Three layers of peanut butter and chocolate flavoured cake swirled together sandwiched with peanut butter frosting and topped with a milk chocolate ganache and a giant Halloween spider.
I confess that when it comes to Halloween I really am still a child at heart. I grew up in rural Eastern Canada where Halloween, and all things Autumnal, were A. Very. Big. Thing.
Cape Breton, where I grew up, is famous world wide for its beautiful Autumnal leaf colours – the reds, golds, yellows and oranges of the forest canopy are something truly wondrous and attract American tourists in their droves to view them. Those Autumn colours and the feelings they evoke still hold a place in my heart.
Halloween in our rural village was highly anticipated. All of the children used to dress up in costumes and go out trick or treating, and every single home in the village was open to us trick or treaters. We’d go out with pillow cases and would often have to return home once or twice to empty them of our candied treasures.
Then, afterwards, we’d all gather in the village hall for our annual Halloween party. There was a costume judging, bobbing for apples and all sorts of fun fantastic childhood games. Then we’d go home and make ourselves sick over the following days by gorging on sweeties. I have a mouth full of fillings to prove it.
Gosh I loved Halloween.
Fast forward a few decades and I’m living on a remote North Sea island where Halloween is most definitely Not. A. Thing. In fact, it’s often actively shunned as some ludicrous money making American custom and not for the civilised folk of the British Isles.
Don’t get me wrong, there is still a village Halloween party but no one really goes trick or treating (there was one year where we had six trick or treaters but I think they were the regular three who dressed up in different costumes and came back again). No one but us in our village decorates their house up with Halloween decorations.
It’s just not a custom here. Now, kale casting is a custom here on All Hallow’s Eve. Older children go and steal some kale out of folk’s gardens and chuck it in their front door, dirt and all. I reckon that if folk left bowls of Halloween candy in their front porches they wouldn’t have to clean up the mess left from a well-aimed kale stalk. Kidding!
They don’t carve pumpkins either. They carve neeps. Have you ever tried to hollow out and carve a neep (aka turnip)? Why!? Why would you even want to suffer through that?! And incidentally, did you know you can cook a turnip in a microwave?
Ach well. When in Rome.
So, despite the fact Halloween is a rather muted affair on my remote island, I like to make the best of it at home and I like to treat my children to the most over the top American-style celebration cakes and bakes. I did manage to find two shops in our local town selling a small selection of Halloween themed decorations, and so I stocked up.
My ideal Halloween is spent at home with my family, dressed up in our Halloween costumes and surrounded in our decorated house. We like to watch a themed movie like Nightmare Before Christmas, Frankenweenie or Corpse Bride (I see a Tim Burton theme going on here…!)
Another fond memory I have from my rural eastern Canadian childhood is growing up on Skippy peanut butter. Well, before Skippy it was Squirrel peanut butter – remember, “the one with the peanut on top”? The company that made Squirrel peanut butter started making the American Skippy brand and then they eventually discontinued the original Squirrel range. Canadian jars of Skippy peanut butter still have a picture of a squirrel on it in homage to the previous brand though.
Remember during the late 1980s early 90s when Skippy peanut butter came in bear shaped glass bottles? We had a whole row of those jars that my mother used to use as storage containers. Ah, the memories! I’d love one of those on my counter top now – filled with sweets or something.
So, this year I’ve created a rather over the top extravagant Halloween themed cake for my children using Skippy peanut butter.
So yes, my cake – it’s a three layered chocolate and peanut butter swirl cake sandwiched together with peanut buttercream frosting and topped with a layer of plain chocolate ganache. It’s a really simple ganache to make too, none of that fancy heating double cream up to the right temperature nonsense – simply melt the ingredients in a bowl suspended over hot water and pour over the top.
The showstopper, I think, is the giant Halloween spider decorating the top made from a Scottish Tunnocks teacake for the body (for you overseas readers, that’s a chocolate covered marshmallow cookie), a single Malteeser for a head and some Quality Street Matchmakers for legs. The Tunnocks teacake and Malteeser are covered in chocolate frosting and then rolled in Halloween sprinkles. Rather effective, no? Mega chocolate overload!
Oh, another tip is to pop your cake into the fridge to chill once you’ve put the peanut buttercream on it (don’t forget to reserve a little to pipe a cobweb on the top of the cake!) – the chilled icing makes the hot chocolate ganache set much quicker, giving you those lovely chocolate drips.
Make sure your chocolate frosting isn’t too warm either when trying to fix the legs onto the spider, or you’ll spend ages trying to keep them upright. Experiment – if they keep falling over pop the icing in the fridge for a few more minutes to harden some more.
Use the photo above as a guide for leg placement – four blobs of frosting on either side of the spider body and then four more blobs where you want the ‘feet’ to be located. Use another blob of frosting for the ‘knees’.
Personally, I think chocolate and peanut butter are a marriage made in heaven (you have no idea how excited I was when peanut butter Kit Kats finally made it across the pond to us!). And Reese’s peanut butter cups? Swoon!
Do you have any Halloween customs in your family? Let me know in the comments!
Chocolate and Peanut Butter Swirl Halloween Cake
Ingredients
for the cake batters
- 175 grams butter room temperature
- 175 grams caster sugar
- 175 grams plain flour
- 1/4 tsp Shetland sea salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3 large free-range eggs room temperature
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 2 tbsp Skippy smooth peanut butter
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp full fat milk if needed, to thin the batters
peanut butter frosting
- 400 grams vanilla frosting
- 2 tbsp Skippy smooth peanut butter
- 1 tbsp full fat milk
for the chocolate topping
- 100 grams milk chocolate 40% cocoa solids
- 1 tbsp golden syrup
- 25 grams butter
for the Halloween spider
- 100 grams chocolate fudge frosting
- 1 Tunnocks Tea Cake or other dome shaped biscuit
- 4 Quality Street Match Makers broken in half
- 1 Malteeser or other circular chocolate sweet
- chocolate flavour sprinkles for the body
- black and white hundreds and thousands for the head
- 2 candy eyes
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 C/ 160 C fan and grease and line three 15 cm cake tins with baking parchment.
- Cream together the butter and sugar until and light and fluffy.
- Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder in another bowl.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, to the butter mixture, along with a spoonful of the flour mixture, beating well after each addition. Add the remaining flour and the sunflower oil. Mix well.
- Weigh the batter and divide evenly between two bowls.
- Add the peanut butter to one bowl of cake batter, and beat well. Add the cocoa powder to the other bowl and beat well. The batters should be of a soft dropping consistency – add a little milk to thin them, if required.
- Bake in the centre of the oven for 30-35 minutes until well rise and golden. A wooden skewer, inserted in the centre of the cake, will come out clean when its ready. Leave to cool in the tins for 15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the peanut butter frosting beat the ready made vanilla frosting with the peanut butter and milk. Sandwich together the three layers of the cake together with the peanut butter frosting, reserving a little for the spider web decoration on the top of the cake. Cover the sides too with a thin layer of frosting so that you can still see some of the cake edge peeking through. Chill for 15 minutes in the fridge.
- Boil a kettle. Break the milk chocolate into a heat proof bowl and add the butter and golden syrup. Pour boiling water into a pan and pop the bowl over the top so that the steam from the water melts the chocolate and butter.
- Pour the melted chocolate mixture over the top of the chilled cake, allowing some to drip down the sides. Leave to harden.
- Using the remaining peanut butter frosting in a piping bag fitted with a small round tip, pipe a spider web on the top of the cake.
- To assemble the spider, cover the Tunnocks Tea Cake in chocolate frosting and then cover in chocolate sprinkles. Repeat with the head, using the black and white hundreds and thousands.
- Place the spider parts in the centre of the piped spider web.
- Using a piping bag filled with chocolate frosting, pipe eight dollops of chocolate frosting on the back of the spider where you want the legs to attach. Pipe eight corresponding dollops on the cake. Pop the cake into the fridge for a few minutes if you need the icing to harden up a bit, if your kitchen is warm.
- Break your chocolate match makers into half, and pipe a small dollop of frosting on the join. Arrange the legs on the spider. Persevere – the legs might want to fall over. Chill your frosting some more if this keeps happening.
- Affix the sugar eyes to the spider head with a little chocolate frosting.
- One year ago: Chocolate Hazelnut Layer Cake
- Two years ago: Zombie Brain Chocolates
- Three years ago: Vampire Lady Fingers
- Four years ago: Pierogi: Potato, Cheese & Onion Dumplings
PIN THIS HALLOWEEN CAKE FOR LATER
Blackcurrant & Coconut Post-Workout Smoothie
This is stinking adorable and possibly my new favorite thing. I’ve been teaching my kids about how good spiders are for us and have even sort of adopted a spider outside and they’re really learning to appreciate them. I think they would love this as much as I do. #mytravelingspider
I’m gonna try this cake for this years Halloween!
I noticed in the recipe that you have 3 cake tins but in the method, it only talks about splitting batter into two bowls and adding peanut butter to one and cocoa to the other. What happens to the 3rd? Is it just plain? Thanks!
Do let me know how you get on! The batter is divided into two mixing bowls; one is flavoured with peanut butter and the other with chocolate. The two different flavours are dolloped into three small baking tins to make a three-layer cake. 🙂 Good luck!
I only just realised you are using 15cm tins (I should take care to read carefully!), the photos made me think this was a big cake, I only have 20cm tins. I think the recipe would need almost doubled for that.
So I tried using a 20cm tin and just two layers, it all went pretty well, though the next day the chocolate topping has this strange beehive type pattern on the chocolate, not sure what the cause.
Oh no, how frustrating! I’m not sure why this might have happened – perhaps the outside cooled quicker than the inside did and it cracked? I’m sure it’ll still taste fabulous, and it sounds like an interesting pattern!
Hi, taste is good, and the chocolate did set, I think it must have cooled too quick as you say, but no it did not crack.
I’ve never encountered this before, but I’ve asked my fellow blogging colleagues to see if they can shed any light on it. In the meantime, have a great Halloween! 😀
It is very amazing!!!! Very simple article is given for making this cake. Really fantastic!!!!
I love this cake and will make it for sure this Halloween. Although I am confused because in one of the comments cream cheese was mentioned and I didn’t see that ingredient in the recipe. Please clarify that for me. I can’t wait to make this cake. Thanks
Happy Hauntings
Good morning Terri, rest assured there has never been cream cheese in this cake recipe. I think that was a spam comment! Good luck with your baking – it really is a simple cake to make, and rather effective as a Halloween centrepiece. 🙂
This looks amazing! Thank you for entering #TeaTimeTreats!
Such a brilliant design and flavour combination. I’m actually not that keen on peanut butter without chocolate, so for me this cake is a definite winner. Well done on finding the Halloween bits and pieces in such a remote area. Absolutely love the way you write, I shall be visiting more often. Cake pinned!
That cake is amazing! I agree about chocolate and peanut butter being a match made in heaven. I loved reading about your Halloween fun. I would love to go somewhere where Halloween was a big thing one year. I love it, but decorating etc isn’t really a thing here
Thanks for linking up to #HalloweenHorrors 🙂
Debbie
I just love anything peanut butter flavoured! I wish I was a better cook though and my version of this will probably be less nicely decorated but I definitely NEED to make one! Thanks for sharing.
This is one impressive cake!! Love the details – very creative! It looks deliciously moist inside and that frosting looks amazing!
I have never carved a turnip! I imagine how hard it must be. This cake is amazing. It looks so impressive – kind of like the spider sculpture outside Notre Dame in Ottawa.
Ohh this looks incredible!
#HalloweenHorrors
Wow! That looks delicious. Think I’ll give it a try
Hi Elizabeth,
Your Halloween cake looks amazing!
Can never say no to peanut butter + chocolate. 🙂
Amy
This cake was delicious! Super moist, the perfect density, and just the right blend of chocolate and peanut butter. I didn’t change anything. This cake also freezes very well.
Thank Elizabeth
Wow this is an award winning Haloween cake and one with so much lovely decoration not to mention gorgeous flavour. I used to be obsessed with Skippy when it forst came over here, it was the coolest thing ever!
expert decoration…perfect for the season
What an impressive cake! I’m now thinking I really should make a Halloween one for my family too! My children are so excited about it and looking forward to trick or treating already and I imagine the whole of half term is going to be full of Halloween themed activities for us. I did go trick or treating when I was younger but I know my parents never liked it so things are definitely different for us these days.
This is incredible, that spider is spectacular!! I love the way you’ve made those huge legs! I will having a go at this for sure, just hope I can do it justice! x #halloweenhorrors
This looks incredible, absolutely divine and I am itching to try it x
it looks so yummy! I never thought I would say that I wanna eat a spider!! haha x
Looks amazing! I’m not a massive fan of chocolate (gasp!), but I love peanut butter! I only wish I could make a cake as spectacular as this one!
Kat
What a spectacular Halloween Cake! It looks amazing and delicious! Pinned. Thanks for sharing at the Halloween Blog Hop and Giveaway!
I usually don’t like to look at spiders but this stylised one is so cute, it’s not scary at all! (This is a good thing!) The cake does look stunning!
Look at that cake! Damn! Now I need me one of those bad 🙂
So creative, I really like it, and I would definitely keep it in mind
Oh dear, it sounds like you’re going through a definite homesickness phase again. It’s tough and I feel for you. But oh my Elizabeth, you have outclassed every Halloween bake I’ve ever seen with this one. It the most scary, but the most delicious bake imaginable. Twenty out of Ten I reckon.
I had a go at making swede lanterns when I was young – it’s jolly hard work!
Oh, thanks for sharing this stunner with We Should Cocoa 😀
That is such a cute cake!!! I want it for my birthday.
It also sounds delicious. I would love it!
Omg! This is such a cute and great looking cake. Nice job!!
Congratulations with this masterpiece!! I am sure it’s a lot to work on. It looks really good.
This is definitely an awesome looking Halloween cake.. Love your pictures 🙂
Chocolate and peanut butter are near and dear to my dessert heart. I love how your cake turned out! It looks amazing.
You get my vote for best Halloween cake yet!
This cake is insane! It looks so good and who doesn’t look chocolate and peanut butter.
Amazing….. I love this so much! Its brilliant.
Thanks Angela 🙂
Oh my, this is all kinds of amazing! I love how much effort you’ve gone to, Halloween is such a fun time of the year and this cake is more than fitting for such an occasion! It looks seriously yummy too!
Musings & More
Thanks Emily – I do like to go a bit OTT when it comes to Halloween! 🙂
I love how crazy the americans and canadians go for halloween and fall. Its just not that big a deal here and i dunno why lol. Your cake looks amazing!!
Thanks Nikki, and yea, I know what you mean. I wish Halloween would take off a bit more here in the UK. It’s so much fun!
Earlier this year, I had my daughter re-tested for a peanut allergy and I had my fingers crossed her allergy had gone but it was there and so peanut and chocolate just rarely happens in our house though I haven’t given up peanut butter sandwiches. But if I could I would love to make your cake. It is so gorgeous and I am sure it will make your family very happy.
Re Halloween – we never celebrated it as kids so I am torn between loving making halloween themed food and between resenting the american holiday coming over here. I also find it an odd time for me as I had twins stillborn on 1 Nov and we hold a birthday lunch to remember them each year – my daughter thinks it is another birthday party for her and we have started having halloween treats at the lunch but there are some gruesome halloween effects that I still find too close to home and won’t have in my house.
Oh I’m so sorry to hear your daughter is allergic to peanuts! You could always replace the peanut butter with vanilla? So sorry to read about your twins, too. I can understand your reservations about the holiday timing. ((hugs))
Oh my goodness, this looks amazing! The perfect centrepiece for any Halloween party
Thanks Sarah, glad you like the look of it! 🙂
First came ‘WOW!!’ Then came a blissful sigh when I read the words ‘peanut butter’ and the same again when I came back to read the post properly:)
Haha Laura! So glad you like the sound of it 😀
Elizabeth!! This is amazing! I don’t know what I love most – the spider is brilliant and your big drips around the edge look absolutely perfect! Not to mention the chocolate + PB combination, omg. I am in awe.
Aw thanks Becca! So glad you like it! 😀
This is super adorable! I love Halloween, and all the fun things people make for it! You made this one perfectly!
Aw thanks Debi! I’m a big fan of Halloween too, if you can’t tell! 😀
What a GORGEOUS cake. Loved the presentation and that slice looks heavenly.
Thank you Aish! 🙂
A-FREAKING-MAZING!!! Best Halloween bake EVER!
Janie x
Hahah, aw thanks Janie! 😀
That cake is impressive, how great does the spider look!
Thanks Bintu – so glad you like the look of it!
What a fantastic Halloween cake!! Love the spider and his spindly legs! I adore peanut butter, never tried skippy though – going to bake this cake and give it a go!
Thanks Isabella! Do let me know how you get on if you do make it!
You did an AMAZING job!!! Such an awesome cake!!
Thank you Ludmilla! 😀
You are a much more accomplished baker than I am – this cake is a stunner – and I adore that spider!
It’s really quite simple to make – I just like playing with my food, is all! 😀 Glad you like it!
Wow, what a post! The pictures are adorable and the cake looks delicious! My kids would flip over a cake like that! Love this!
Aw thanks Cindy! You should make them one! It’s super easy to make, really! 🙂
That is one very cool Halloween cake! Great pictures and directions. Love this.
Thanks – glad to hear it’s clear enough to follow 🙂
This looks amazing and I love the way you have mixed a little bit of Scotland in with the Tunnocks (my favourite tea time treat!). Chocolate and peanut butter sounds divine.
Aw thanks Jenny 🙂
What a showstopper! I hope you can get enough Halloween action at home, even though the neighbours won’t be joining in. The kale thing is hilarious. Oh, and I totally remember ‘the one with the peanut on top’!
Thanks Kate – I know, isn’t that kale thing crazy! I suppose each place has its own customs but that one definitely is a strange one, lol!
Wow your cake looks absolutely amazing!! I have an American sister-in-law and she loves Halloween too. She goes all out with over the top Halloween decorations in the house etc. I guess in one way it is a bit of a money making thing like Valentine’s Day etc but it is also fun to get involved in these “themed” holiday events throughout the year and it’s something to look forward to 😉
Thanks Natalie, so glad you like the look of it! I agree, these holidays are something to look forward to. Unfortunately Valentine’s Day is missed in this house as my husband refuses to have anything to do with it!
This Halloween cake is a fab idea for celebrating Halloween. Love the design.
Thanks Stella 🙂