Mmm, yum...spooky Chocolate cake for Halloween with a mini graveyard to top it off. My cakey vision? A freshly unearthed gravesite oozing with wriggly worms and rocks and stuff. Luckily it came together quite easily

No, I lie. There was definitely some cursing and cussing. Making the recipe up as I went, hoping that it would work with each step. Then it didn't totally survive transportation to the party venue...a fake, dangling spider on top of my witches hat hooked onto a cookie tree branch and yanked off a limb. Then the bat fell off and my size 10's disintegrated it. There was a mountain of 'dirt' in my lap when I arrived  and I'm sure a worm escaped somewhere within the confines of the car. The graveyard now looked more like a stroll in the park than something more sinister. At least I managed to photograph it before the catastrophe (albeit incredibly difficult to shoot) and best of all, it was yummy

1} Using the Wilton large cupcake tin, I baked the Chocolate Cake recommended by Wilton

2} Cut off the cake top to create a flat area. Trim the edge around the top base. Leave the top edge on the bottom part of the cake. I like the way it looked as if it was oozing over

3} Make the Chocolate Buttercream following Martha Stewart's recipe. Only a third of the recipe is required

4} Working on the base, ice two thin layers, refrigerating between each layer. Press 'flakey' dirt into buttercream

5} Bake cookies using graveyard cutters (tombstones, bat, cat).The tree was radomly cut out with a sharp knife. I cheated and used the divine Careme pre-prepared Dark Chocolate Shortcrust Pastry. Available at specialty shops

6} Ice the top with Buttercream and coat with one packet of Orea biscuits, munched in the food processor with white icing removed

7} Insert 'worms' into cake base with skewer. Press chocolate 'rocks' into icing too. Worms and 'Moon Rocks' available at Sugar Fix confectionery shops

8} Make an incision into icing and insert biscuits into cake top. Refrigerate

9} Don't travel with it in the car

I also made Puff Pastry Intestines based on the recipe from The Knead For Speed blog. I used Nutella for the stuffing. Altogether now....EWWWWwww!