It’s a one layer vanilla birthday Halloween cake that is soft, moist, and spooky!
This is a very easy spooky Halloween cake to make. But honestly, when I got this request, I was utterly shocked! Let me explain why! Meet my daughter, Nova. She turned the big four and was super excited about her 4th birthday party. She even came up with her theme, which was a Halloween party.
Not so strange, right, except her birthday is in the spring! This was the first year she was super excited and instructed me to make her a birthday Halloween pumpkin cake! That’s right. She was very specific. This cake had to be a pumpkin shaped cake.
This post is all about how to make a pumpkin shaped Halloween cake!
Let’s talk about the journey I took to make this cake. I had yet to learn how to carve cakes. Sure, I have watched it be done on Youtube before passively, but it never crossed my mind as something I would be doing so soon! I figured she would probably forget, and we could do cupcakes.
Weeks later…
The big day was here, and I had some cupcakes ready. The birthday girl had not spotted her cake yet, so she came into my room and told me I forgot to make her pumpkin Halloween cake! I was shocked; she was serious about this! So luckily, I had a one-layer vanilla cake in the freezer!
I had never been so happy to pull a cake out of the freezer. So now I have learned that whenever you have an extra cake layer, freeze it! Now I had to figure out what to do with this cake layer and decided I could turn this into a spooky jack-o-lantern pumpkin.
Want to make some cookies to go with this cake? Check out my cookie recipe, the best no spread sugar cookies recipe.
How to freeze a cake
Frozen cakes can save the day. As I mentioned, I used a frozen cake layer to make this cake. This layer came from a cake I had made two months before.
To freeze the cake you will need some press n seal wrap or a cling wrap, and a gallon size freezer ziplock bag. First you need to wrap the cake layer in either the press n seal or cling wrap. I prefer press n seal. Make sure the cake is wrapped nice and tight, then place the cake in a freezer ziplock bag. I like to keep my cakes for about 6 months in the freezer.
To defrost the cake, remove it from the freezer and place it on the counter. It will defrost within an hour. When decorating the cake, I don’t wait for it to thaw because it is best to ice a cold cake. The icing goes on easily, and the first layer of icing, the crumb coat, will harden and trap the crumbs fast.
How to make buttercream icing
There are different types of buttercream icing, but I love American buttercream icing. If you didn’t know there were different types of buttercream, well, I know of seven! There is American, Italian, Swiss Meringue, German, Russian, and Korean buttercream. American buttercream is your typical super sweet icing. It’s made with tons of butter, confectionary sugar, and maybe water or heavy cream.
Buttercream icing ingredients:
- 2 sticks of unsalted or salted butter
- 1 pound of confectionary sugar
- 1 tablespoon of heavy whipping cream, or milk (may need more to loosen icing)
- 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract or any flavoring
I start by letting my butter get to room temperature. Then I cream my butter and confectionary sugar in my mixer until smooth. Next, I add vanilla extract and the whipping cream. If the buttercream is too stiff, add a bit more whipping cream. Viola! You have American buttercream icing. Add in the gel colors and stir.
Ingredients needed
- One layer vanilla cake
- Buttercream icing
- Americolor gel colors: orange and super black (Click the links to purchase on Amazon)
How the cake became a spooky Halloween cake
First, I carved the cake into a pumpkin shape; then, crumb coated the cake. This was my first time carving and shaping a cake, so I was proud of myself. After I put the cake in the fridge, I got my buttercream icing ready.
I made two colors of buttercream icing, orange and black. Next, after finishing the icing, I put the orange buttercream icing on the pumpkin cake and smoothed the icing out with a straight-edge icing scraper. I placed the cake back in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to harden.
Adding final decorating touches
The last step was drawing on the jack-o-lantern face. I placed the black icing in a piping bag, cut a small hole, googled a jack-o-lantern look, and started drawing on the cake!
My little girl was so excited about her pumpkin shaped Halloween cake that I was so happy I could make her day. It came out pretty good for a cake done on the same day it was needed! What have you done for your little ones that you thought was impossible? Let me know in the comments!
