Halloween cake: monster cake with chocolate and hazelnuts

Melt 80 g dark chocolate and 80 g milk chocolate together for 1 to 2 minutes at 600 watts in the microwave. Stir with a dough scraper now and then so the heat spreads evenly and nothing burns. Set the chocolate aside.

Preheat the oven to 180 °C fan. Put 200 g butter, 150 g sugar and a pinch of salt into the mixing bowl and whip everything until light and creamy with the whisk.

Using a measuring spoon, add 1 tsp baking soda and 1 tsp baking powder to 200 g flour and mix everything well. This way the raising agents are spread evenly and the cake rises nicely.

Switch to the flat beater. On a low speed, add 4 eggs and the flour mixture and mix everything for 1 to 2 minutes on medium speed.

Add 150 g ground hazelnuts and the melted chocolate and continue mixing for 1 minute. Finally, mix everything through well once more with the dough scraper.

Set the adjustable loaf tin to 28 cm and spray it generously with Non-stick spray. Pour in the batter and smooth it out with a small Angled spatula.

Bake the cake for 45 bis 50 minutes in the lower part of the oven at 180 °C fan. Then turn it out and let it cool completely on a Cake rack.

To be safe, chill the cooled cake in the fridge for another 30 minutes. Then cut it into slices 2,5 cm thick, so the cut surfaces stay clean.

Whip 100 g of Enchanted Cream powder with 200 g of milk until stiff for 2 to 3 minutes. You can replace the milk fully or partly with water. We deliberately keep the cream neutral so the chocolate and nut flavour of the cake really comes through.

Divide the cream between 5 small bowls. Leave one white and colour the others with gel colors green, orange, violet and black.

Place an adapter into each of the 5 small piping bags, push it right to the tip and cut the tip off just short. Then fill each with one colour. Thanks to the adapters, you can swap the piping nozzles later without squeezing the cream out.

Fit the small basketweave nozzle onto the white cream. Hold the piping bag at a 45° angle and pipe even bands, changing direction again and again and crossing the bands. Add two large Candy eyes on top, and your mummy is done.

Fit the Leaf piping nozzle onto each of the five colours in turn, from black through green, purple and orange to white. Because the nozzle still holds a little of the previous colour each time, you get a beautiful colour gradient. Squeeze at a 45° angle, stop and pull upwards, then decorate with Candy eyes.

Using the small Star tip no. 21, pipe small peaks of orange and purple cream all over the surface, holding the bag straight. For the mouth, pipe a black semicircle with the 3 mm Round piping nozzle, and for the teeth use white cream with the basketweave nozzle.

Spread green cream with the 8 mm Round piping nozzle and smooth it out with the Angled spatula. Pipe black hair with the Leaf piping nozzle, place two Candy eyes in the centre and draw scars and a nose with the 1.5 mm piping nozzle. The mouth turns out a little bolder with the 3 mm piping nozzle.

Using the star tip no. 21, pipe stripes of orange cream, rounding them off slightly towards the end. With green cream and the 8 mm piping nozzle, swirl a stalk, then set two leaves with the Leaf piping nozzle. Finally, draw triangular eyes, a nose and a zigzag mouth with black cream.