Dark Chocolate Matcha Ghoul Log
Make this spooky ghoul log for your Halloween party! It’s the perfect make-ahead dessert to feed a crowd, and you’ll love the matcha and dark chocolate flavors!
Good morning! I’m posting on a Monday- a little out of the ordinary I know, but I just have so much great stuff to share with you this week. There’s a really great seasonal macaron recipe coming up for Mystery Dish, and then we’ll be closing out the week with a fun giveaway! So stay tuned 😉
But first I wanted to share this fun Halloween treat…
Are you familiar with the Christmastime yule log dessert? Sometimes they call it a buche de noel. It’s basically just a Swiss roll but you can have all sorts of fun decorating it to look like a fallen winter log. Well, I decided to make a spooky black log filled with an eerie green buttercream and crawling with hairy spiders.
You can find the recipe for the hairy spiders here. They’re an easy dark chocolate cookie dough rolled in sprinkles and decorated with candy eyeballs. I love that they’re spooky but not too scary. I’ve got little kids yo.
For the cake roll, I used a chocolate genoise recipe and baked it in a half sheet pan. If you can get your hands on black cocoa, I highly recommend it for this recipe! The color is just as dark as can be and the taste is very much like an Oreo cookie.
Doesn’t the filling just look totally gross? I mean that color is nothing short of putrid. But honestly, if it didn’t have “mold” and “spiders” all over it you probably wouldn’t think so. It’s just a fluffy buttercream with a little matcha green tea powder stirred in. No artificial coloring needed!
At first, I wasn’t sure if I’d like the taste of dark chocolate and matcha together. But I’m happy to report they actually complement each other so beautifully! I only just tried matcha for the first time recently, and it was great in this cheesecake, but I think I might like it even better with chocolate! But then again, what doesn’t taste better with chocolate, right??
Ok I will fully admit that my buttercream to cake ratio is completely off kilter here. I could have done with way less of the Swiss meringue buttercream. I recommend using half the quantities you see in these pics, and the recipe card below reflects that.
Unless you are a complete buttercream fiend, in which case, I totally feel you! Go ahead and double up and enjoy every spooky bite. 😉
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Dark Chocolate Matcha Ghoul Log
Ingredients
For the Dark Chocolate Genoise
- 1/4 cup (21.5 g) black cocoa powder,, plus a little extra for pan
- 1/2 cup (62.5 g) cake flour
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 eggs, (large)
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 4 tablespoons (59.15 g) unsalted butter,, melted
For the Matcha Green Tea Buttercream
- 3 egg whites, (large)
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, (2 sticks), softened but cool
- 1 1/2 teaspoons matcha powder
For the Garnishes
- powdered sugar,, for dusting
- matcha powder,, for dusting
- cocoa powder,, for dusting
- Hairy Spider Cookies,, for garnish
Instructions
To Make the Dark Chocolate Genoise:
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F and mist a 12x17" rimmed baking sheet with non-stick spray. Line with parchment, mist again, and dust with cocoa powder. Tap out excess, and set aside.
- Place the cocoa, flour, and salt in a bowl and whisk to combine.
- Place the eggs, yolks, and sugar in a large mixing bowl set over a pot of simmering water, and whisk together until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture feels warm.
- Whip the egg mixture on high speed until very pale in color and thick (about 5 minutes).
- Fold in the dry ingredients.
- When they are almost completely incorporated, add the melted butter and continue to fold until combined.
- Spread the batter into the prepared baking sheet, and bake for 7 minutes or until springy to the touch.
- Meanwhile, overlap 2 long sheets of paper towels and dust with cocoa. When the cake has cooled slightly, run a thin knife around the edge and then invert onto the towels. Roll (while still warm) starting from one short side and incorporating the towels.
- Allow the cake to cool completely, rolled.
- Fill with Matcha Green Tea Buttercream, dust with powdered sugar, matcha, and cocoa, and decorate with Hairy Spider Cookies.
To Make the Matcha Green Tea Buttercream:
- Place the egg whites and sugar in a large mixing bowl, and place over a pot of simmering water.
- Cook, whisking occasionally, until the mixture no longer feels gritty when rubbed between the thumb and forefinger.
- Remove the egg white mixture from the heat, and whip on medium-high speed until there is no hint of warmth remaining, and the meringue holds stiff peaks.
- Add the butter, a tablespoon at a time, while continuing to whip on medium-high speed.
- Stir in the matcha powder.
- (If the buttercream seems runny, place the bowl in the refrigerator for 10-20 minutes, then whip again until fluffy and stiff.)
OMG, how did I miss this? That is so awesome Allie!! I will have to remember that for next year, too cute! 🙂
Thanks Lisa! I was a little on the late side in posting it, my bad! Busy busy time of year. Hope you’re enjoying it! xoxo
Lol, I’m sure that a lot of people would disagree with you about the buttercream to cake ratio. I know a lot of buttercream fanatics! This is awesome, Allie. Your photography and styling and baking always blow me away. And can I say how much I love your new headshots? You look gorgeous!
Aw you are too kind! I finally got around to that after, oh I don’t know, a couple of years? That old snapshot from somebody’s wedding just wasn’t cutting it any more, lol! So glad you liked, thanks for the sweet comment Nancy!