Gluten-Free Tequila Rose Skull Cake

5 from 1 vote

Gluten-Free Tequila Rose Skull Cake

This gluten-free Tequila Rose cake has three layers of white chocolate sponge, Tequila Rose buttercream, chocolate ganache drip and a quirky white chocolate skull on top.

Prep Time1 45

Cook Time35

Chill Time1

Total Time3 20

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: British

Diet: Gluten Free

Servings: slices

Calories: 1056kcal

Author: Kachina

Equipment

Ingredients

Sponge Cake:

235 g unsalted butter
300 g white chocolate
200 g caster sugar (golden or white)
260 ml milk (semi-skimmed or whole)
2 eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
350 g gluten-free blend plain flour (see notes for self-raising flour swap)
3 ½ teaspoon baking powder

Tequila Rose Buttercream:

350 g unsalted butter (room temp.)
720 g icing sugar
75 ml Tequila Rose
2-4 drops pink food colouring gel

Chocolate Ganache Drip:

70 g dark chocolate
70 g heavy cream (e.g. double cream)
6-9 drops black food colouring gel

Chocolate Skull (optional):

125 g white chocolate

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Sponge Cake:

Add the butter, white chocolate, sugar and milk to a saucepan, and heat on a medium heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is completely melted and smooth. Turn off the heat when ready and set this to one side.
Beat the eggs and vanilla in a large mixing bowl until fluffy, then slowly pour in the slightly cooled chocolate mixture, beating until smooth.
Sieve in the flour and baking powder, beating this in for several minutes (over-mixed by normal standards).
Pre-heat oven: 180°C / 160°C (fan) / Gas Mark 4 / 350°F
Leave the cake mix to rest for 30mins before splitting evenly across three 6inch (or two 8inch) lined cake tins.
Bake for 35-40mins until golden and skewer comes out mostly clean from the centre, then allow to cool on the side. If using a chocolate skull, start making this while the cakes bake. While the cakes cool, make the buttercream.

Chocolate Skull (optional):

Slowly melt the ¾ of the white chocolate in the microwave, 30 secs at a time, stirring between each round until melted.
Add the remaining ¼ of the white chocolate and keep stirring until completely melted and smooth.
The 3D skull mould should have two halves. Pour the chocolate into the face down part until it's just below the sides, then close the other half on top.
Pour the remaining chocolate through the hole in the mould. Hold your finger to the back of the hole to seal it and then swirl the chocolate around so it coats all the sides and back of the mould.
Place the filled mould into the fridge to set for at least 45mins. While this sets, make the buttercream.

Tequila Rose Buttercream:

Beat the butter (either by hand, using an electric mixer or stand mixer) until pale, light and fluffy. This could take several minutes.
Sieve half of the icing sugar into the butter and beat until combined, then repeat this with the remaining half of icing sugar.
Once fully combined, add the Tequila Rose and beat until just combined and smooth.
If using, add the pink food colouring and mix until the colour has spread evenly.

Assembly:

Set aside for later roughly ⅙ of the buttercream into a piping bag for the roses on top.
Once the sponges have cooled completely, cut off any peaks to give smooth flat tops on your layers.
Spread a thick layer of the buttercream onto one sponge and sandwich a second sponge layer on top.
Add another thick even layer of buttercream on top of the second sponge, and then place the third sponge upside-down on top of this.
Smooth a thick layer of buttercream on top of the cake and around the edges, smoothing and scraping until your cake has a relatively thin and neat outside coating. Refrigerate for 15mins.
Add the remaining buttercream to the top and outside of the chilled cake, smoothing this using a spatula for the top and scraper for the sides.
Put the cake back into the fridge while you make the ganache.

Chocolate Ganache Drip:

Heat the cream over a double-boiler or in the microwave (20 secs at a time), until hot but not boiling.
Break the chocolate up into pieces and pour the hot cream over it. Let this sit for 5mins and then stir until smooth.
Allow the ganache to cool at room temperature for 10-20mins, until the ganache is still runny but has cooled and thickened slightly.
If using, add the black food colouring and stir through until the colour is dark and spread evenly. The colour will also develop and darken over time.
Remove your cake from the fridge. Dip a teaspoon into your ganache and test a drip at the top edge of your cake. If this creates a thick line and only runs partway down the side, you’re good to go. If it hits the bottom, refrigerate your ganache for 5mins and try another test drip. If your drip hardly runs at all, microwave for 10 secs. Repeat until your test drips are to your liking.
Once you have the right consistency, drip ganache from your spoon at the edges of your cake until you have enough drips around your cake.
Keep back roughly 2tbsp worth of the ganache, and use the rest to fill in the middle of your cake top, smoothing gently with an offset spatula until you get an even layer.

Decorations:

If using, carefully remove your white chocolate skull from the mould and place on top of your cake.
Add the remaining chocolate ganache to a piping bag with a small round nozzle or to a disposable bag and cut off a small amount of the tip. Pipe the ganache from the skull’s eyes running down the cheeks to the base of the skull, creating small pools around it.
Using the remaining buttercream, pipe rose swirls onto the top of the cake using a 1M Wilton tip (or other large star nozzle) and a piping bag.

Notes

This recipe makes 3 layers of sponge cake using a 6inch tin. If you'd like a bigger cake, you can scale up the recipe by ⅓ to make 3 layers in 8inch tins or double the recipe for 4 layers in 8inch tins.
You can swap the gluten-free plain flour in this recipe for gluten-free self-raising flour of the same quantity and exclude the baking powder.

Nutrition