Trick or Treat Halloween Cake

This Trick or Treat Halloween Cake has a little surprise inside! A fun treat for kids and adults of all ages, this jack-o-lantern pinata cake is filled with sprinkles, candies, gum balls and more! Made using chocolate pound cake and decorated with buttercream frosting and fondant, this cute Halloween cake is sure to delight boys and ghouls alike. You can even add your own twist to this cake by filling it with your favorite Halloween candies and sprinkles. Also fun for October birthdays and celebrations, this surprise cake is the perfect combination of trick and treat!

Prep1 hr 15 min
Total Time11 hr 15 min
Skill LevelIntermediate

Ingredients & Tools
Instructions

Instructions

Jack-o-Lantern Face Pattern

Click to mark complete

The day before, make hat brim. Roll out small amount of black fondant to 1/8 in. thickness. Using circle cutter, cut out fondant circle. Let dry on cornstarch-dusted cake board.
Note: For added strength, add Gum Tex powder to fondant before rolling.
Reserve remaining fondant.
On day of, bake cake. Prepare pound cake batter following recipe instructions. Divide equally between two fluted tube pans. Bake and cool.
Tint icing. Tint 3 cups icing bright orange using Orange and Red-Red icing colors to get bright orange color shown. Reserve remaining icing white.
Using some bright orange icing, stack cakes (large sides together).
Fill cake. In a medium bowl, combine sprinkles, candy corn, pumpkin candies, chocolate candies and gumballs. Fill center hole of cake with candy mix.
Ice cake. Using remaining bright orange icing, ice cake (thick coat). Use tip of spatula to create vertical marks.
Make face and hat. Roll out remaining black fondant to 1/16 in. thickness. Use pattern to cut eyes, nose and mouth. Attach to cake.
Using serrated knife, cut ½ in. off of the wide end of the sugar cone (for easier cutting, lightly mark the cone with a damp brush, then cut). Wrap remaining fondant (at 1/16 in. thickness) around cone; attach with water, if needed. Trim any excess.
Place hat brim on cake, then attach cone with small amount of icing.
Decorate cake. Prepare decorating bag with coupler and remaining bright orange icing. Attach tip 6. Pipe band around hat where cone and brim meet.
Switch bright orange bag to tip 2. Prepare another bag with tip 2 and white icing. Using both bags, pipe moons, stars and dots on hat.
Using white icing, pipe highlights on eyes, nose and mouth.