How To Make A Pumpkin Cake

How to make a Halloween Pumpkin Cake

Halloween is all about tricks or treats, but this cake is both trick and treat! This fun cake contains a trick, when you cut out a slice, a tasty treat is revealed because hidden inside is a stash of sweets.

This cake does require a bit of time planning as it’s made with two cakes baked in a Bundt tin, so if you only have one tin, you’ll need to bake it in stages. But apart from a bit of time, it’s a really easy recipe to make and the end result is certainly worth the extra effort!

Follow this link for the full Bundt and buttercream recipes.

What you will need:

• Cake plate
• Parchment paper
• 2 bunt cakes
• 2 plain cupcakes, papers removed
• 2 x vanilla simple buttercream recipe
• Orange and green gel or paste food colouring
• 2 packets Halloween themed sweets
• ½ small package black gumpaste
• Rolling pin
• Sharp knife
• Piping bag

1) Trim the bottom of both Bundt cakes so that they’re level. Reserve some of the off-cuts for later. Place one of the Bundt cakes on a cake plate with the level side up. Arrange a few strips of parchment paper around the Bundt to keep the cake plate clean while frosting.

2) Remove about a cup of the buttercream and set aside. Colour the larger quantity of buttercream orange, then colour the small quantity green.

Spread some of the orange frosting over the top of the trimmed Bundt cake, then sandwich with the second Bundt cake, levelled side down.

Fill the centre with sweets to about 2/3 full, then place one of the cupcakes in the Bundt centre to act as a plug which will make it easier to frost. Use some of the off-cuts to fill in any gaps around the cupcake if needed. (You can now eat rest of the off-cuts!)

3) Cover the entire cake with the remaining orange frosting, smoothing it on with a small spatula. Frost the sides of the second cupcake with green frosting, then place this on top of the cake right in the centre to create the stem of the pumpkin, place it top side down. Spread a small bit of green frosting over the top to finish it off. Spoon the remaining green frosting into a piping bag, set aside.

Roll out the black gumpaste, a few millimetres thick, then use a sharp knife to cut out a face design. Carefully stick the face onto the front of the cake.

With the remaining green frosting, trim the end of the piping bag and pipe a few green tendrils and maybe one or two leaves on top of the pumpkin, coming from the green stem.

Finally, run a knife around the bottom of the cake and remove the parchment paper.