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Inspiration for this dessert came from two places, my teenage son asking me everyday this summer to make donut holes and from all the ads for those ceramic fire skulls that I would buy in an heartbeat if I had a firepit. So the next best thing is to recreate it in food form, which entailed a little creative plating around a tabletop fire prop. For the firepit skulls, I baked some delicious apple cider donut cakes in silicone skull molds from Shaped Ice Molds I added just a touch of black food coloring to the batter to give the cakes a greyish hue like stones. They baked up perfectly in the molds and then were coated in cinnamon sugar for a delicious three bite dessert. The cinnamon sugar coating not only makes them taste amazing, it makes them look ashy like coals would look from all those flames. Arrange all around the fire prop and plug it in. Can you image this on your dessert table! 💀Happy Halloween!
Fire and Brimstone Cakes
Equipment
- Shaped brand 3D Skull Ice Molds Use coupon code ghoulatheart10 and save 10%
- Tabletop Fire prop (Amazon affiliate link)
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1½ tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- 1 tbsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. nutmeg
- ¼ tsp. cardamom
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup apple sauce
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup apple cider
- ¾ cup canola oil
- 3 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- ½ tsp black food coloring (optional)
Cinnamon Sugar Coating
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- ½ cup butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and spray silicone skull molds with cooking spray and place on a baking sheet. Set aside.
- Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, salt and sugars together and whisk.
- Add apple cider, applesauce, oil, eggs and vanilla and whisk until incorporated. Add a little black food coloring to give the batter more of a stone color. (optional)
- Fill bottom half of skull mold with batter and cover with top portion of mold. Bake at 350° for 16-18 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool for ten minutes and remove from mold to cool completely on a wire rack. Wash mold between batches, spray with cooking spray and repeat.
- Prepare cinnamon sugar. Combine sugar, cinnamon in a small bowl and mix. In another small bowl, melt butter in the microwave. Brush donut cakes with melted butter and then roll them in cinnamon sugar until completely coated. Serve. Store covered at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Tabletop Fire Prop
- I purchased a small tabletop fire prop on Amazon see link above. I used remote controlled battery operated orange fairy lights to wrap around the outside of the tabletop fire prop to give flickering lights below the flames. I taped red vellum paper about 3/4 of the way around the fairy lights so that it glowed more like embers. Leaving space in the back of the prop to allow for air flow. I added more tealights underneath the flame prop again to mimic the glow of embers down in the fire. Plug in the fire prop, and turn on your fairy lights then arrange your skull coals by staggering them and stacking them around the bonfire**. **Take care to make sure to leave some space between the cakes for air flow including leaving a gap in the back for the fan and to let the glowing lights show through them. Enjoy!
Hi! How much applesauce should be added? I didn’t see it listed under the ingredients. Thank you!
Thank you so much Heather for letting me know. I have updated the recipe to include 1 cup of applesauce. Good catch.
Lori 🖤
Can they be made ahead and frozen?
Hi Leslie
Hmm, I don’t know since I’ve never done it. In theory, I’m thinking you could, as long as you only freeze the cakes without the cinnamon sugar coating. Then thaw and then roll in sugar. If you try it please let me know how they come out.
Lori🖤