Halloween Cake Recipe
Our family’s favourite Halloween movie a few years in a row now has been Hocus Pocus.
It’s the perfect family Halloween movie – fun and nostalgic for the grown-ups, while not getting too scary for the kids.
We had wanted to host a Halloween party this year, but between my work trip to DC and a two week family vacation to visit my best friend and her family in Houston, TX, there is just no way that I can swing a giant party this month, so instead Ella and I compromised on a small movie night with friends, complete with themed snacks and some witches’ brew slime.
This cake looks super complicated – especially the fun frosting effect once you cut into the cake – but I promise, it’s super simple and you can even have the kids help make it!
How long does this cake take to decorate? If you are new to layer cakes, maybe give yourself a couple hours to decorate the cake, but if you’ve ever made a layer cake before, this recipe will probably only take you about 30-45 minutes maximum.
I think it would also be really fun to fill this cake with “slime,” in the form of a pastry cream or pudding! To do this, you would just follow the assembly steps for a piñata cake, only instead of placing sprinkles in the center, you’d place your edible slime.
Can you freeze this cake? You can freeze the cake layers if you wrap tightly in plastic before decorating, and you *can* freeze the prepared frosting, however, I find that the frosting is always smoother if made just before frosting the cake.
Bring the frozen cake layers to room temperature before proceeding with the decorating instructions.
Monster Cake Ingredients 2 boxes of Dark Chocolate Cake mix PLUS ingredients called for on the box For the Vanilla Frosting: 3 cups unsalted butter, softened 6 cups powdered icing sugar 5-7 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream (35%) 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract Green, purple, and orange food coloring, I used Americolor Electric Green, Electric Purple, and Electric Orange gel coloring For the Halloween Sprinkle decorations: 1 container of Wilton Halloween sprinkles 1 package of red edible eyes sprinkles (can use plain eye candies) 1 container of Wilton bloody skull and bones sprinkles 1 tube of green glitter piping gel
Tip: any of the colors, sprinkle types, and flavor of cake can all be swapped out for your personal preference. Of course, you can make a from-scratch cake for this recipe but I wanted to focus on from-scratch frosting and fun decorations.
Kitchen Tools You May Find Helpful
Electric mixer Three 9″ round cake pans 1 10″ round cake board 1 cake leveler 1 large piping bag with star tip 3 disposable piping bags 3 bowls 1 angled spatula
How to Make a Monster Cake
Preheat oven to 350°F and grease and line cake pans. Set aside.
Follow the directions on the back of the cake boxes and divide the batter evenly between the 3 cake pans.
Bake in the oven for 25-35 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Allow to cool completely before removing to a cooling rack or cutting board.
For the vanilla buttercream frosting:
Using an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth and then add the powdered icing sugar and combine for two minutes. Add remaining ingredients (except for the food coloring), and adjust the consistency by adding more powdered icing sugar or cream to your personal preference.
(More powdered sugar for a stiffer frosting, more cream for a softer frosting.)
Scoop 1 1/2 cups of frosting into three separate bowls. You should have about 2 cups of frosting left in the original frosting bowl.
Dye one bowl of frosting light green, one purple, and one orange. Scoop each of the frostings into a piping bag and make cut off the tip about an inch from the bottom.
Dye the remaining 2 cups of frosting a darker green.
Place one cake on the cake board and use the cake leveler to remove the dome from the cake. (Discard or save for snacking or cake pops.)
Using the green frosting, pipe a thick ring round the outer edge of the top of the first layer of cake, then pipe a thick ring of purple frosting on the inside of the green ring, and finally pipe a thick ring of orange frosting on the inside of the purple ring. (As shown.)
Repeat steps until the cake layer is covered in rings.
Remove the dome from the second cake layer and place second cake layer on top of the first layer of frosting.
Repeat the ring method of piping on the frosting.
Remove the dome from the third cake layer and place on top of the second layer of frosting.
Using 1 3/4 cup of the dark green frosting, frost the entire cake.
In a medium-sized bowl, combine all Halloween sprinkles.
Coat the entire cake with the halloween sprinkles (to avoid a mess, place the cake stand on a cookie sheet to catch falling sprinkles).
Scoop leftover green frosting into a frosting bag fitted with a star tip.
Pipe dollops of frosting onto the top of the cake, swirling your hand slightly and then pulling strongly away to break the stream of frosting.
Optionally, using the piping gel, pipe oozy drips onto the top of the frosting dollops.
Place cake in the fridge to allow the frosting to set before cutting into slices and enjoying!
Pin this Hocus Pocus Layer Cake recipe for Halloween:
Grab your free printable for our super simple Halloween layer cake recipe:
Yield: 1 3-layer cake, approximately 9 servings Halloween Layer Cake Print Prep Time 30 minutes Cook Time 30 minutes Additional Time 1 hour 15 minutes Total Time 2 hours 15 minutes Ingredients 2 boxes chocolate cake mix PLUS ingredients called for on the box For the buttercream frosting: 3 cups unsalted butter, softened 6 cups powdered icing sugar 5-7 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream (35%) 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract Green, purple, and orange food coloring For the Halloween Sprinkle decorations: 1 container of Wilton Halloween sprinkles 1 package of red edible eyes sprinkles 1 container of Wilton bloody skull and bones sprinkles 1 tube of green glitter piping gel Instructions Preheat oven to 350°F and grease and line cake pans. Set aside. Follow the directions on the back of the cake boxes and divide the batter evenly between the 3 cake pans.Bake in the oven for 25-35 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before removing to a cooling rack or cutting board. For the buttercream frosting: Using an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth and then add the powdered icing sugar and combine for two minutes. Add remaining ingredients (except for the food coloring), and adjust the consistency by adding more powdered icing sugar or cream to your personal preference. (More powdered sugar for a stiffer frosting, more cream for a softer frosting.) Scoop 1 1/2 cups of frosting into three separate bowls. You should have about 2 cups of frosting left in the original frosting bowl. Dye one bowl of frosting light green, one purple, and one orange. Scoop each of the frostings into a piping bag and make cut off the tip about an inch from the bottom. Dye the remaining 2 cups of frosting a darker green. For the Cake Assembly and Decorating: Place one cake on the cake board and use the cake leveler to remove the dome from the cake. (Discard or save for snacking or cake pops.) Using the green frosting, pipe a thick ring round the outer edge of the top of the first layer of cake, then pipe a thick ring of purple frosting on the inside of the green ring, and finally pipe a thick ring of orange frosting on the inside of the purple ring. (As shown.) Repeat steps until the cake layer is covered in rings. Remove the dome from the second cake layer and place second cake layer on top of the first layer of frosting. Repeat the ring method of piping on the frosting. Remove the dome from the third cake layer and place on top of the second layer of frosting. Using 1 3/4 cup of the dark green frosting, frost the entire cake. In a medium-sized bowl, combine all Halloween sprinkles. Coat the entire cake with the halloween sprinkles (to avoid a mess, place the cake stand on a cookie sheet to catch falling sprinkles). Scoop leftover green frosting into a frosting bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe dollops of frosting onto the top of the cake, swirling your hand slightly and then pulling strongly away to break the stream of frosting. Optionally, using the piping gel, pipe oozy drips onto the top of the frosting dollops. Place cake in the fridge to allow the frosting to set before cutting into slices and enjoying! Notes
I used Americolor Electric Green, Electric Purple, and Electric Orange gel coloring
© Jennifer Tammy Cuisine: Cake / Category: Dessert Recipes
This Halloween Sprinkle Cake is perfect for a Hocus Pocus Halloween party or family movie night, and is a showstopper you can smash out in less than two hours.
For more fun Hocus Pocus inspired recipes, check out our Hocus Pocus Sugar Cookies or our Halloween Devilled Egg Eyes recipe.
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