Chocolate cake, chocolate tombstones, buttercream frosting, oreo dirt and gummy worms. Who knew such a spooky graveyard fault line cake could be so yummy?
How I created this Halloween Fault Line Cake
When I saw the fault line cakes start showing up I knew I wanted to create one – but I didn’t want to do something that had already been done. I wanted to do something different.
So I’ve been brainstorming… And then I decided I needed to make a new halloween cake so I should do a halloween fault line cake.
But what to do that hasn’t been done – eyeballs, bloody teeth… all done. This cake started with me thinking about my jello jiggler worms.
It got me thinking about dirt cakes and graveyards and lightbulb!!! Seeing the dirt with bones and worms is PERFECT for a fault line cake!
Add some gravestones to the top and I knew I had something I could have fun with and really love. Then I decided to go ahead and make it LIVE for the first time.
It went pretty smooth – other than trying to add the gummy worms on top of the ground up oreos… then another brainstorm… toothpicks.
Just take me to the Fault Line Cake Tutorial already!
If you’d rather skip my tips and tricks for graveyard fault line cake, along with links to other cake tutorials and get straight to this delicious graveyard dirt cake – simply scroll to the bottom of the page where you can find the printable recipe card.
To make this Halloween cake you’ll need
- worm mold
- bone mold
- headstone mold
- gelatin
- white food dye
- neon green food dye
- bright white candy melts
- black candy food color
- crushed oreos
- carving knife
- revolving cake stand
- turn table
- frosting spatula
- cake smoother
Tips to Frost the Perfect Fault Line Cake
– Crumb coat the cake and chill it – I prefer the freezer not the fridge.
– Frost the center 3 inches of the cake the smooth – keep it fairly thin so that the outside fault line frosting can be thicker without adding too much frosting. Frost the top too – it can be as thick as you like your frosting.
– While the frosting is fresh add the ground oreos. Make sure to brush off the excess oreos so that the green frosting will be able to stick to the cake later.
– Pipe the green frosting around the top and bottom – making sure to frost unevenly. Then smooth it out – letting the edges stay rough.
– Add the candy bones to the cake – you have to wait to add them until after you’ve smoothed the green frosting. If your oreo crumbs are too thick or too set you’ll struggle to get the bones to stick – I kinda dig them in a little, just be careful not to press so hard you break them.
– Add the worms next – I use toothpicks – this way the worms are more 3D and you don’t struggle with the dry oreo crumbs.
– Pipe mounds of oreo buttercream to the top and add the headstones – cover the frosting with more oreo crumbs – and fill in more bones and worms.
Graveyard Fault Line Cake
If you love these Halloween cakes as much as I do, I’d love a 5 star review. Be sure to share on social media and tag me if you make it @ashleemariecakes! If you want to stay updated on new recipes sign up for my newsletter and join my Facebook Group!
If you love this Halloween Cake you’ll love these other cake tutorials!
Lemon Cake with Swiss Raspberry Meringue | Mickey Mouse Jack O’lantern Cake | Black Cat Cake
Mason Jar Jam Cake | Galaxy Unicorn Cake | Doctor Strange Cake
To watch me make this Graveyard Fault Line Cake live play the video in the recipe card.
You can find all my cooking show style recipe videos on YouTube, or my short recipe videos on Facebook Watch, or my Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.
Graveyard Fault Line Dirt Cake
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 8 oz unsweetened chocolate
- 4 C sugar 3 3/4 C for high altitude
- 3 C flour 3 1/4 C for high altitude
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 1/4 tsp for high altitude
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 C boiling water 2 1/4 C water for high altitude
- 10 tsp cocoa powder
- 1 C sour cream OR greek yogurt
- 1 C oil
- 4 Lrg eggs lightly beaten
Swiss Meringue Frosting
- 1 1/2 C pasteurized liquid egg whites
- 12 C powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 6 C butter room temperature
- 3 Tbsp vanilla
- 8 oz chocolate
- 4 oz heavy whipping cream
- 1 ½ C oreo crumbs
- Neon green food dye
Candy Bones
Gummy Worm Recipe
- 3 oz blackberry jello cherry or raspberry can work if you can’t find blackberry
- 5 tsp Gelatin
- 1/2 C water
- White Food Dye
- Green food dye
Instructions
Chocolate Cake
- Preheat the oven to 345
- Prepare four 7 inch round cake pans – I use parchment paper circles on the bottom and a non stick spray on the sides
- Melt the baking chocolate in double broiler (or in a bowl over a simmering pot of water) then let it cool.
- In a large bowl, or bowl of a mixer add the sugar, flour, soda and salt and whisk together.
- In a separate bowl (or a large glass measuring cup) mix the boiling water and cocoa – let it sit for at least a min to let the cocoa bloom for the best flavor.
- Then add the sour cream and oil and whisk.
- Add the wet mixture in a stream to the dry ingredients and mix until blended.
- Add the lightly beaten eggs and beat.
- Add the cooled melted chocolate and mix until uniform in color.
- Bake at 345 40-45 mins (raise the heat by 25 degrees and lower the time by 5 mins for high altitude)
Swiss Meringue Frosting
- In a large mixer with whisks or large bowl with a hand mixer beat the egg whites, sugar and salt for 5 mins until you get a thick white meringue
- while beating on medium add the butter 1-2 Tbsp at a time
- once all the butter is mixed in add the vanilla and beat on medium high another 10 mins
- bring the cream to a simmer (if your using the microwave watch closely – don’t let it boil or the ganache will separate) and pour over the chocolate
- let sit 5 mins then stir until smooth – then let cool to room temperature
- divide the frosting in half.
- add the ganache to half and beat, then fold in the oreo crumbs
- add the neon green to the other half and beat until smooth
Candy Bones
- Melt the candy melts in the microwave or a double broiler
- Spoon into a silicone mold for the bones
- Shake to get the bubbles out, then scrape off the excess
- Let cool and firm up before popping them out of the molds
Gummy Worm Recipe
- Mix the jello and gelatin together
- add the water and stir
- Microwave until it boils – watch carefully so it doesn’t boil over
- stir in a few squirts of white food dye
- If it’s too pink add a half drop of green dye and stir
- use a dropper or plunger to squirt the mixture into the worm mold and let set
Cake Assembly
- Level and fill the cakes with the oreo buttercream and do a crumb coat
- Chill the cake slightly then frost the top and the middle three inches with more oreo buttercream – scrape the middle section fairly thin (so it’s easier to keep the green section thicker)
- Press crushed oreos around the fresh frosting on the side and around the top.
- Use a piping bag to add the green frosting unevenly around the cake top and bottom, use a scraper to smooth the sides. Keeping the green section thicker than the oreo section.
- Add the worms and bones around the center of the cake – remember to break some in half and have them coming out of the green frosting. To get the worms to stick use toothpicks (see the video)
- and add mounds of oreo frosting to the top to hold the headstones- sprinkle with more oreos.
- now add more bones and worms here too.
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