Pro Tips for the Best Bone Cake
Measure your flour correctly! Adding too much flour to the recipe is the most common mistake. The best, and easiest way to measure flour is by using a scale. If you don’t have one then fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle it into your measuring cup, and use a knife to level it off. Broken bones are no problem so don’t worry if they crack! I think they make the cake look all the more menacing. If you really want to up the gore factor you can add some raspberry reduction for blood and drizzle that all over. I opted to skip that as my husband is a bit squeamish… To get FLAT layers that are moist inside and out try using cake strips! You can buy a set on the shop page or make your own from foil and paper towels at home. I made a whole blog post on it so check it out if you’re interested! Don’t take the “bones” out of the oven too soon! They need to dry out while the oven is off. If you find cake decorating to be a bit intimidating then check out my How to Decorate a Cake post, it has lots of helpful tips and a full how to video. Piping the bones is really easy. Just whip up a batch of french meringue, transfer to a piping bag and snip the tip off. Then pipe the bone shaped onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. The hardest part is waiting for them to dry out in the oven. It takes forever and is so tempting to take them out early.
What Kind of Cocoa Powder Should You Use?
I love using a high-quality Dutch processed cocoa powder. Dutch processed cocoa powder is darker, less acidic and fudgier in baked goods. You’ll usually get less rise out of it though. My go to company is Valrhona but there are lots of great brands out there, including Callebaut, Ghirardelli and lots of organic and fair trade options too!
How do I know when the cake is done?
A cake layer is done when the center springs back after being lightly pressed and the edge pulls away from the pan. A skewer will come out clean when inserted in the center.
What’s the best way to prep the pan?
I wipe my pans down with butter then flour them. If you have bad luck with cakes breaking when removed from the pans you can use a circle of parchment paper on the bottom for an easy release.
How to Make a Meringue Bone Cake
For the meringue; You’ll want to line a baking sheet with parchment paper. clean your mixing bowl to make sure it’s completely free of residual fats. I like to wipe mine down with vinegar. Separate the whites one at a time into a small bowl transferring a white into the mixing bowl after each egg has been separated.
Whisk the egg whites, salt and cream of tartar with a wire whisk on low working your way up to high. Once the eggs froth up SLOWLY sprinkle the sugar in. Mix on high until stiff marshmallowy peaks form.
Cut off the edge of a piping bag and fill it with the meringue. Pipe the bone shapes onto the parchment paper (I made about 14 bones). Bake them for about 60 minutes at 215 degrees then use a wooden spoon to crack the oven open and allow them to cool in the over for another hour.
To make the cake; butter and flour three 9-inch cake pans. I highly recommend using cake strips for a more even bake! Sift together the dry ingredients (including the sugar) into a large bowl and whisk to combine.
Now time for your wet ingredients! Mix all the wet ingredients into a large bowl and whisk together making sure everything is well incorporated.
Go ahead and add your wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Whisk them together to combine and if you’re working with a stand mixer, attach the bowl to it then mix on level 2 for two minutes.
7. Distribute the batter evenly to the three pans and bake for about 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees F or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. I also recommend rotating the pans halfway through the bake. Allow time to cool for 10 minutes then invert onto wire racks to cool fully. While the cake is in the oven it’s time to make the buttercream. Sift your confectioners sugar and set it aside. In a small bowl combine the semi sweet chocolate with 3 tablespoons of cream Microwave for 40 seconds on 50% power. Stir to combine then set aside. Whip the butter, salt, and cocoa powder for a few minutes using a paddle attachment. Scrape the bowl down then beat in the sifted confectioners sugar and add the cream. Beat in the melted and cooled chocolate ganache. You may add the optional vanilla and espresso at this step. 8. Build the cake by piping buttercream onto the first layer then drizzling with ganache. Repeat until the cake is complete then cover in a layer of buttercream.
9.Smooth the buttercream using a bench scraper and offset spatula if you have them. A rough smooth is fine though since you’ll be covering the cake with meringue bones! 10. Finally you can decorate your cake with the bones! Place the meringue bones on the outside layer of the cake and create a little pile of bones for the top. I broke some of mine in half to make the cake look more menacing. If you REALLY want a gore factor, you can add some raspberry reduction for blood and drizzle that all over! Have fun! If you’ve tried this cake then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
