greaseproof or parchment paper into thirds. Put a cake square in the middle and use the excess paper to place the cake in the box.
The raven cake bites loot adorable in pretty cake boxes. Download the printable and learn how to assemble the cake boxes in our easy tutorial.
Raven Cake Bites Recipe
Raven cake bites are made with rich and moist chocolate cake. Fluffy white buttercream rounds out the deep cocoa flavor, while edible feathers and sprinkles add a spooky yet elegant touch. To make a coffee-flavored chocolate cake, substitute boiling water 125 ml (1/2 cup) strongly brewed hot coffee and 125 ml (1/2 cup) hot water. You can also bake the batter in a muffin tin and create raven chocolate cupcakes.
Ingredients
For the cake tin (pan)
- baking spray
- baking (parchment) paper or wax (grease-proof) paper
- flour
For the chocolate cake
- 150 g (1 1/4 cups) cocoa
- 250 ml (1 cup) boiling water
- 3 eggs (UK & Europe: M / US, CA, AUS, NZ: L)
- 200 g (1 cup) granulated sugar
- 200 g (1 cup, packed) brown sugar
- 170 g (3/4 cup / 1 1/2 sticks) butter
- 310 ml (1 1/3 cups) buttermilk
- 280 g (2 1/4 cups) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
For the icing
- 225 g (1 cup) shortening, at room temperature
- 225 g (1 3/4 cups) icing (confectioner’s’/powdered) sugar
For the decorations
- sugar icing (fondant) or flower paste (gum paste)
- gel paste food color in purple, violet, and black
- white fat or shortening to grease the mould
- purple and black sprinkles
Instructions
- Make the feathers. To make the edible feathers, lightly grease a silicon feather mold. Roll a small amount of sugar or flower paste into a ball and press it firmly into the mold. Release the feathers and allow to dry for several hours or overnight.
- Prep work. Spray a square baking tin (pan) with baking spray and lay the bottom and sides with greaseproof paper or baking paper, letting the paper overhang at two sides. Spray again and dust the bottom and sides with flour. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F / gas mark 4).
- Make the cocoa paste. Add the sifted cocoa and boiling water into a medium-sized mixing bowl and whisk vigorously until well combined and no lumps of cocoa are showing. Set aside.
- Mix the wet ingredients. Place the granulated sugar and eggs into a large mixing bowl and whip with an electric stand or hand-held mixer until frothy and doubled in volume. The add the brown sugar, very soft butter, cocoa mix, and buttermilk. Mix first on low and then on medium-high until roughly combined.
Info: At this point, you may see small lumps of butter in the batter. These will dissolve once we add the flour. - Add the dry ingredients. In another mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Turn the mixer to the lowest setting, and add the dry ingredients to the liquid batter, one tablespoon at a time. Mix on high speed for a minute.
- Bake and cool the cake. Pour the batter into the prepared baking tin (pan) and bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, then allow the cake to cool to the touch. Once cooled, use the overhanging baking paper as handles to lift the cake out of the baking tin (pan) and cut into 5 centimeter or 2-inch squares.
- Make the frosting. Add the room-temperature shortening into a mixing bowl and mix until soft. Add the icing (confectioners’/powdered) sugar. To avoid a dust cloud, stir on low first until the shortening and sugar are roughly combined. Then beat the buttercream for five minutes until it becomes very fluffy and could-like.
Tip: We used shortening to achieve a perfectly white buttercream. If preferred use butter instead. - Assemble the raven cake bites. Transfer the buttercream into a disposable piping bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe big swirls onto each cake square. Decorate with a feather and sprinkles.
