Ghastly Chocolate Graveyards

This spooky lil treat is based off an old childhood fave! I remember as a kid when we moved to America being amazed by Halloween. People in our neighbourhood had smoke machines, SMOKE MACHINES. And kids weren't dressed up just as witches or vampires, but these crazy, over the top (for me at least) costumes and I loved it. One of my favourite Halloween desserts was worms in the muds, which is gummy worms in chocolate pudding. This chocolate graveyard is a slightly fancier version of that!

How do I make chocolate graveyards?

First step: get some jars! I always keep jam jars once I'm done with them for moments like this, but any jar or cup that can hold 250ml will do.

Usually worms in the mud/dirt is made with chocolate pudding or chocolate mousse, but I wanted to keep things easy. I saw on the Kitchn a super easy way to make chocolate mousse with just a couple of ingredients - and no eggs required! Before adding all the chocolate to this mousse, I saved about ¾ of a cup to use as a layer in the jar, and then add gummy worms! You could also mix it up and add some salted caramel, chopped up biscuits, the choices are endless.

Once the jars are filled I keep them in the fridge to stay cold while I work on the headstones. I used Penguin biscuits chopped in half, but you could also use TimTams or Milano cookies. I melted some white chocolate in the microwave, popped it into a piping bag and started piping away. You can make spider webs by piping 3-4 lines in a corner, then using a toothpick to drag them together. Make sure to let the headstones dry completely as you don't want the chocolate to start running down. I also piped out some creepy little hands on some parchment paper and letting that dry completely before peeling them off. White chocolate isn't as stable as regular chocolate though so these break up a lot easier, so I made sure to make a few extra just in case.

Finally, you can carefully place the headstone in the jar, add some crushed oreos to be the soil, and maybe even add some more gummy worms! There you go, your chocolate graveyards are ready!

Ingredients

• Double Cream or if you're in North America, heavy cream
• Dark Chocolate I used dark chocolate for the mousse, but you could use milk chocolate too if you prefer things sweeter!
• Cookies I used a mixture of cookies for these spooky treats, from Oreos for the soil to Penguins for the gravestones. Have a look in your local store to see what you can transform into something spooky!
• Gummy Worms I used gummy worms in my jars, but if you aren't a fan then you can skip those.

Recipe