Jack-o-Lantern Bundt Cake

Posted by Rachel Schwartz on 10/22/2020 to Family

two bundt cakes stacked on top of each other with orange frosting dripping down from top of cake

Halloween as we are used to celebrating it may be cancelled this year, but the holiday can still be celebrated with some Halloween themed food. From monster eye cupcakes, Halloween swirl brownies, and Rocky Road Whoppers to more savory dishes like jack-o-lantern cheeseburger pie, veggie fingers and dip, or any number of pumpkin-flavored recipes, the possibilities for Halloween food are endless. This jack-o-lantern Bundt cake is cute, tasty, and perfect for Halloween.

Ingredients:

For the cake:

1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg
1 can pumpkin puree
1 box yellow cake mix

For the frosting:

4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Orange, green, and black food coloring

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease two half-sized Bundt pans and a mini muffin pan and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, mix together all of the cake ingredients. Using a mixer, beat until all the ingredients are combined.
Spoon 1-2 tablespoons of the batter into 4 different mini muffin cups. Then divide the rest of the batter in two and pour it into the Bundt pans.
Bake the mini muffins for around 20 minutes and the Bundt cakes for 30-45 minutes or until a toothpick or fork tine can be inserted into the cake and come out clean. Let everything cool completely before frosting.
While the cakes are cooling, make the frosting. Beat the shortening in a large bowl for 1-2 minutes. Then add the butter and beat until combined. Keeping the mixer on low speed, slowly add half of the powdered sugar and then the milk and vanilla extract. Continue to beat to mixture on low for a few seconds before adding the rest of the powdered sugar. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 1-2 minutes. If the frosting is too thick, add a little more milk.
Take 1/4 cup of the frosting and put it in a small bowl. Do the same with another 1/4 cup of frosting. Add green food coloring to one of these smaller bowls and black to the other, leaving the rest of the frosting white for the moment.
Place the first Bundt cake with the rounded side down on a cake plate. Put on mini muffin in the middle of the cake and then frost the top of the cake with white frosting. Take the other Bundt cake and place it rounded side up on top of the frosted bottom cake. Place another mini muffin in the middle of the top Bundt cake.
Add orange food coloring to the remaining white frosting and frost the entire cake with orange frosting.
Take another mini muffin and frost it with the green frosting. Once frosted, place it on top of the cake. This becomes the stem of the pumpkin. The fourth mini muffin is an extra in case one is needed.
Using a piping bag and tip or a Ziplock bag with one corner cut, create vines and leaves with the remaining green frosting.
Using the same technique from the previous step, take the black frosting and draw and fill in a jack-o-lantern face on one side of the cake.
Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.