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Halloween Pumpkin Surprise Cake

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  • Prep 2 hr 0 min
  • Total 8 hr 0 min
  • Servings 12
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A pumpkin spice cake decorated to look like a Jack-o’-Lantern pail and filled with trick or treat sweets.
by: Hungry Happenings
Updated May 19, 2022
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Ingredients

Cake

  • 1 box Betty Crocker™ Delights Super Moist™ Spice Cake Mix
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • 2 tablespoons butter, softened and cut into 1/4 inch cubes
  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 package vanilla pudding mix (4 serving size box)

Decorations

  • Assorted candy
  • 1 tub (12 oz) Betty Crocker™ Whipped Fluffy White Frosting
  • Betty Crocker™ neon food coloring gels
  • 18 oz orange fondant
  • 2 oz black fondant
  • Lollipops
  • 1 black licorice lace

Steps

  • 1
    Preheat oven to 325°F.
  • 2
    Spray the inside of both halves of a sphere cake pan with baking spray. Set the round metal support rings on a baking sheet and place one cake pan, open side up, on each ring.
  • 3
    Combine cake mix, eggs, water, pumpkin puree, butter, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla pudding mix in a mixing bowl. Beat on low for 30 seconds, then on medium for 2 minutes.
  • 4
    Evenly divide batter among cake pans.
  • 5
    Bake for 55-65 minutes, turning pans 180 degrees after 45 minutes of baking until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean.
  • 6
    Allow cakes to cool completely, then level them.
  • 7
    Cut just enough off the rounded part of one of the cakes so it sits flat without rolling. Cut a cake round to fit that flat bottom surface and set the cake on it. Cut a shallow round well in the flat top of this cake.
  • 8
    The other cake will become the top of the pumpkin pail. Cut a shallow round well in that cake to resemble the opening of a pumpkin pail.
  • 9
    Freeze the cakes for 4 hours or overnight. Then remove cakes from freezer and fill the bottom cake's well with candy. Add a bead of frosting around the top edge of that cake, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the candy.
  • 10
    Set the other cake on top. Carve so the sphere looks like a pumpkin.
  • 11
    Color white frosting using orange gel coloring. Frost the entire cake, including the top well, with orange frosting. Smooth frosting, then place cake in freezer for about 30 minutes.
  • 12
    Roll orange fondant out into a 14-inch round. Cut a 2-inch circle in the center. Place the fondant over the cake, lining up the hole with the well in the top of the cake.
  • 13
    Smooth fondant, cutting off excess. Cut a circle of fondant to fit in the well. Cut a strip of fondant and attach it to the inside of the well. Fold the orange fondant that was used to cover the cake, over the strip.
  • 14
    Use a fondant tool to create grooves vertically on the pumpkin.
  • 15
    Roll out black fondant. Cut out two triangular eyes, one triangular nose, and one mouth. Attach to the orange fondant.
  • 16
    Poke a lollipop into the center of the well so it's tall enough to attach to the handle. Poke a black licorice lace into each side of the pumpkin cake to create the handle. Attach the top of the licorice to the lollipop using some tape. Add more candy inside the top well.
  • 17
    Serve!

Nutrition Information

No nutrition information available for this recipe

More About This Recipe

  • This nostalgic pumpkin cake not only tastes great, but will bring back fond memories of trick-or-treating. For most of my childhood, candy from trick or treating was collected in a plastic pumpkin pail. These classic pails are still one of the most popular vessels for kids to carry around their sweet treats on Halloween, and its shape is quite easy to recreate out of cake. Not only does this cake look like a pumpkin, it tastes like one too! I doctored up a Betty Crocker™ Spice Cake Mix by adding some pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice to make this cake pumpkin through and through. The toughest part of decorating it was covering it in fondant. Covering a spherical cake in fondant is not for the faint of heart. It takes patience; I suggest keeping the fondant rather thick when it's rolled out so when it's stretched over the bottom curves of the cake, it doesn't get too thin and tear. But once you get it covered, it takes mere minutes to transform it into a cute pail filled with candy! Poke a lollipop into the center of the well so it's tall enough to attach to the licorice handle. Poke a black licorice lace into each side of the pumpkin cake to create the handle. Attach the top of the licorice to the lollipop using some tape. I couldn't get my licorice handle to stay perfectly curved, but by taping it to the lollipop, at least it stood up! Happy Halloween!
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