Witches' Brew Halloween Cake Jars

These are the main supplies required to make these witches brew cake jars:

Cake

• Self raising flour + baking powder + salt - sift these together to mix them well and to break any lumps in the flour. Use fine salt.
• Unsweetened black cocoa powder - make sure to sift the cocoa powder before using as it tends to be lumpy and can remain lumpy in your cake batter.
• Granulated sugar (caster sugar) - fine sugar works best for this cake. Coarse white sugar will leave unsightly specks of sugar on the surface of the cake after baking.
• Butter - I use salted butter. If you are using unsalted butter, increase the amount of salt in the recipe by one eighth of a teaspoon.
• Eggs - use large eggs.
• Whole milk - Contributes to the moist texture of the cake. Use room temperature milk.
• Vanilla extract - adds a lovely aroma and flavor to the chocolate pound cake.

Buttercream & Decoration

• Butter - I use salted butter. If you are using unsalted butter, add a pinch of salt to the butter when creaming.
• Powdered sugar (icing sugar) - this sugar tend to be lumpy and must be sifted before using.
• Vanilla extract - adds flavor to the buttercream
• Milk or cream (optional) - this is only required if your buttercream is too stiff.
• Food coloring – I used Americolor Electric green for the buttercream.
• Fondant – This is to make the witches' legs. I used Satin Ice in orange and black . You can make your own fondant if you wish and tint it with orange and black gel food coloring.
• CMC powder (or tylose powder) – to be kneaded into fondant when making the witches' legs. CMC helps fondant to dry firmer and is particularly helpful when making upright standing fondant pieces.
• Sprinkles - A mix of green, blue and chocolate to match the green buttercream and the witches' brew Halloween theme.

Tools

• Plastic or glass jars to assemble the cakes. Mine measured 3 inches in diameter and 3 ½ inches high.
• Round cutter (3 inches in diameter) - to cut the cake into circles. You can use a cookie cutter or any other tool, including the jars to cut the cakes. For easy handling, the cake circles should be 2mm or 3mm smaller than the diameter of the jar.
• Cake decorating brush – Use a food-grade, fine-tipped brush to dampen the witches boots in black fondant and to attach the black stripes to make the legs.
• Sugar craft knife and fondant modelling tools – To cut and shape the fondant.
• Disposable piping bags and star tip 1M - to pipe the buttercream.
• Cake leveler - to level and layer the cake before cutting into circles.

• Knead some CMC into orange fondant. Knead until it becomes soft and pliable. Roll the fondant into a long strip (approximately 5mm in diameter) (image 1). This is to make the witches' long orange legs.

Note: Instead of rolling with your hands, you can use a fondant smoother. It helps create smooth strips without any finger marks or dents (image 2).

• Cut the strip into 10 cm lengths (image 3). Repeat the process until you have 18 of these. Keep the strips covered in a container to prevent them from becoming dry as you work on them.

Note: When working with fondant in humid environment, it has a tendency to become sticky and saggy and will not firm up even after leaving it to set overnight. Adding CMC powder helps. Working in an airconditioned room also helps to set them firm.

Variation: Another option to deal with humidity is to insert lollipop sticks into the legs. To do this, roll the orange fondant into a long rope and then flatten it lightly (make sure the width is sufficient to wrap around a lollipop stick. Dampen the stick (with a damp brush) and wrap it with the flattened fondant. Roll lightly to smooth the joints.

• Next step is to add the black fondant stripes to the orange legs. It is not necessary to add any CMC to the fondant. Roll it into a long thin strip (with an approximate diameter of 2mm to 3mm) (image 4).

Note: For easy handling, make the strips in lengths of 25cm to 30cm and repeat as you finish using them up.

• Dampen the cake decorating brush and brush it on the orange fondant leg where you wish to place the stripes. Start from one end, leaving about 1 cm space (image 5).
• Attach the black strip to the dampened area and carefully cut off the excess (image 6).

• Use your fingers to smoothen and adjust as necessary. Repeat the process until you have 5 black stripes on each leg for all the 18 legs. Keep the legs covered while you are working on the others (images 7 & 8).

Note: The traces of water from the damp brush act as a glue for the fondant. However, applying too much water will cause your fondant to turn soggy and the color to bleed. When using the brush, dip it in water and then wipe it lightly in a kitchen towel before applying to fondant.

Variation: Instead of adding fondant stripes, you can also use a black food marker to draw the black lines on the legs. Let the orange fondant dry first before drawing the lines.

Step 2: Make the black fondant shoes

• Knead some CMC into black fondant (image 9). Knead until soft and pliable and make 18 balls (approximately 2 cm in diameter).

Note: Keep the balls covered in a container as you work on them one by one. If you find them a little dry, knead again until they become smooth.

• Roll the fondant ball into a short sausage (image 10).

• Pinch the bottom of the sausage to make it pointy (image 11). This will form the heel of the shoe.
• Next, push the right-end of the sausage upwards (image 12).
• Press it down slightly to make it thicker and fatter (image 13). This will be the top part the shoes.
• Next, pinch the left-end of the sausage flat and curl it up slightly (image 14). This will make the pointy end of the witch shoes. If the shoe appears to thick, press it down lightly.

• To make the opening for the shoe, use a small ball tool or any rounded object to make a round dent as shown in images 15 and 16.

(Note: the first shoe will take a slightly longer time to make, but once you get used to the steps, you will be able to make them at a much quicker rate.)

Step 3: Attach the shoes to the legs

• To attach the shoes to the legs, use a damp brush to lightly moisten the insides of the rounded hole in the shoes (image 17).
• Gently attach it to the leg and press it lightly with your fingers to secure it well (image 18).
• Set the leg (with the shoe attached) on a flat surface to allow the shoe to set in position securely. Repeat the above steps until all the shoes are completed and attached to the legs. Let the legs rest overnight until they are dry and firm.

Step 4: Bake the cake

• Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Grease and flour one 9-inch square cake tin. Set aside.

• Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy (on medium speed) for approximately 2 minutes. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl half way through. (image 19).
• Add the eggs, two at a time, beating well after each addition (image 20).
• In a separate bowl, measure the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt. Mix with a hand whisk until well combined. Sift the flour mixture into the creamed ingredients (image 21) in 3 batches. Alternate each batch with milk (image 22). and fold well. Finally, fold in the vanilla extract.

• Transfer the cake batter into the prepared cake tin (image 23) and bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Test the cake at least 5 to 10 minutes before the baking time is up by inserting a skewer or cake tester in the center of the cake. The cake is baked if the skewer comes out without any wet batter and the top of the cake springs back when pressed lightly.
• Remove the cake from oven and let it rest in the tin for 2 to 3 minutes. Loosen the sides with a butter knife and turn it onto a wire rack. Use another wire rack to turn it again to face upwards (image 24). Let the cake cool completely before frosting.

Step 5: Make the buttercream

• To make the buttercream, place the butter into a large bowl. Cream it until it is soft, smooth and creamy (image 25).
• Add in the sifted powdered sugar. Mix with a spatula to moisten it (image 26) before using the electric mixer to whip the buttercream. This will help prevent the sugar from flying all over when you turn on the mixer.
• Add vanilla extract and beat again until it is well combined and the buttercream is all smooth.
• Add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly (image 27). Transfer the buttercream into a piping bag fitted with large star tip (tip 1M) (image 28).

Note: Start with a little food coloring and mix well before adding more until you reach the desired color for the buttercream. Gel food colors are very concentrated and only require a small amount of to be used.

Step 6: Assemble the cake jars

• Level the top of the cake (if not level) and then slice it into half horizontally (images 29 & 30). You can do this with a cake leveler or serrated knife. For other methods, check out my post on how to level and layer cakes.
• Use the round cutter (image 31) (or one of the cake jars (image 32)) to cut out 9 circles from each cake layer.

Note: Plan how you will cut the circles before cutting them to ensure you have enough space for 9 on each cake layer.

• To assemble the Halloween cake jars, drop a spoonful of sprinkles to the bottom of the jar. Push them to the sides so that they are visible from the outside (image 33).

Note: Adding the sprinkles to the bottom of the jar is optional. I did it because my jars were not flat at the bottom (they were slightly higher in the center) and the sprinkles were a nice way to fill the gap on the sides.

• Next, gently push in the first cake layer into each jar (image 34).

• And then pipe the first layer of buttercream into each jar, starting from the sides towards the center. Add more sprinkles, but only on the sides such that they are visible from the outside (images 35 & 36).

• Top these with another layer of the chocolate cake, followed by a final layer of buttercream. Pipe the buttercream into a large swirl (images 37 & 38).
• Top the cake jars with sprinkles, this time all over the top instead of just the sides.

• Finally, use a long wooden skewer to make 2 holes in the cake jar (image 39). Poke the witch legs into the holes to complete the witches' brew Halloween cake jars (image 40).

Note: If you find the fondant not set properly, you can try to poke uncooked spaghetti into each leg. It is not advisable to use thin wooden skewers, wires or toothpicks as they can cause poking hazard if accidentally bitten into.