Zombie Brownie Cake

This is a sponsored post by Challenge butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible! 

Halloween-themed food is my absolute favorite because I just think it's so much fun. I've done my fair share of a variety of cute and creepy treats over the years, although some people, like my friends and family who are supposed to support me no matter what, think I take it a little too far (remember that amputated hand appetizer?). 

This zombie brownie cake is my compromise--not necessarily cute, but not so creepy that it will haunt you in your sleep. Most importantly though, it's incredibly tasty.

I start with my favorite homemade brownie recipe. Yes, you can use a box mix, but I much prefer the taste of this recipe. It's thick and fudgey with the perfect crackly top. The recipe starts by melting salted Challenge butter in the microwave. Challenge butter is the only butter I will use because it’s churned daily from two natural ingredients: the freshest 100% real pasteurized sweet cream and salt. That’s it. There's nothing artificial or synthetic about it, and you can really taste the difference. The recipe also uses dark chocolate, which I much prefer over cocoa powder. The other key ingredient is a little bit of espresso powder to amplify the chocolate flavor and make it more intense.

To make the moss on top of the brownie, all I did was dye sugar cookie dough green and place the cookies on top. I also crumbled some of the cookies to add to the effect. And the zombie fingers couldn't be easier. They're just Tootsie Rolls!

Zombie Brownie Cake

Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients

For the brownie

• 2 sticks (8 ounces) salted Challenge butter
• 10 ounces (283 grams) dark chocolate, chopped
• 4 large eggs (8 ounces)
• 2 cups (396 grams) granulated sugar
• 1 Tablespoon (14 grams) vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons (4.5 grams) espresso powder
• 2 cups (240 grams) all-purpose flour

For the moss

• 8 ounces sugar cookie dough
• Green food coloring

For the zombie fingers

• 5 Tootsie Roll snack size candies
• 5 almond slivers
• 5 toothpicks

Directions

For the brownie

1. Preheat oven to 35o degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare 8-inch cake pan by spraying with nonstick spray, lining with parchment paper circle, and spraying with nonstick spray again.
2. Melt butter in microwave.
3. Add chocolate and whisk until melted. If chocolate doesn’t melt all the way, heat in microwave 10 more seconds.
4. Whisk eggs in separate bowl. Add sugar, vanilla extract, and espresso powder, and whisk until smooth.
5. Whisk into melted butter-chocolate mixture.
6. Fold flour into liquid ingredients until just combined.
7. Bake at 350 for 30 - 35 minutes

For the moss

1. Mix the sugar cookie dough with green food coloring until dough is uniform in color.
2. Spread dough in various irregular shapes on baking sheet, making sure to leave room between each cookie.
3. Bake at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges start to turn golden brown.
4. Remove from oven and let cool.

For the zombie fingers

1. Mold and stretch the Tootsie Rolls so they resemble fingers and stick toothpicks at the end of each finger. Remember, each finger / thumb is a different size.
2. Place one almond sliver at the end of each Tootsie Roll so it resembles a nail

Assembly

1. Remove brownie from cake pan and place on serving platter.
2. Stick zombie fingers in brownie with toothpicks so it looks like a hand is coming out of the ground.
3. Arrange green sugar cookies bottom side up around fingers on top of brownie. Once you have enough cookies covering the brownie, crumble a few of the remaining cookies and sprinkle on top to resemble moss.