Easy Halloween almond cake (mazarinkage) with mascarpone cocoa cream and spooky decorations.
Halloween doesn’t have to call for a baking diploma or hours in the kitchen – and these mazarin cakes are the proof.
With shop-bought mazarin tarts (Danish almond tarts, sold ready-made in supermarkets), a soft, creamy cocoa cream and spooky (but edible) decorations, you can conjure up the prettiest Halloween cakes in no time.
Top the cakes with a velvety mascarpone cream flavoured with cocoa, and decorate them with little “graves” made from Oreos and marshmallows with sugar eyes and “hair” of edible soil – dark biscuits blitzed to fine crumbs. You can also make cobwebs from melted marshmallows – it’s easy, fun and just the right amount of creepy.
Children will love both decorating and eating them, and they can easily be made a few hours ahead and kept in the fridge (just bear in mind that the Oreos can go soft from the moisture in the fridge).
Want an even easier version with a bit more wow factor? Then have a look at my Halloween cake with a croissant base, where the dough is rolled into croissants and baked as one single base in a springform tin – then topped with the same cocoa cream and sweet decorations, just with strawberries and marshmallows with eyes.
Halloween almond cake (mazarinkage) with cocoa cream
Ingredients
Cocoa cream
- 200 g mascarpone
- 250 ml whipping cream (38% fat)
- 4 tbsp cocoa powder
- 3 tbsp icing sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla sugar
Edible soil and decorations
- 80 g dark chocolate biscuits (without cream filling)
- 8-10 Oreos – for topping
- 8-10 marshmallows – for topping
- 3 marshmallows – for cobwebs
- Edible sugar eyes
- A little thick icing
You’ll also need
- 2 mazarin tarts shop-bought Danish almond tarts (mazarintærter)
Method
Edible soil and decorations
- Blitz the chocolate biscuits (the ones without cream filling) to fine crumbs and tip them into a bowl.
- Make a small batch of thick icing from icing sugar and a little water – it acts as glue for the eyes and hair on the marshmallows – and the Oreos. These can be prepared earlier in the day or the day before.Dab a little icing on the back of the sugar eyes and place two on each Oreo and two on each marshmallow. Brush the tops of the marshmallows with a little icing too, and dip them in the blitzed chocolate biscuits. Save the rest of the crumbs to sprinkle over the top of the cake.
- Put the ingredients for the cream in a bowl and whisk them together with a hand mixer until the cream thickens.The cream needs to be firm enough to hold the toppings in place on the cake, but take care not to overwhip it.
- Divide the cocoa cream between the 2 mazarin tarts and spread it out well so the whole cake is covered.
- Sprinkle the tops with the blitzed biscuits and arrange the marshmallows and Oreos on top. Press them gently into the cake, and if needed use a little of the leftover cocoa cream from the bowl to "glue" them to the cake.If the marshmallows are too large, you can halve them lengthways (vertically, through the height) so you get two tall, slimmer halves.
- Finally, melt 2-3 marshmallows in the microwave – they need about 10-15 seconds on full power.Stir with a spoon until you have a sticky mass, then use the thumb and index finger of both hands to pull cobwebs across the cake. Stick the ends to the side of the cake. It’s sticky – but just look how good it looks 😉
- Serve the cake straight away – or keep it in the fridge for a couple of hours.
Nutrition
Premium
