Halloween Calendar Cake
If there’s somethin’ strange in your neighborhood,
who ya gonna call?
I’ll say call no one, lock the door, stay inside and bake a cake! That’s exactly what I did. Besides, you definitely would not want to call anybody and share these amazing macarons from this month’s Daring Bakers’ challenge. You heard me right, I used the “M” word.
Macaron, a word that makes a lot of girls swoon. Some say it’s even better than sex …. …. … *~ahem* Well, I guess I’ll just have to take their words for it. I first discovered macarons from the Adriano Zumbo patisserie, you can’t help but drawn to the glass cabinet full of macarons that almost covered the whole pastel colour palette. And with the endless possibility of different flavours, I can see why the macarons are truly the girl’s best friend. I also tried my hands at making the macarons last christmas. Slowly I learned about the attractions of macarons and able to share my appreciations towards this beautiful delicate French pastry.
The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe. Since Halloween is just around the corner, what could be more appropriate than baking a cake for this spooky occasion. Hence, I give you – the Halloween calendar cake! (with macarons!)
In Australia, Halloween is actually not as big and exciting as in US. However, I’ve noticed the trend has finally caught up here in the last couple of years with kids dressing up in costumes, knocking from door to door for Trick of Treats. So I thought why not, I’ll make a Halloween cake and join in the fun. I have always wanted to make a calendar cake, and when I found out that macarons are this month’s baking challenge, I thought it is the perfect timing to incorporate them into my Halloween cake.
During the design phase, all I can think of is “Black” and “Orange” for Halloween. So I decided to make a checkerboard cake using this two colours and it is orange flavoured, of course. Then it is covered in black chocolate glaze and decorated with black macarons as the days of the month, except one orange macaron to highlight the day of Halloween. Hence, the cake is predominantly in black colour and oh boy, you wouldn’t want to know how much black food colouring I’ve used for this challenge.
I bought two tubs of black food coloring powder, it cost me a total of AUD$12.00 and there are only 8 grams in total! It is rather expensive for some black powder I must say. I’ve made two batches of the black macarons – first batch is a failure with no feet and a moon crater-like shell, and it is also not black enough even I have added in half a tub of the black colouring powder into the mixture. And I also found the recipe provided is a little unstable in measurement, as it only asks for 5 egg whites without an exact weight given, and also baking twice in oven at two temperatures seems way too complicated for my liking. I believe the recipe doesn’t work for many of daring bakers by reading all the similar failure results on the forum.
Soon I’ve given up on the recipe and used Tarlette’s recipe as a basic guideline for my second batch. This time I’ve decided to use up all the black powder to achieve the blackness I’ve hoped for and it came out perfect with a much darker greyish black. Same story for the orange food colouring powder I bought, the 4 grams of orange dust is just enough to make one batch of macarons. (Don’t look too closely on the orange macaron on top of the cake, is a fail!)
And for the checkerboard cake, I used black and orange food coloring in liquid form which is much more economical. Also thanks to ChocolateSuze for her kind offering of the black coloring, as I couldn’t find any of them here at the stores. Again, you do need a lot of black coloring to really make the cake black. As for the orange part, the orange-flavoured cake will already have a orange yellowish tint to start off with, so you don’t really need as much as the black food coloring to achieve the result.
It is best to find a recipe that bakes a cake with a firmer texture as it can be a challenge to assemble them together if the cake is too soft and crumbly or too moist. You can either use condensed milk or jam to glue them together to form the checkerboard, I opted for the orange marmalade and works like a treat.
Thanks to the Pom’s suggestion to make the cake even more haunting, we used the off-cuts from the cake and make them into little tombstones, a little branch as dead tree in the background for that eerie ghostly final touch. And there you have it, your own miniature graveyard for this Halloween season.
I had a blast tackling this month’s challenge, and thanks to Ami S. for the opportunity. Here’s the recipe of the macaron and the cake, but I suggest please do take this recipe with a grain of salt. Macaron can be fiddly and time consuming, so practice makes perfect.
Macarons I won't provide the recipe from the challenge here as I don't think it works for many of us. You can try a few of these recipes proven to be more successful: Tarlette's recipe - a much straight forward and simple recipe Syrup and Tang - a recipe that involves three Daring Bakers to change the lightbulb Melanger - a more stable Italian method
Halloween calendar cake (Orange flavour) Adapted from Bon Vivant's middle eastern orange cake recipe. Checkerboard Orange cake Ingredients 2 large oranges, left whole 6 large eggs 9 ounces/ 250 grams plain flour 9 ounces/ 250 grams granulated sugar 9 ounces/ 250 grams softened unsalted butter 1 teaspoon double-action baking powder black food colouring orange food colouring 3 tbsp marmalade 3 tbsp sugar 1 tbps water Methods: 1. Place the oranges in a saucepan and barely cover them with water. Bring to a boil, lower the water to a simmer and leave on low heat, covered, for 1 hour. When done, remove the oranges from the pan and leave to cool. 2. Preheat the oven to 375F/190C. Butter two 8-inch (24cm) square baking tins. 3. Roughly chop the oranges, discarding any pips, then thoroughly blend the orange pieces into puree. Beat the eggs with butter in a mixer. Add the orange puree and mix together until well combined. 4. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar and baking powder, then whisk in the egg-orange mixture. Pour exactly half of the batter into another mixing bowl. 5. Add black coloring to one of the mixture, and orange colouring to another. If you don't have orange colouring, add yellow and red coloring with the ratio of 2:1 until it achieves the orange colour that you are happy with. 6. Pour the mixtures into the prepared pans and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Use a skewer stick and poke in the centre of the cake, and if it comes out clean. It's ready. 7. Allow the cake to cool completely in the tin before turning it out gently on the cooling rack. 8. Prepare your glue for assembling the checkerboard cake by adding the marmalade, water and sugar into a saucepoan and bring it to boil until all melted. Do not stir and let it caramelised for couple of minutes until the mixture has thicken. Once ready, set aside and let it cools down. 9. Use something as a guideline (in my case, the diameter of a pastry brush), cut the cakes into long strips at around 1.5cm. The width and the height of the strips should be the same. 10. Alternate between the black strip and the orange strip, brush some of the marmalade on each side of the cakes and stick them together. The best way to do it is to re-jigsaw them back together inside the square baking tin again. Once putting all back together, put the unused square baking tin on top of the cake and weigh it down with a bowl. Let it set for at least 2 hours before flipping the cake out onto the cooling rack again, ready for the chocolate glaze. Chocolate glaze Ingredients: 170g dark chocolate 200g thickened cream 1 tablespoon honey black food colouring (liquid form) Methods: 1. Chop the chocolate into very small pieces and place in a medium bowl. Add about a teaspoon of the black colouring. 2. Bring cream and honey to a boil, stirring to dissolve. Pour over chocolate and let stand a couple of minutes. 3. Whisk slowly and gently until all completely combined. If is not black enough, add a few more drops of the colouring until it achieves the blackness you are looking for. 4. Place the cake on the cooling rack on top of a big bowl to catch the chocolate drips while glazing. 5. Pour the chocolate quickly in the center and around the edges. Steady but gently, tilt the cake in a circil motion and make sure the glaze is covering the whole cake. 6. let it set for at least 2 hours before decorating it. 7. Once set, you should be still able to see some outlines of the joints of the cake. Use them as a guideline to place the macarons on top of the cake according to the calendar month you are working for. For eg, first macaron on the left is Monday, and the last macaron on the right is Sunday. 8. For the tombstones, use the offcuts and slice them thinly and cut them into small rectangles. Make the round curve of a tombstone by cutting two corners off, then stick the bottom gently onto the cake. Make as many tombstones as you like. 9. Cut a small dead branch and stick it at the back of the tombstones as the final touch.
A Table For Two (ATFT) is Billy Law's food blog that features best eats in Sydney and around the world with drool-worthy food photography to salivate your appetite. I also throw in a smidgen of my food and travel photography for good measure. Billy Law also happened to be a contestant on MasterChef Australia 2011. 
I’m speechless… Billy, you’re my new hero
)
.-= sandra´s last blog ..Pane al Pesto – Pain Pistou =-.
Billy!! It’s too good!!!!!! That black food colouring turned out so black, were your teeth black after eating it?? I love love love the whole thing, the gravestones were a perfect extra touch!
.-= Steph´s last blog ..Ice Kacang Macarons (Rose Syrup & Sweet Corn Macarons) – Daring Bakers Oct 2009 =-.
Yes! That’s what I wanted to ask! Did your teeth turn black after eating the cake and the macs? And what did you fill your leftover mac shells with (I’m assuming you had leftover mac shells yes?)
These black macarons are to die for. What brand of food colouring did you use? I have some Wilton Food Colouring paste in black that I’ve yet to use. I bought it with macarons in mind.
I struggled a little with this recipe, too. Not the most precise, but I make some assumptions so that no doubt helped. Though back to my Italian meringue version next time!
.-= Julia @ Mélanger´s last blog ..{ Daring Bakers Challenge :: Salted Caramel Macarons } =-.
Your macarons are genius too! I use quite a lot of the black powder to get it that black… let just say it didn’t stain the teeth, but is a whole different story when it came out from the other end. LOL!
I just answered Steph regarding the black teeth comment
Perhaps a little too much information! After glazing the cake, the chocolate turned into ganache, so I used it as the filling for the leftover mac shells. Just like the one I was holding in the photo. 
Thanks Sandra
Wow! I am new to your site – what a gorgeous website you have here. I will have to take a look around. Beautiful cake, macarons and post.
Sorry, I didn’t pay much attention to the brand of the food coloring powder and chucked it. Oopps!
But the other black coloring in liquid form is a cheapie brand called “CREATIVE” given to me by my friend. She said it has dried out a bit, which is perfect because it is a thicker gooey paste, worked very well for the cake and ganache.
Hi Rose, thanks for dropping by.
wow! this looks awesome and so creative! love it!!
.-= Betty´s last blog ..Huong Giang, Marrickville + Gelato! =-.
This is unbelievably creative! And I absolutely adore the little tombstones on the edge =)
.-= mademoiselle délicieuse´s last blog ..A week in Melbourne: Queen Victoria Market, 9 July 2009 =-.
Absolutely incredible!
.-= Annabel´s last blog ..October 2009 Daring Bakers’ Challenge – Hello Kitty Remix =-.
Love the presentations! The black teeth question has already been answer! lol!!Breath takingly beautiful photos as always!!
.-= Ellie´s last blog ..Coconut and Palm Sugar Macarons with Mango Buttercream – Daring Bakers’ October 2009 Challenge =-.
Wow, just wow! Your macaroons AND that cake are awesome! I feel as if I failed in my challenge now
. I think you deserve a standing ovation for your cake/macaroon art!
.-= Rochelle (Acquired Taste)´s last blog ..Biscuits ‘n Gravy =-.
Whoa – that’s some impressive work there Billy. That’s the most amazing halloween cake I’ve seen!! Very pro!
.-= Tina´s last blog ..Chop chop =-.
You know you’re just amazing right? And only you could make black look good in photos!
.-= Karen´s last blog ..Daring Bakers Challenge: Macarons =-.
Beautiful macarons, and fun cake!! Yours is a favorite macaron post for me!!
.-= Julie @ Willow Bird Baking´s last blog ..Two Terrific Tarts: Chocolate and Raspberry Cream Cheese =-.
This is absolutely stunning! The precision is unreal. Yeah, you’re my new hero too.
Wow Billy! I’m speechless! Great effort on the cake and especially those macarons!
.-= Peter G´s last blog ..Thai Cooking Classes =-.
wow it looks amazing by far the most creative db entry i’ve seen
.-= betty´s last blog ..Coda Bar & Restaurant =-.
That is so freakin’ cool!!!! Great job on the challenge- hands down my favorite
Oh wow, double wow! I am totally floured. I certainly never expected this … !! See all my exclamation marks … You’ve surpassed everyone else.
WOWOWOWOWWWW!!!! What a creation it is wonderful and those BLACK macarons look marvellous. Bravo Bravo Bravo. Yes you are right Helen’s recipe is much better to use. Just love the colours and that photo of you holding the tiny black macaron is perfection. Cheers from Audax in Sydney.
.-= Audax Artifex´s last blog ..Daring Bakers’ Macarons =-.
Gorgeous cake! – very very stunning. And you are right – how funny that you did a really tiny cake and I did a gigantic cake… not sure what that says about us?! hehe… once again well done!
Wow that’s AMAZING! A very classy looking Halloween cake – love the twigs and the tombstone!
.-= Jacq´s last blog ..Poporo, Haymarket =-.
I have no words for how amazing this is. I love it. Adore it. wnat it.
I think you get what I mean.
you are amazing.
.-= wic´s last blog ..Challenging myself: Daring Bakers’ Challenge Macaroons =-.
Shut up! Are you for real! That is incredible!!!!! I used Tartelette’s baking method, but I need to try a diff recipe all together! Thanks for the links – I desperately need them!
.-= Kitty´s last blog ..Feeling Toasty =-.
I am also speechless.
…. that is all.
x
.-= Iron Chef Shellie´s last blog ..Eating Out: Straits Cafe =-.
Increible…perfecto…me he quedado alucinada de una idea tan genial para halloween, de unos colores perfectos, de unas miniaturas que dan ganas de cuidarlas en vez de comerselas…y la foto es un precioso poster…rendida admiradora suya.Besos
What can I say? This is too perfect, a masterpiece work of art!
.-= Quinn´s last blog ..Halloween: Frog Egg Drink =-.
Thats a beautiful cake !
Wow, that is just amazing! The cake, the macarons, the colors, the creativity – wow, just… WOW!
I’m a first time visitor to your blog, and I’m going to have a good look around cause it looks just beautiful!
I too had problems with the challenge recipe, so we returned to our old trusted one (very similar to Tartelette’s).
.-= Jenny´s last blog ..Daring Bakers October: A tale of two macaron recipes =-.
OMG it’s very AMAZING !
Great Job, WAOUW !
That is one of the most beautiful cakes I’ve ever seen! Congratulations! Does the black colouring taste like anything?
.-= Moya´s last blog ..Iggy’s Bread – Bronte =-.
Magnificent! You’ve done a fantastic job with both the cake and macarons – wow!
.-= Anita´s last blog ..Macarons – Daring Bakers Challenge October 2009 =-.
wow! billy this is stunning and a great take on the challenge! amazing!
.-= Meeta´s last blog ..Daring Bakers: Saffron Macarons with Cardamom White Chocolate Ganache =-.
Strange but absolutely fascinating! You’re a (dark
artist!!! Congratulations
Simply amazing and what a fantastic Halloween creation! Brilliant! And love how you worked in the Macarons.
.-= Jamie´s last blog ..FRENCH KISS =-.
This looks perfect for halloween!
I love the idea – very cool indeed. The colours are so pretty!
.-= Su-yin´s last blog ..Pretzels =-.
Super-impressive! I’m not a DB, but I played Jamie’s Mac Attack challenge, last month, and I’ll vouch for how fiddly baking macs can be! I absolutely *love* the Halloween twist! Kudos!
.-= RJ Flamingo´s last blog ..Recipe Monday: Squashed Soup =-.
Amazed by the creativity and pictures. Amaziiiing!
.-= Gala´s last blog .. =-.
Wow! amazing I am new to your site, you have a beautiful. I am sure it is going to take a while to have a look around that beautiful cake, macarons are too tempting!
Holy crap. This is AMAZING. I absolutely love it!
wow! What a perfect halloween cake and macs ! They rock! lol! Even I’m not a kid, I’m so in love with your cake and macs. Totally too cool!
.-= The Cooking Ninja´s last blog ..Walnut-Chocolate Cake =-.
Absolutely stunning, beautiful, amazing and incredible.
OMG!! impressive…simply amazing! fantastic job….love it!!
WOW nice one man, looks like a lot of work hee hee and those tiny macarons are cute hee hee
.-= FFichiban´s last blog ..Let’s Do Lunch #1 2009 – Sean’s Kitchen =-.
what a gorgeous result!
it is such an original idea
and the flavors’ combination is great.
Great job!
Inbal
(also a DB)
Just came upon your blog via foodgawker- WOW. That Halloween calendar cake is the coolest thing I’ve seen this year! Must have been a terribly satisfying project to see it come to fruition like it did. Perfecto!
.-= Lori @ RecipeGirl´s last blog ..Kid Friendly Halloween Recipes! (Trick-or-Eat) =-.
WOW! I am absolutely blown away. This cake looks amazing.
.-= Jessica @ How Sweet It Is´s last blog ..Chunky Fire-Roasted Chili. =-.
I’m blown away. I aimed for black too, and was just to scared to keep adding powder. Now I know I can. Amazing, beutiful, creative….I could go on and on.
What an amazing cake! I LOVE IT!
.-= Maria´s last blog ..Halloween Chocolate Candy Bark =-.
Holy Smokes! You dominated this db challenge!!
Love how far you went with this challenge! Beau-ti-mus!! The cake is gorgeous and so are the macs!
oh dear god. That is one seriously sexy cake dude.
Props to your creativity and baking skills. The attention to detail really makes this something special!
How incredibly creative! And dark
Very cool!
I also went with black macarons but I was thinking more in the line of a pint of Guinness, lol. Shame on me though, Halloween is quite big here in Ireland!
Your cake looks fantastic! And those tiny little macarons, just perfect
.-= MandyM´s last blog ..Christmas in July… ok… August =-.
Your DB challenge is over the top amazing!
.-= Barabara Bakes´s last blog ..Daring Bakers Macarons =-.
Wow. This is so pretty and looks like a lot of work!
No luck with the challenge recipe for me. Gosh you had GORGEOUS results!
So freaking jealous}:P
.-= Wolf´s last blog ..Daring Bakers October Challenge- French Macarons =-.
This is SO cool! The photos are hauntingly beautiful & your macarons are magnificent! Love everything you did – so unique & innovative =D.
.-= Lauren´s last blog ..Daring Bakers: Macarons =-.
WOW! What a masterpiece! And those little macarons were perfection. Such a wonderful creation.
Wow. That’s all I can think to say, honestly.
So jealous of the macarons though.}:P
.-= Wolf´s last blog ..Daring Bakers October Challenge- French Macarons =-.
WOW!!! I must say this cake looks exceptionally nice!
.-= mycookinghut´s last blog ..Fig Tart (Tarte aux figues) =-.
Oh my goodness, that looks incredible, so creative! It’s a shame that Halloween isn’t celebrated more in Australia. I love the teeny tiny macarons!
.-= Lisa´s last blog ..Daring Bakers: October =-.
I am stunned by your creativity, this cake is an absolute work of art not to mention fully time-consuming to pull off! Really beautiful and a big pat on your back for this. Glad to see that the recipe worked out fine too – did the black colouring affect the flavour at all?
.-= Danielle´s last blog ..Pear Dulce De Leche Pie =-.
Wow!!
this is amazing !
the cake and the macarons are just adorable!!!
great job!
.-= pontch´s last blog ..Macarons =-.
O-M-G! This is beautiful! Lovely photos. I love the one with the small macaron on your finger. Very nice. I’m still so surprised at how the DB recipe was a problem for so many. Great job on the challenge anyway!
omg omg omg… incredible colours, perfect macarons.. LOVE IT!
Amazing! I hope it tasted as good as it looks
.-= Zina @ tastedbytwo´s last blog ..Recipe: Three Cup Chicken =-.
Oh wow, your cake looks so freakin amazing! I love the shot where you reveal the checkboard inside! So awesome!
Do you find that having to use so much black food colouring powder changed the taste of the icing/macaron/cake? And did it stain anything permanently?
.-= Rilsta´s last blog ..A birthday cupcake tower =-.
Fabulous cake and the cutest mini macaron I have ever seen, well done!
.-= peasepudding´s last blog ..Macarons with the Daring Bakers =-.
This has to be the coolest Halloween cake I’ve ever seen! LOVE IT, love the macarons! AWESOME!!
.-= Jill´s last blog ..Daring Bakers: French Macarons =-.
hahaha thanks Audax, from this challenge at least I learned black colouring powder is expensive!!! it’s fun to use, but probably not in a rush to get more at $6 for 4 grams!
Thanks Trissa
LOL, i laughed when I saw your post to see what your dogs had done to the rug. it is funny nevertheless. 
Thanks Jacq, yeah I tried not to make it too “kiddy”, something little different I guess.
hahahaah thanks At. I had a lot of fun making it
Shut up! LOL hehehe that makes me laugh.
heheh you just said something shellie…
Gracias! macarons su mirada tan bueno!
Thanks Quinn!
thanks Krystal!
Thanks Jenny and thanks for dropping by.
The good ole trusted recipe is always the way to go 
Thanks VeganPower!
Thanks Moya!
nope, the black coloring is tasteless.
Thanks Anita. Definitely one of the challenges that I’ve put a lot more effort into it. but is worth it
Thanks Meeta
strange in a good way I hope!
LOL yes I used Dark Magic!! LOL
Thanks Jamie, probably one of the most daring cake I’ve ever made. I am glad it turned out alright!
Thanks su-yin. not sure the color is pretty, is black after all LOL
Oh yeah tell me about it, macs are sure a fickle bastard!
Thanks Gala, now you can close ur jaw back
Thanks for dropping by Srivalli.
The cake is gone within days, if not hours! 
Thanks anna
Thanks Ninja!
I tried not to make it too kiddy though…. I am glad you liked it.
aww thanks Lee.
Thanks sabiilaa
I am glad u liked it.
nah is not too bad really, just overnight. macarons were made days ago. so all good P:P