Trick Or Treat Cake
Need an *awesome* Halloween Cake? Make this Trick or Treat Cake (filled with Halloween Candy) and wow everyone when you cut into it!
Servings: 16 servings
Calories: 752kcal
Equipment
- 1 1 10 inch cardboard cake circle (or 8 inch; a larger circle makes moving the cake easier)
- medium biscuit cutter (or glass; to core cake layers)
- 3 Squeeze bottles (or small piping bags or spoons, to add drips)
Ingredients
Trick or Treat Cake layers
- 3 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks, room temperature)
- 1 cup egg whites (about 7 eggs, or use egg whites from a carton if you don’t want to waste any yolks!)
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk (room temperature)
- 2 teaspoons clear vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3-4 large drops orange, green, and purple gel food coloring (I used Americolor Electric green, Americolor Orange, and Americolor Electric purple)
Black Cocoa Cream Cheese buttercream
- 8 ounces cream cheese (one package; softened)
- 1 cup butter (two sticks, softened)
- 5 ½ -6 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup black cocoa powder
- 2-3 Tablespoons milk
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt (if using unsalted butter)
- 5-6 large drops Black gel food color (I use black pretty frequently, especially around Halloween, so I bought this large bottle from Americolor!)
Cake drip & Decorations
- 6 ounces white candy melts (for cake drips; I used Wilton Bright White)
- 3 ¾ Tablespoons heavy whipping cream (for cake drips; my favorite brand is very thick; you may need a bit less depending on the thickness of your heavy cream)
- 1-2 small drops orange, green, and purple gel food coloring (to color cake drips)
- 1 cup Halloween candy (10-15 pieces depending on size)
- 3-4 Tablespoons Halloween sprinkle mix of your choice! (I used Sweetapolita’s ‘Witchful Thinking’ – it's sold out as I write this, but this 'Witches Brew' mix is very similar!)
Instructions
Trick or Treat Cake layers
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare three 8-inch round pans with baker’s floured spray (or grease and line with parchment rounds).
- Mix together all dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt) in a stand mixer with a paddle (or mixing bowl with a hand mixer or whisk) until fully combined. Mix chunks of room-temperature butter slowly into the dry mix, on a low speed. Continue to mix until no large chunks of butter remain, and the mixture becomes crumbly.
- Pour in egg whites and mix on low until just incorporated. Mix in the buttermilk on a low speed. Add in vanilla and oil, and mix at a low speed until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, then beat on medium speed for about 30 seconds.
- Divide batter evenly between the prepared cake pans (I find a kitchen scale helpful for this part). This guarantees your layers will bake to be the same height.
- Bake for 34-37 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out clean). Allow cake layers to cool for 10-15 minutes on a wire cooling rack before removing from pans, and cool completely before frosting. Set in the fridge or freezer to accelerate the cooling process if desired.
- Once the layers have fully cooled, they can be leveled and any caramelized bits can be trimmed from the sides / top of the cake using a serrated knife if desired. Be sure the layers are completely cooled or chilled before trimming, so they don’t crumble or break!
- To fill the center of your cake with candy, use a glass or medium-sized biscuit cutter to remove the centers from two of the three cake layers.
Black Cocoa Cream Cheese buttercream
- Beat together softened cream cheese and butter; slowly add in powdered sugar alternating with cocoa powder and milk until frosting reaches desired consistency. Add vanilla, black gel color, and salt if needed and beat until well combined.
Assembly
- If you’ve cut centers out of two of your cake layers, those will be your bottom two layers. Place a smear or two of frosting on your cake circle (to keep the cake from sliding) and center your first cake layer in the center of the circle. Spread the layer with frosting. Repeat with the second layer.
- Fill the empty centers of your cake with candy, and put the final layer on top!
- Now you’re ready to crumb-coat . If you’re unfamiliar with crumb-coating, it’s just what it sounds like – spreading a thin layer of frosting over the entire outside of the cake to keep crumbs out of your final layer.
- Once your crumb coat has set (this takes about 5-10 minutes in the fridge), add your final layer of frosting and smooth. I like to use an offset spatula and bench scraper for this part. Once your cake is covered, place it into the fridge or freezer to set the frosting. (This is a great time to make and color your ganache drip(s)!)
Cake drips
- Place heavy cream and candy melts in a microwave-safe bowl, and microwave on 50% power in 30-second intervals until smooth, stirring in between. Divide ganache into 3 bowls and color green, orange, and purple.
- When your candy melt mixtures have cooled to a moderate temperature – slightly warm and still fairly liquid – transfer to squeeze bottles or piping bags. (I usually find a squeeze bottle or piping bag work the best for this ganache, but a spoon will work – it just won't give you quite as much control.)
- Slowly drizzle alternating colors of ganache around the upper edge of your cake, pausing every inch or so to let more fall in a drip down the side of the cake. Return cake to the fridge or freezer to set the drips.
Decorating
- Now you’re ready to decorate the top of the cake! Pipe a ring of frosting swirls around the edge of the cake, and decorate with sprinkles. I had the most purple candy melt ganache left over, so I poured it over the top of the cake and smoothed it with an offset spatula before adding more sprinkles on top – swirling the three colors would work as well!
- I can’t find the ‘Witchful Thinking’ mix in the photo online anymore; it’s either discontinued or sold out. But this ‘Witches Brew’ mix on Amazon has similar colors with spider and witch hats!
- And you’re done! Cut in, watch the candy spill out – and enjoy!
Video
Notes
(Please note nutrition information is an estimate, and may not be exactly accurate.)
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 752kcal | Carbohydrates: 98g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 38g
Mentioned in post –
Black Cocoa Cream Cheese Buttercream
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