Lately, I’ve been having hard core cravings for cozy autumn flavors. We’re talking nuts, cinnamon, caramel, pumpkin, apple, and all manner of Halloween-y teas (Hellooooo, spiced apple chai!). And of course I’m always craving chocolate. So I was thrilled when, while reading the Nancy Drew book THE SECRET OF SHADOW RANCH, I noticed that Nancy makes a chocolate walnut cake. I immediately said, “This! But make it autumn.”
As befits the Halloween season, this beautiful chocolate cake is a Frankenstein of different recipes I’ve developed over the years. The sponge and frosting recipes are slight variations on those used in the Delicious Death cake in my cookbook, A LITERARY TEA PARTY. I candied and spiced the walnuts, using a recipe from my latest cookbook, A LITERARY HOLIDAY COOKBOOK. Then I topped it off with a cinnamon butterscotch drip top, a twist on the butterscotch sauce I made to fill Mr. Rochester’s Bonbons earlier this year.
Here are a few cake decorating tools I found super helpful (though they’re not required):
- Turntable. This makes it a lot easier to get a smooth finish on the sides, and it allows you to focus on the timing of your butterscotch drips instead of trying to turn a heavy plate smoothly at the same time. I took a detachable one from underneath a rotating serving plate my grandma gave me, and it worked great!
- Large frosting knife. If you have a bench scraper, use that to get a smooth finish on your frosting, but if not, a big frosting knife will do. It also helps smooth the caramel.
- Tall enough fridge space for a 3-tier cake. I’m lucky enough to have a basement fridge with one shelf removed. If you’ll be storing this in your main fridge, plan accordingly.
- Squeeze bottle. You can add your drip top with a spoon, but if you’re new to the method (like me) a squeeze bottle gives you lots more control.
The finished cake was chocolaty, decadent, and scratched that fall flavor itch. It’s definitely the perfect end to my Nancy Drew menu…and a perfect reward for volunteering to stay home and hand out candy on Halloween!
