Halloween Candy Cake
If there's ever a time for a candy overload...it's Halloween! Grab all your favorite candies and make this Halloween candy cake!
Servings: 16 servings
Calories: 804kcal
Equipment
- 1 10 inch cardboard cake circle (or 8-inch; I just find moving cakes easier on larger circles)
- large piping bag + tip
Ingredients
Halloween Candy Cake layers
- 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour (350g)
- 2 ¼ cups granulated sugar (450g)
- 1 ¼ cup cocoa powder (100g)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¾ tsp salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks/250g; softened)
- 4 large eggs (room temperature)
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk (350mL)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate Cream Cheese frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese (one package; softened)
- 1 cup unsalted butter (two sticks, softened)
- 5-6 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup cocoa powder
- 2-4 Tablespoons milk
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
Decorations
- Halloween candy of your choice! I like the chocolate variety packs like this one - for the cake in the pictures I used M&Ms Reese’s cups, and Kit Kat, Snickers, Milky Way, Twix, Almond Joy, and 100 Grand bars (in hindsight, should've left the peppermint patties off).
Instructions
Halloween Candy Cake layers
- Preheat an oven to 350℉ (180℃). Grease 3 8-inch cake pans with baker's floured spray and/or line pans with parchment rounds.
- Mix together dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt) in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle (or hand mixer or whisk) until well combined. Add in bits of softened butter, mixing until no lumps of butter are visible and the mixture looks crumbly.
- Whisk together eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and mix until no dry ingredients are visible. Scrape down the bowl and beat for another 20 seconds.
- Fill the three pans evenly - I find a kitchen scale helpful for this part, and each of mine weighed out to about 550g. Bake for 30-35 min or until a toothpick inserted 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. (Meanwhile, make your frosting!)
Chocolate Cream Cheese frosting
- Beat together softened cream cheese and butter; slowly add in powdered sugar and cocoa powder alternating with milk and vanilla until frosting reaches a spreadable consistency. Add salt and beat until well combined.
Assembly
- Once your cakes are cool, level them (if needed) with a cake leveler or a large serrated knife and a ruler. Place a smear of frosting on your cake circle (to keep the cake from sliding while you decorate it) and center your first cake layer in the center of the circle. Spread the layer with frosting.
- Cover the layer with as many candy varieties as you want to use, and add a little bit of frosting on top to hold your next cake layer in place. Center your next cake layer on top! Repeat the process with your remaining cake layers, adding 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 - 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.
Decorating!
- Start adding candy! I mosaic-style-plastered as much Halloween candy as I could all over the outside of the cake, and then added a rim of halved Reese’s cups to keep the pile of candy I stacked on top in place. Cover and pile your cake with Halloween candy however you see fit!
- And that's it - you're done!
Video
Notes
(Please note nutrition information is an estimate, and may not be exactly accurate. All counts will vary with type / amount of candy and frosting used to decorate.)
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 804kcal | Carbohydrates: 101g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 40g