Flaming Skull Dessert (White Chocolate Skull, Cherry Cream, Vanilla Cake, Grand Marnier)

Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease one 8-inch cake pan with melted butter or coconut oil, if dairy free. Set aside. (If using silicon baking pans, you do not need to grease it but I do like to place it on a rimmed baking sheet for ease of moving it in and out of the oven.)

Combine all cake ingredients in a blender and blend until completely smooth. Pour into prepared pans, smoothing the top with a spatula.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes. Loosen the sides by running a knife around the edge and then turn the cake out to cool completely.

Melt chocolate at 40% power in the microwave, stirring after 1 minute and then at 30 second intervals until smooth. Pour into silicon skull molds (I like to use these and fill the two halves separately) and ensure that they are evenly coated before pouring out excess. Let cool completely to set. Then gently pull the silicon mold away from the sides of the skull and press the silicon face inwards to pop the chocolate skulls from the mold.

Melt the edges of one half of the skull mold on something hot (I like to warm a baking pan in the oven and then gently rub the back half of the skull on it to melt it slightly). Press the melted half to the front half to form a hollow skull, using your fingers to smooth any excess chocolate that is at the seam where the skull halves meet. Set aside.

Beat all the cream ingredients except the cherries until stiff peaks. Finely chop the cherries (if pieces are too large, they can clog the piping bag) and stir these into the cream. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a round tip (or a ziplock bag and then just trim one corner to use it as a piping bag). Set aside.

Tear and crumble the cake and distribute it between two serving plates.

Rub the skulls with edible lustre dust, if using. Pipe the cherry filling into the skulls and place on top of the crumbled cake.

Warm the Grand Marnier in a microwave safe bowl for 30 seconds, or until just steaming – this helps the alcohol ignite more easily (or on the stovetop in a small pot but be careful not to ignite it at this point). Transfer the warm alcohol to a metal serving dish such as a creamer or gravy boat.

Serve plates and at the table, light the alcohol and slowly pour directly over top of the skull.