Here’s a black velvet cake that might have emerged from the depths of the autumn forest at night, where the faerie queen and her attendants indulge in dark chocolate as bats and giant moths alight around them. The marzipan mushrooms that sit atop and all around the cake are hand-sculpted and painted to look like their real-life counterparts. The crumbling, edible moss is as sweet and delightful as the cake it adorns. And the icing is as dark as the moonless night, lit only by the foxfire and eyes blinking from the branches. You can nurture your own inner faerie queen with the decadent recipe on the following page. You might even try enjoying it by candlelight or darkness, dreaming of the forest.

Black Velvet Cake

2¼ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup black cocoa powder 2 teaspoons baking powder 1½ teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ cup coconut oil (melted)

¾ cup unsweetened applesauce 1¾ cups sugar

1 cup milk (dairy or plant-based) 1 tablespoon vinegar

1 cup very warm water

Black gel food coloring, optional

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Prepare four 6-inch cake pans by greasing them and lining each with parchment paper. In a large bowl sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Add the coconut oil, applesauce, sugar, milk, and vinegar to your mixing bowl. Mix on medium speed until well combined. Add in the flour mixture slowly. Mix until evenly incorporated. Stop to scrape the bowl as needed.

Turn your mixer off and carefully pour in the hot water. Mix the water in with a spatula or large spoon until the mixture is smooth (about 1 minute). At this point you can mix in a few drops of black gel food coloring to create the dark color you see in these images.

Divide the batter evenly between your cake pans. You’ll need approximately 1⅓ cups in each pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 30 minutes before removing the cakes from the cake pans and transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. While the cakes are cooling, you can prepare the frosting.

Black Velvet Frosting

2 cups butter (dairy or plant-based) at room temperature

1 cup black cocoa powder (sifted) 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

5 cups or so powdered sugar

⅓ to ½ cup heavy cream (or extra creamy oat milk) at room temperature

Black gel food coloring, optional

Add the butter to your mixing bowl. Mix on low for 1 minute until smooth and slightly lightened. Add in the cocoa powder and vanilla. Mix until evenly incorporated. Next, add in the powdered sugar and cream alternately until the desired consistency is achieved. You can add in a few drops of black gel food coloring to create the dark color seen here. Add an even layer of buttercream

between each cake layer with a large offset spatula. Once you stack all four cake layers, add an even layer of frosting to the outside of the cake.

Then decorate your cake with your desired toppings. I chose to hand-sculpt marzipan into mushrooms and pumpkins. This is not beginner’s work; the mixture of almond paste to sugar and even cornstarch depends on the time of year and humidity level. An alternative might be to use cake toppers or even little fairy village décor. If various pieces are not considered food safe, you could wrap the parts that touch the cake in cellophane.

I also used green cake crumbs to make a thick layer of moss on and around the cake. You can make your own moss by simply coloring your favorite white cake batter with green moss food coloring or gel color: Bake it and allow it to cool, and then crumble the cake until it becomes the texture of moss! It’s simple and delicious.