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    Recipes » Recipes » Baking & Desserts

    Gluten-Free Vegan Halloween Ghost Cake

    Last updated - July 15, 2021; Published - October 5, 2017 By Rhian Williams 8 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
    Photo of a chocolate cake topped with three pears made to look like ghosts

    I hope you'll love this Gluten-Free Vegan Halloween Ghost Cake - think chocolate sponge, luxurious chocolate buttercream and adorable poached pear ghost decorations!

    Gluten-Free Vegan Halloween Ghost Cake

    With Halloween just a few weeks away, I thought it was definitely time to post a Halloween-themed cake! I wanted to use easily accessible, natural ingredients and because I'm definitely an amateur when it comes to cake decoration, I wanted it to be as effortless as possible. So, when I saw some cute poached pear ghosts the other day, I knew they would be absolutely perfect!

    Gluten-Free Vegan Halloween Ghost Cake

    Did I mention they're incredibly easy to make? All you need to do is peel some pears, poach them and draw on some little eyes with melted dark chocolate! They're so simple you can even get children involved too.

    Gluten-Free Vegan Halloween Ghost Cake

    For the cake, I used my go-to chocolate sponge recipe: it's moist, fluffy, and most importantly, undetectably vegan, gluten-free and refined sugar free! It's also easy to make, requires just one bowl and simple ingredients, and really versatile, too.

    Gluten-Free Vegan Halloween Ghost Cake

    For the frosting, I've listed several options. You can use:

    • Chocolate Sweet Potato Buttercream
    • Coconut Whipped Cream
    • Chocolate Custard

    But, I decided to go with a chocolate cashew buttercream frosting. It's easy to make, and has the same indulgent taste as chocolate truffles! Who can say no to that?

    Gluten-Free Vegan Halloween Ghost Cake

    All you need to do to make this magical frosting is to blend some soaked cashews with a sweetener of choice, fragrant vanilla, a pinch of salt, sumptuous cocoa powder and velvety cacao butter. It has a perfect texture for spreading, and has the same melt-in-your-mouth richness of real buttercream!

    Gluten-Free Vegan Halloween Ghost Cake

    Once you've frosted the cake, you can drizzle over some chocolate sauce to create a spooky cobwebby look! I made the sauce by melting some coconut oil and mixing with cocoa powder and maple syrup, but you can also just use melted dark chocolate instead.

    Gluten-Free Vegan Halloween Ghost Cake

    I really hope you'll love this Gluten-Free Vegan Halloween Ghost Cake! For more amazing chocolate cakes, check out my:

    • Chocolate Torte
    • Chocolate Sponge Layer Cake
    • Chocolate Hazelnut Truffle Cake
    • Chocolate Truffle Cake

    Gluten-Free Vegan Halloween Ghost Cake

    If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.

    Helpful tools to make this Gluten-Free Vegan Halloween Ghost Cake:

    For the cake:

    glass mixing bowl

    measuring jug

    18 cm / 7 inch sandwich baking tin

    baking paper

    cooling rack

    For the frosting:

    food processor

    blender

    palette knife for frosting

    Gluten-Free Vegan Halloween Ghost Cake

    Gluten-Free Vegan Halloween Ghost Cake

    Gluten-Free Vegan Halloween Ghost Cake – think chocolate sponge, luxurious chocolate buttercream and adorable poached pear ghost decorations!
    4.25 from 4 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: gluten-free halloween cake, halloween ghost cake, vegan halloween cake
    Prep Time: 30 minutes
    Cook Time: 30 minutes
    Total Time: 1 hour
    Servings: 8
    Calories: 280kcal
    Author: Rhian Williams

    Ingredients

    For the cake:

    • 60 g (¼ cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
    • 230 ml (1 cup) unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
    • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
    • 8 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • Pinch of salt
    • 150 g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds* (almond meal)
    • 150 g (1 ¼ cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
    • 2 heaped teaspoons baking power (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
    • ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
    • 3 tablespoons cocoa powder

    For the chocolate buttercream**:

    • 100 g (⅔ cup) raw cashew nuts soaked in cold water overnight or in hot water for 15 minutes
    • 30 g (1oz) cocoa butter
    • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
    • 8 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk (or sub any other plant-based milk or water)
    • 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • Pinch of salt

    For the chocolate sauce***:

    • 2 tablespoons coconut oil
    • 2 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
    • 1 tablespoon cocoa powder

    For the poached pears:

    • 3 pears
    • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
    • 2 tablespoons lemon juice

    Instructions

    For the cake:

    • Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit)
    • Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave (skip this step if using any other oil)
    • Once melted, add the milk to the same bowl along with the vinegar, maple syrup, vanilla, salt and ground almonds
    • Sift in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and cocoa powder
    • Mix well, adding a tiny splash more milk if it’s looking too dry
    • Divide mixture between two greased baking tins lined with baking paper (I used two 7inch/18cm baking tins)
    • Bake in oven for around 15 minutes until risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean
    • Once out the oven, transfer cakes from baking tins onto a wired rack to leave them to cool completely before applying the frosting

    For the buttercream:

    • Drain soaked cashews and add to a food processor or blender along with all the other ingredients*
    • Whizz until completely smooth
    • Taste and adjust flavour accordingly - add more maple syrup for sweetness, more cocoa powder for chocolatey flavour etc
    • Put the mixture (keeping it in the food processor but you can transfer to a bowl if you wish) into the fridge and leave to harden slightly before using to frost the cake

    For the poached pears:

    • Carefully peel the pears and cut off the bottoms so that they can stand up straight
    • Place the pears in a pan with the maple syrup and enough water to roughly cover
    • Bring to the boil and simmer for around 10 minutes, until soft enough to gently pierce with a fork
    • Once the pears are cooked, remove them from the pan and immediately coat them in the lemon juice to make sure they don't turn brown
    • Leave pears to cool before using to decorate the cake

    For the chocolate sauce:

    • Place all ingredients in a bowl and melt either over a bain-marie or in the microwave, until mixed together well
    • Make this sauce just before decorating the cake
    • Use a skewer or chopstick to use create eyes for the pears with the melted chocolate

    To frost and decorate the cake:

    • Place one half of the cake onto a plate or cake stand, and spread just less than half of the frosting onto it
    • Place the other half of the cake on top of that and use rest of the frosting to spread on top and around the sides of the cake
    • Use a fork or spoon to drizzle the chocolate sauce all over the cake
    • Place the poached pears on top of the cake
    • Tastes best when fresh but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days

    Notes

    *You can alternatively use almond flour
    **Other frosting options include:
    • Chocolate Sweet Potato Buttercream
    • Coconut Whipped Cream
    • Chocolate Custard 
    ***You can alternatively use melted dark chocolate (ensure vegan if necessary)
    Poached pears adapted from Waitrose
    Nutrition Facts
    Gluten-Free Vegan Halloween Ghost Cake
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories 280
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
    Made the recipe?Tag @rhiansrecipes on instagram and use the hashtag #rhiansrecipes!

    Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you purchase any of these products, a small percentage will come to me with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog – thank you.

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      Recipe Rating




    1. Karly

      October 06, 2017 at 2:50 pm

      This is SO stinkin' cute! And I love the pears as the ghosts, so clever!

      Reply
      • Rhian Williams

        October 06, 2017 at 3:36 pm

        Thank you so much, so glad you like it!

    2. jenna urben

      October 20, 2017 at 9:25 pm

      I haven't made a homemade vegan cake but this recipe might just change that! Looks great and awesome photos.

      Reply
      • Rhian Williams

        October 20, 2017 at 11:37 pm

        Yay thank you so much, so glad you like it!

    3. Anonymous

      May 01, 2018 at 4:24 pm

      5 stars
      The pears are adorable!

      Reply
      • Rhian Williams

        May 01, 2018 at 4:27 pm

        Thank you!

    4. Daire

      October 26, 2018 at 11:18 pm

      I love this recipe! I've been trying to go gluten free, and it can be hard especially because I love to bake. I featured this in my Halloween Food roundup on my site!

      Reply
      • Rhian Williams

        October 27, 2018 at 4:03 pm

        Aw great, thank you so much, so kind of you!

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    Photo of Rhian Williams from Rhian's Recipes

    Hi, I'm Rhian! I make easy, undetectably vegan + gluten-free recipes, including healthy comfort food and naturally sweetened desserts using plant-based ingredients.

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