For some reason the other day, making a cake with my kids just seemed like the right thing to do.
So we made this. It may look pretty ho-hum and boring but you know there is a surprise inside.
The reason I am telling you this... its because I had no energy to make it from scratch. Everything in this recipe is from a box or can.
If you want to duplicate this recipe with your favorite from scratch recipes and frostings please, by all means, do just that.
You will need:
2 boxes Devils Food Cake
1 box white cake
3 cans white frosting (you can choose flavor)
1 golf ball sized portion of fondant
Orange, Green, Yellow and Black food coloring
Small round cookie cutter
I started out by making the white cake mix. I am going to need only two cupcakes for this recipes, but I usually make four just in case I make a mistake along the way. I do that a lot. I used the remaining batter and make little cuppies.
But! Before you use all that white batter, save about 1/2 cup. Add 1-2 drops yellow food coloring and then make two yellow cupcakes.
I then baked four 8in (you can do 9in as well) round devils food cakes. I stacked THREE of the layers, frosted between each layer and then frosted the outside.
You do NOT have to frost the outside. I do not know why I did. I was so, so foolish.
Put it in the freezer for 15-30 minutes or in the refrigerator for a couple hours, or up to overnight.
Then get out your handy dandy small round cookie cutter.
I think a good size would be just slightly smaller then the base of a cupcake.
Using your cookie cutter, find the center of your cake and press the cutter all the way to the bottom. You will need to remove the excess cake, and I usually just use a spoon.
I then take the fourth devils food layer and cut out a V shaped potion out of the top. This will be the 'flame' to our candle.
Then take two white cupcakes, cut off any brown edges, and carefully insert them into the center of the devils food cake. This is going to be the candle.
Now, place the fourth devils food layer on top. Grab a yellow cupcake and shape the top in a V pattern. Then just plop it onto the top! The V part will be our 'flame" and the base of the cupcake will be our pumpkin stem.
Now throw that in the freezer for a few minutes or in the fridge for an hour to get nice a firm. Your next step is to carve your pumpkin shape!
I have seen this cake baked with casserole dishes to get the perfect shape for the pumpkin, but I sorta enjoy the carving process.
Plus its super easy to do. You can't screw it up!
You can either chill your cake again (I did) or start with your crumb coat. This is a layer of frosting that is used to help keep all the crumbs from showing on your final coat.
Take two or two and a half cans of frosting and place in a bowl. Add a few drops of orange food coloring until you get the desired color. You are now ready to frost!
Can you see all those black specks in there? We dont want that on the final product. So now just chill this cake and take a break. Baking aint easy girl! ;)
And here it is after I have added another layer of frosting.
I also grabbed about a 1/2 cup of frosting and added green food coloring. This is for the stem and all the swirly vines I love to add.
To get the perfect jack-o-lantern face, I have found that using fondant works really well. I just took a small amount, added black food coloring, then rolled it out on a non-stick surface. (you can always add some corn starch below the fondant to ensure it doesn't stick)
Now, find your ideal jack-o-lantern face! (you can do a search on google and find thousands) Print one off the internet and just trace onto your fondant or freehand one. If you screw up, just re-roll your fondant and start over!
Place the fondant on the cake, no glue needed, and gently press in place.
I had so much fun creating a face I made one for the front and the back of my cake!
If I can find the energy (or if anyone is interested) I will do a mini tutorial on how to do these adorable pumpkin cuppies for my next post.
And here is the inside of our candle lit jack-o-lantern cake! Fun huh? And pretty simple to do.
Hope you enjoyed seeing this cake made, and more importantly, I hope you will make one yourself!
Happy Halloween!
that is SO cute! I may have to make that for my son's 1st birthday....so with all the cooking and chilling...how long do you think it actually took you to make? And would love the mini cuppies tutorial too! :)
Posted by: lisa | Sep 28, 2010 at 03:55 PM
Super cute!!
Posted by: Deborah | Sep 30, 2010 at 03:29 PM
This is really inspiring!
Posted by: Lisa@ Tarte du Jour | Sep 30, 2010 at 08:42 PM
What a fun treat! That would be the perfect entry for our Halloween Recipe Contest! You can read all about it here. I hope you decide to enter it!
Posted by: Kathryn | Oct 01, 2010 at 03:44 PM
Oops! The link didn't show up- here it is! http://www.recipe4living.com/articles/ghoulishly_good_halloween_recipe_contest.htm
Posted by: Kathryn | Oct 01, 2010 at 03:44 PM
The outside is cute, but the middle just blows me away!
I linked to this project over at Pumpkin Week:
http://www.alwaysexpectmoore.com/2010/10/pumpkin-week-daily-dozen_04.html
Posted by: Carolina Moore {Expect Moore} | Oct 06, 2010 at 03:22 AM
Just found your post through Craft Gossip and love it! Do you think if I baked in 2 bundt pans or angel food cake pans, I could then stuff the pre-made hole for the candle?
Posted by: Cathy | Oct 07, 2010 at 12:52 PM
omg. i sooo love this!!
Posted by: christy | Oct 09, 2010 at 11:51 PM
i love this cake and was wondering if i would have an occasion to make it for (first baby due on november 5, so not really planning any big halloween celebrations this year!). but my sister-in-law is being baptized this weekend, so i thought the "surprise" part would be perfect, although probably not the pumpkin shape on the outside! thanks for the inspiration. you have a lovely blog!
*amy :)
Posted by: amy h :) | Oct 11, 2010 at 08:55 AM
great idea, amanda! i like the winker. i'll take cake carving over actual pumpkin carving any day. :)
Posted by: grace | Oct 12, 2010 at 10:37 AM
This is brilliant! I'm going to make it for a "pumpkin carving" contest. No one will see this coming!
Posted by: Lauren E. | Oct 13, 2010 at 10:46 AM
Oh what a clever idea with the candle inside!! You're so creative!
Posted by: Danielle | Oct 14, 2010 at 05:52 PM
What a fantastic cake. I love the candle. The mini pumpkins are so cute too. Jaqui x
Posted by: Jaqui | Oct 18, 2010 at 06:50 AM
Thank you SO much for the tutorial! I have assignment for my English class to create a piece of art based on a soliloquy for Macbeth, and one of the lines is "out out, brief candle," so this cake is perfect for it! It's also a very tasty form of art. :)
Posted by: Amanda | Oct 21, 2010 at 04:55 PM
this is awesome
ainslie johnson
age 12
Posted by: Strawberry CAKE | Oct 26, 2010 at 04:31 PM
I have Wilton's Icing color, do you think I could use that for the yellow cupcake?
Posted by: Jaime | Oct 28, 2010 at 08:29 PM
This is so pretty! I love it. The whole idea is really awesome. Happy Halloween.
Posted by: dining room table | Oct 29, 2010 at 08:58 PM
WARNING: This cake does not travel well .... with the core filled with a different cake, the layers have been compromised and break apart easily.
My coworkers loved it .... but we had to call it a "smashing pumpkins" cake. I just had to laugh as I carried the wreckage into my office. :)
Posted by: Rebecca in TX | Oct 31, 2010 at 08:43 PM
This is fabulous!!! Thanks for the tutorial!!!
Posted by: Nutmeg | Jan 19, 2011 at 06:36 PM
Ooooooh.....I can't wait to make this. Thank you so much for sharing this and your petit fours.
Posted by: Cathey Bell | Oct 15, 2011 at 03:15 PM