This post and recipe was created for #HalloweenTreatsWeek! I was sent samples by some of the sponsor companies but as always opinions are 100% mine
I am so excited to be participating in #HalloweenTreatsWeek this week! As you all know, Halloween is one of my absolute favorite holidays. I love dressing up at home and at school, seeing all the kids in costume, passing out candy, and making a ton of Halloween treats. Last year was super fun because J was old enough to go around to a few houses in the neighborhood and this year he will be extra excited to get the candy.
I wanted to start off the week with a bang so I'm sharing this incredible Candy Corn Layer Cake. It turned out so much better than I had even hoped! The cake is dense but delicious and it's super fun since it's colored and stacked like candy corn. The frosting is your basic buttercream except for a few hints of Wilton Orange Creme Decorating Icing.
So let's talk about the actual cake. I flavored it with Adams Best Twice as Strong Vanilla because it really brings out the vanilla flavor. Then I colored the cakes with white, orange, and yellow gel food coloring. I simply put them in the oven, baked them, and let them cool. Next came the frosting which was also fun to make. I made a basic vanilla buttercream again using Adas Best Twice as Strong Vanilla and using Dixie Crystals Powdered Sugar. I kept half of the frosting white then colored a quarter yellow and a quarter orange.
When stacking the layers I had a fun thought that if the frosting was also candy corn colored it would be awesome. So what I did was pipe yellow frosting around the edge, then I used the Wilton Orange Creme decorating frosting which came with it's own tip to pipe a second layer of frosting inside the first. This gave it additional color and it added some orange flavor to the cake. Then I filled in the rest with the white frosting and stacked the cakes.
Next I worked on the sides of the cake. I put the colored buttercream in Wilton All-In-One Disposable Decorating Bags with tips. I freaking love these bags. They are seriously my new favorite thing. The disposable tips are already in the bags so all you have to do is fill them. When you are done you pitch them. No mess, no fuss, no washing of bags or tips. It's so awesome. Anyhow, I piped yellow frosting around the lower third of the cake, orange frosting around the middle, and white frosting at the top. Then I used a bench scraper to smooth and blend the colors. It's such an awesome technique that I've been seeing on many of the baking shows these days.
Then I simply put white frosting all over the top and instead of worrying about decorating the top I simply dumped a 2 ounce bag of fun Halloween sprinkles on top! Then I dip alternating swirls of color as a border, stuck some candy corn in the swirls, and I had an awesome cake! I was pretty proud of myself for how cool it looked. Little did I know that when I cut into the cake it would look even better!
I was very excited about this cake but also a little concerned with the weight of it. I actually took it to my basement to weigh it and found that in total it weighed 6 and a half pounds! Thankfully we found a few friends to share the cake with and they raved about how good it was. I'll be honest, I thought the buttercream was spot on and the cake itself had a nice vanilla flavor that paired well with the frosting. The hint of orange creme was just an added bonus.
So if you are looking for a cake that isn't too hard to make but will totally wow your friends give this Candy Corn Layer Cake a try! You'll be thanking me later!
Candy Corn Layer Cake
A fun vanilla layer cake made to look like candy corn that is frosted in white, yellow, and orange then topped off with white, orange, and yellow swirls dotted with candy corn and sprinkled with fun Halloween sprinkles for the ultimate Halloween treat!
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 3 sticks butter
- 2 ¼ c. DIxie Crystals sugar
- 6 eggs
- 1 T. Adams Twice as Strong Vanilla Extract
- 3 ¾ c. flour
- 1 ½ t. baking powder
- ½ t. baking soda
- 1 t. salt
- 2 c. milk
- white, yellow, and orange gel food coloring
For the Frosting:
- 4 sticks butter
- 6 c. Dixie Crystals powdered sugar
- 2-3 T. milk
- 1 T. Adams Twice as Strong Vanilla Extract
- white, yellow, and orange food coloring
- 1 pouch Wilton Orange Creme Decorating Icing (optional)
For the decoration:
- 16 candy corn
- 2 ounce bag of Halloween sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Spray three 8" cake pans with cooking spray. I like to line the bottom with parchment paper but that is optional. Set aside.
- In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar. Add in the eggs two at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Stir in the vanilla.
- In another large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well.
- Add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until just combined.
- Add the milk and mix until well combined.
- Stir in the remaining flour mixture and mix until just combined.
- Divide the batter into three bowls. Color one white, one orange, and one yellow. Pour one color batter into each of the prepared pans.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes, turning the pans halfway through the baking. Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes.
- Run a knife around the edges of the pan and remove the cakes from the pan. Cool completely on wire racks.
- Meanwhile, place the butter for the frosting in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer on medium speed until smooth.
- Add in the powdered sugar a cup at a time, mixing after each addition, until the frosting is smooth.
- Add in the milk and vanilla and mix well.
- Place half of the frosting in one bowl and a quarter of the frosting in each of two bowls. Color half of the frosting white then the quarter bowls of frosting one yellow and one orange.
- Place all of the orange frosting in a piping bag with a star tip. I used WIlton's All-In-One piping bags with tips because it made it east. Then place all of the yellow frosting in a second bag. Place half of the white frosting in a third bag.
- Place the yellow layer of cake on a cake board. Pipe a layer of yellow frosting around the outer edge of the cake.
- If using the Orange Creme frosting pipe a second circle inside the yellow circle on the cake. If not using the orange creme simply use the orange frosting.
- Spread white frosting in the middle of the two circles.
- Place the orange layer of cake on top of the frosting. Repeat the icing layers then top with the white cake layer.
- Refridgerate your cake for 15 minutes.
- Remove the cake from the refrigerator and pipe yellow frosting on the lower third of the outside of the cake. Pipe orange frosting in second third of the outside of the cake and white frosting on the top third of the outside of the cake.
- Using a bench scraper rotate the cake in a circle while scraping the frosting. This will make a smooth outer layer while meshing the colors together. Once the frosting is fairly smooth stop.
- Top the cake with white frosting and smooth with a butter knife or offset spatula.
- Using your piping bags pipe a white swirl, yellow swirl, then orange swirl on the top edge of the cake. Repeat this until the entire top edge of the cake is covered in swirls.
- Place a candy corn in the middle of each frosting swirl.
- Pour your Halloween sprinkles in the center of the top of the cake and spread around covering the entire top.
- Cut into 16 slices and enjoy!
Notes
A Hezzi-D Original recipe
Recommended Products
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Check out the amazing #HalloweenTreatsWeek recipes from our bloggers today!
- Chocolate Candy Witch Cauldrons from Big Bear's Wife
- Candy Corn Fudge from Fake Ginger
- Candy Corn Layer Cake from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
- Candy Corn Cookie Bars from 4 Sons R Us
- Halloween Potato Eyes from Pastry Chef Online
- Monster Munch Chex Party Mix from I am a Honey Bee
- Gluten Free Chocolate Monster Cookies from Frugal & Fit
- Caramel Sprinkle Baked Donuts from Cookaholic Wife
- Ghostly Popcorn Balls from Our Good Life
- Hocus Pocus Spell Book Brownies from Cheese Curd In Paradise
- Mummy Cake Pops from Jen Around the World
- Zombie Chocolate Donuts from Kelly Lynn’s Sweets and Treats
- Black Cauldron Bubbly Cupcakes from Daily Dish Recipes
- Boolicious Caramel Chocolate Covered Fruit from Everyday Eileen
- Jack-o-Lantern Candy Bark from Sweet Beginnings
- Caramel Apple Blossoms from For the Love of Food
- Monster Marshmallows from Shockingly Delicious
- Halloween Muddy Buddies from Back To My Southern Roots
- Mummy Crinkle Cookies from Creative Southern Home
- Sally's Sugar Cookies from The Spiffy Cookie
- Eyeball Thumbprint Cookies from A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
- Eye of Newt Halloween Wands from Who Needs A Cape?
- Halloween Brownie Pudding Parfait from Desserts Required
- Halloween No Bake Cheesecake from Lemon Blossoms
- Halloween Dipped Ice Cream Cones from West Via Midwest
- Pumpkin Soup with Savory Spices and Roasted Pumpkin Seeds from Nancie's Table
- Halloween Stuffed Chocolate Whoopie Pies from Karen's Kitchen Stories
- Death by Chocolate Dessert Ball from Strawberry Blondie Kitchen
- Jack o Lantern Bundt Cake from The Redhead Baker
- Frankenstein Cupcake Cake from Jonesin' For Taste
- Chocolate Truffle Pumpkin Spider Cake from Sweet ReciPEAs
- Spooky Sprinkled Brownies from The Beard and The Baker
- Halloween Candy Charcuterie Board from Pint Sized Baker
- Halloween Monster Buttermilk Pancakes from Katie’s Cucina
- Sugar Skull Layer Cake from Love and Confections
- Mummy Meringue Pops from My Sweet Zepol
- Halloween Hidden Bat Loaf Cat from Savory Moments
- Vegan Halloween Cookies & Cream Fault Line Cake from The Baking Fairy
- Halloween Corn Chip Dessert Bars from Intelligent Domestications
- Oogie Boogie Meringue Cupcakes from A Blender Mom
- Smores Ghost Brownies from Books n' Cooks
Happy Halloween! It's October which means it's time for Spooky Season and this year's #HalloweenTreatsWeek event! #HalloweenTreatsWeek is hosted by Angie from Big Bear's Wife & its a creepy and haunting week-long event is filled with some amazingly wicked Halloween treats, recipes and some frightfully fun giveaways.
“When witches go riding, and black cats are seen, the moon laughs and whispers ‘tis near Halloween.”
Christie
What an awesome looking cake! Those layers are perfect!
Cheese Curd In Paradise
This is so pretty! I love the different colored cakes, and the candy corn colored frosting! Perfect for Halloween!
Samantha
So bright and colorful! It's perfect for Halloween!
Karen
I love this! I haven't tried the prepared icing yet, so I'm so grateful for the inspiration!
HezziD
It's a great way to add color AND flavor!
Terri Steffes
What a pretty cake! I love the colored layers.
Tiffany Banks
My favorite Halloween character is The Joker!
Betsy Cohen
Love how seasonal this cake is and so much more flavorful than candy corn!
Karyn M Granrud
What a fun cake! love the candy corn colors for the layers inside and out!
Angie
The perfect cake for Halloween! I love the layers!
Sara Zielinski
My favorite halloween character is probably Jack Skellington. I also love The Great pumpkin even though he is not supposed to exist!
Amy (Savory Moments)
This cake is so pretty and creative, too! The colors and layers are perfect!