Easy Halloween Cake

 

Seriously, so easy.  Great Halloween baking project to do with your kids.

This is a throwback to a cake I made several years ago for my kids' preschool fall carnival.  It was inspired, in part, by my memories of the Charlie Brown special I used to watch each Halloween when I was little.  No blood.  No gore.  Just pumpkins, a little ghost, etc.  Basically, it captures the spirit of Halloween, while still being kid friendly. 

I have friends who say they want to make cakes, but don't have the time to make one from start to finish.  This cake is pretty straight forward.  You can make most of the elements with cookie cutters, and fondant, which the average person can now buy in large or small quantities, and in any color, just about anywhere.  You can take a great deal of work out of the process by adding some of the individual elements to cupcakes, or even purchasing a plain buttercream cake from the grocery store and adding the decorative touches to it.

If you have your colored fondant on hand, it's a pretty speedy process to make something like this.  The moon and bats, for example, were quickly cut from different sizes of round cookie cutters.  The clouds, pumpkins, trees, and border were just shaped by hand.  The bird and tombstones were cut from rolled out fondant with a knife.  That just left filling in some grass with green buttercream and a number 233 tip, along with a number 3 tip for the vines.  Oh, and I almost forgot the ghost topper.  For that I just stuck one of the round balls of fondant on a lollipop stick and covered it with a small piece of white fondant, and boom!  Done!

This cake was one of my favorites to make, because of it's simplicity.  That's why I think it's a great cake to make with kids, or for kids.  You can go smaller and serve one at home, or make a large one ahead to bring to a school party or carnival.  Whenever my kids bring something from home for a party, I like to let them have as much involvement in the process as possible.  It's always fun to see their little eyes light up when they show off the parts that they made on their own.  That's what makes it special!

I hope this cake inspires you to get in the kitchen this Halloween to create something fun on your own, or with your kiddos!  If so, I would love to see it!  Thanks for stopping by, and happy Halloween!