DIY Multi-Color Halloween Cake

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

As hard as it is to believe, October is finally ending and we are beginning the stretch towards the long winter ahead. But before we begin thinking about Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years parties, take a minute to embrace the fall season and enjoy Halloween the best you can! Whether you’re planning on going to a Halloween party, or you’re just looking for a seasonal treat to make this Halloween, this cake is a great way to make your friends think you’re the next Great Baker on Cake Boss! It’s an easy and colorful way to turn that $1.29 box of white cake mix into a master piece everyone will love to dive into!

For this cake you will need to purchase white cake mix, two containers of white cake frosting (preferably the Pillsbury Funfetti brand because it comes with free sprinkles!), one package of food coloring, a box of Ziploc bags (if you don’t already have some!) and a tray to place the cake on for display (pink striped tray in my picture)

• 1.      Start by mixing together the white cake mix according to the directions on the back of the box.

• 2.      Depending on how many colors you want to dye the cake split the cake batter into that many bowls. For my cake I used 3 colors: green, purple, and orange.

• 3.      According to the directions on the back of your food coloring package, dye the cake batter the color you are trying to obtain. There are usually directions for “cake mix” food coloring, but if there isn't you may want to look it up on the internet for the specific color you are looking to create! For mine, I used about 50 drops total for each.

• 4.      Next you want to make sure that you spray your pan with cooking spray or oil.

• 5.      Now drizzle the cake batter around the pan in random patterns until you use all of the batter OR you can layer the batter in the pan. For example when making my cake, I could have put the entire bowl of green batter in first, and then the orange and lastly the purple. After baked this would give the cake horizontal lines of each of the colors.

• 6.      Lastly back your cake according to the directions on the box!

Let your cake cool for about an hour and using a spatula go around the sides of the cake and separate the cake from the pan so that you can remove the cake and place it on your tray. Once you separate the cake with the spatula as best you can, place the tray on top of the cake pan and flip it over so that the cake is separated from the cake pan and on the tray. This will give you a platform to decorate your cake.

Before decorating, let your cake cool for between 4-6 hours, and if possible overnight.
When you are ready to start decorating your cake designate one container of frosting for the base coating of the cake and its sides and one for the decorating part.

• 1.      Using a bowl add food coloring (as designated per color on the package for cake frosting) to one container of frosting and frost the base of the cake.

• 2.      Then, for my Halloween cake, I mixed together 1/3 of the second container of frosting with purple food coloring to decorate the border and sides of the cake.

• 3.      Place the frosting in a zip lock bag and cut the corner of the bag to your discretion. I would suggest cutting a small corner off at first and then cutting a bigger piece off. Start with a cut as small as one centimeter from the corner!

• a.        It’s important to practice writing/decorating on a paper towel/napkin/piece of paper first to get a feel of how to do it on the cake.

• 4.      Next, make as many bags as you need for each color you want to use. For some colors such as the green on my Halloween cake, I only used about two tablespoons of frosting.

• 5.      Go crazy! Decorate your cake in any way that you choose and make it personal to you: add sprinkles, candies, cookies, etc. Just remember that you can always fix any “mistake” that you think you made and don’t be afraid to try something different! If your cake turns out bad you can always just eat it and try again another day! I personally have no cake decorating experience but I love to try new things with the few cakes that I have decorated. It’s super easy to do when you put your mind to it and concentrate. I haven’t used any decorating tools yet so my cake’s are pretty basic, but I try and do the best I can with what I've got! This Halloween cake is the fourth cake that I've tried decorating, hope you enjoy!

Good luck and happy baking!

First Cake

Second Cake

Third Cake

What’s your favorite holiday to bake for?!