Halloween Ghost Cake

Cake, Seasonal
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Make a spooky Halloween Ghost Cake with two layers of vanilla cake and one layer of chocolate cake covered in black buttercream frosting and marshmallow spiderwebs that is topped off with buttercream ghosts for a super fun holiday layer cake!

A black cake covered in marshmallow spiderwebs and swirled buttercream ghosts on top.

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’m so excited to be back as part of Halloween Treats Week.   While I’ll always make fun Halloween sweets this event has gotten me to make several Halloween layer cakes over the last few years and I’ve been thrilled with all of them.

So this year I’m back with yet another cake and this one might just be my favorite.   It’s a Ghost Cake with 3 layers of cake, vanilla buttercream frosting, and marshmallow spiderwebs.

I love how it turned out. I chose one of my favorite “sturdy” cake recipes and went from there.   You can, of course, use your favorite cake recipe along with my decorating guide but I think you’ll really enjoy the flavors in these cakes.

Pin Image: A black cake covered in marshmallow spiderwebs and swirled buttercream ghosts on top, text, a cutting board with a bag of sugar, a cup of flour, a cup of milk, 3 sticks of butter, and a half dozen eggs on it.

Ingredients:

  • flour
  • baking soda
  • baking powder
  • salt
  • sugar (I used Dixie Crystals)
  • brown sugar (I used Dixie Crystals)
  • butter
  • eggs
  • vanilla yogurt
  • milk
  • vanilla
  • black cocoa powder
  • powdered sugar
  • food coloring
  • marshmallows
  1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.   Spray 3 eight inch cake pans with baking spray and set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.   Mix well.
  3. In a large bowl cream together the sugar, brown sugar, and butter.
  4. Add in the eggs and mix well.
  5. Stir in the yogurt.
  6. Add half the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until combined.
  7. Add the milk and vanilla  mix until well combined.
  8. Add the remaining flour mixture and mix until there are no lumps remaining.
  9. Divide the batter into 3 bowls.   Dye one bowl green and one bowl orange.   Add the black cocoa powder to the third bowl along with 1-2 tablespoons of milk and mix well.
  10. Pour one batter into each of the cake pans.  Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  11. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes.   Run a knife around the edge and turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.

I divided the cake into three different bowls and dyed one green, one orange, and one black.   You could add purple in there in place of the black but I thought having three different Halloween colors was super fun.

I whipped up an easy buttercream frosting recipe using Dixie Crystals powdered sugar, my own homemade vanilla extract, butter, and a touch of milk.  Then I dyed it black to give the cake an overall spooky feel.

Three cake pans. One with orange cake, one with a green cake, and one with a black cake.

Can I skip the chocolate cake layer and just make vanilla cake and dye it three different colors?

Yes!   I only added in the chocolate layer because I knew I wanted it black so I actually used black cocoa powder so I didn’t need to use the extra food coloring.  You can make them all vanilla and then dye them three different colors.  I wouldn’t make three layers of chocolate cake simply because it’s difficult to dye chocolate cake.

I don’t have black cocoa powder.   Can I use regular?

Yes!   You can certainly use regular cocoa powder but then you’ll probably need to add some black food coloring.  With the black cocoa powder I didn’t need to use any additional dye.

How do you get your buttercream to look so smooth?

Crumb coat!  I always thought crumb coats were a joke but they aren’t.   Put a very thin layer of frosting all over your cake making sure to fill in any gaps between your layers.  Then put it in the freezer for 20 minutes.  When you take it out immediately frost it as you normally would.  The frosting will go on much smoother and cleaner.

The ghosts look like they use a ton of frosting.  Can I make them another way?

Instead of using frosting you can make a meringue recipe and simply pipe the meringue into a ghost shape instead.   That way they will be much lighter.   After they are cooked let them cool them put them on top of the cake.

I’m terrible at baking from scratch.  Can I use a box mix?

You can use a box mix for the cake.  You’ll need to make 2 boxes of cake batter though you will only use one and a half.   Whenever this is the case I usually use the remaining half box of cake mix and make 9 or 10 cupcakes to go along with my cake.

A layer cake topped with black buttercream and a skull decoration behind it.

Next came the spiderwebs.   This part was tricky.   The marshmallows are going to stick to your hands.   I tried putting them on while the marshmallows were fairly hot and it started melting my frosting.  Then I waited until it was fairly cool and when I put it on the cake it was pulling the other marshmallow webs off.

All that to say, you’ll have to experiment a bit to find the perfect temperature to put on the spiderweb.  Once I found it it was so much easier to get it onto the cake and it looked awesome.

I actually put the sprinkles on the bottom of the cake before I put the spiderwebs on but if I make it again I’ll put the sprinkles on after the spiderwebs.  The problem was that the spiderwebs would grab some of the sprinkles and pull them off of the cake.

More Halloween Cake Recipes:

After putting on the spiderwebs I worked on the ghosts.  I practiced one or two before putting them on the cake but they were fairly easy to make.

A close up of a slice of cake with a green, orange, and black layer, with two forks on the plate and a fake spider crawling onto the plate.

I love how this cake turned out.  It looked so spooky on the outside with spiderwebs all over the cake and the tall ghosts on top.  I’m glad I put the little ghosts on the side of the cake because they added texture and a bit more to the cake.

The inside was stunning.  The colors were bright but the black frosting kept it creepy and Halloween themed.  The flavors were delicious too.  Tons of vanilla with a little bit of chocolate and plenty of fluffy buttercream frosting.   I shared with a few friends and they all loved it just as much as we did!

A top view of a slice of cake with a frosting ghost on top and two forks on the plate and the whole cake with spiderwebs and frosting ghosts on top.

If you’ve tried my Halloween Ghost Cake or any other recipe on Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks please take a minute to rate the recipe and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. I love hearing from you! You can FOLLOW ME on:

A black cake covered in marshmallow spiderwebs and swirled buttercream ghosts on top.

Ghost Cake

5 from 20 votes
Print Pin
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Additional Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Servings: 14 servings
Author: Hezzi-D

Ingredients

For the cake:

  • 3 3/4 c. flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 1/4 c. sugar I used Dixie Crystals
  • 1/2 c. brown sugar I used Dixie Crystals
  • 1 1/2 c. 3 sticks butter, softened
  • 6 eggs
  • 1 c. vanilla yogurt
  • 1 c. milk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 3 Tablespoons black cocoa powder
  • green orange, and black food coloring

For the frosting:

  • 1 1/2 c. 3 sticks butter
  • 5-6 c. powdered sugar
  • 2-3 Tablespoons milk
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla

For the decorations:

  • 8 marshmallows
  • Halloween sprinkles

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray the sides and bottoms of 3 eight inch cake pans with baking spray and set aside.
  • In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix well.
  • In a large bowl cream together the sugar, brown sugar, and butter. Mix until well combined.
  • Add in the eggs and mix well.
  • Stir the yogurt into the mixture.
  • Add half the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until just combined.
  • Add the milk and vanilla and mix until well combined.
  • Add the remaining flour mixture and mix until there are no lumps remaining.
  • Divide the batter into 3 small bowls. Dye one bowl green, and one bowl orange.
  • Add the black cocoa powder and 1-2 tablespoons of milk to the last bowl and mix well.
  • Pour one bowl of batter into each of the cake pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  • Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge and turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.
  • To make the frosting place the butter in a large mixing bowl and beat with a mixer on medium high speed until smooth.
  • Add in the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time mixing on medium speed or until smooth.
  • Add in the vanilla and milk and mix on high speed for 2 minutes or until fluffy.
  • Remove 1 1/2 cups of frosting and place them in a small bowl.
  • Dye the remaining large bowl of frosting black. You may need to use a lot of dye to make it a dark black color.
  • Place one layer on cake on a cake board and top with 3/4-1 cup of back frosting and smooth it on top.
  • Place a second layer on top of the first and top with 3/4-1 cup of back frosting and smooth it on top.
  • Place the last layer on top of the frosting. Using a butter knife or offset spatula to spread a thin layer of frosting all around the cake.
  • Place in freezer for 20 minutes.
  • Remove the cake from the freezer and use the butter knife or offset spatula to smooth frosting all over the cake.
  • To make the spiderwebs place the marhsmallows in a microwave safe bowl and heat for 20-30 seconds or until they get huge in the bowl.
  • Remove and stir until it looks like marshmallow cream.
  • Pull 1 tablespoon out of the bowl and carefully stretch it between several fingers on each hand and then carefully place on the cake to make spiderwebs. They will stick to your hands so gently remove the "web" so that it sticks to the cake.
  • Place sprinkles around the bottom edge of the cake.
  • To make the ghosts place the white frosting in a piping bag with a 1/2 inch to 1 inch opening. Pipe in a swirling mound to make the ghost shapes all along the top of the cake.
  • If you want to make the ghosts on the side place a little pressure on your piping bag to make a circle and then carefully pull it out in a swooping motion to make the tailend of the ghost.
  • Place any remaining black frosting in a piping bag with a very thin tip. Pipe on two dots for eyes and a large "o" shaped mouth on all of the ghosts.
  • Keep in an air tight container for up to 3 days.

Notes

Spiderweb decoration from Food Network. Cake and frosting recipes are Hezzi-D Original recipes.

A slice of cake with a green, orange, and black layer, with two forks on the plate and the whole cake sitting behind it with the slice cut out.

Check out all of these great #HalloweenTreatsWeek recipes for today:

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