Halloween Monster Mash Cake – A fun Halloween cake perfect for a party! Green and purple layers of vanilla cake topped with black buttercream frosting.

Halloween Monster Mash Cake

Welcome to #HalloweenTreatsWeek 2018! I am so excited to be sharing three awesome Halloween recipes this week to celebrate the holiday.  Some how, I didn’t have a single Halloween recipe on Mildly Meandering so I am finally changing that this year.

This first recipe up is this monster mash cake.  I thought of the idea when I saw a pack of sprinkles sent to me by Sweets and Treats that was purple, green, black, and white.  I thought making a cake with those colors would be really neat and the name “monster mash cake” sounded perfect!

Overall, this is actually a really approachable recipe to make.  I suggest spreading out everything over two days, baking the cakes one day and decorating the next day.  This gives the cakes plenty of time to cool before decorating.

Common questions about baking cakes

What are the basic ingredients for a cake?

The basic ingredients in most cake recipes include flour, sugar, butter, eggs, a leavening agent such as baking powder, salt, and vanilla extract.  Additional ingredients include spices, other flavored extracts, mix-ins such as fruit, chocolate chips, etc.

What do eggs do in baking?

Eggs help give the cake structure, height, and bind the cake together.  The amount of eggs used in a recipe can have an impact on it’s overall structure.

What is the purpose of butter in baking?

Butter or other similar fats help give cakes their texture and flavor.

What does liquid do in baking?

Liquids help make the cake moist and the texture of the cake.

How to make halloween monster mash cake

Step 1 – Make cake batter

To start out, make the cake batter and then divide it evenly between 3 bowls.  This was the best method I could think of the make to get each of the cake batters to be the right color and to have even amounts of cake batter in each pan.

Step 2 – Add food coloring

Add food coloring into each of the bowls.  You will want two bowls to be green and one purple.  I highly suggest using purple gel food coloring rather than mixing blue and red together.  I mixed them together and I wasn’t super happy with the color so if you have access to purple food coloring, use it! If not, mixing the red and blue will work but it may take more work to get the right color.

Step 3 – Level cake

If you don’t have very flat cakes, level it using a knife by cutting the top off.  I found that there was a clear line around the cake where the cake had stopped touching the pan and had risen in the middle so I cut along that line using a bread knife.

Step 4 – Top with frosting

MAKE SURE YOUR CAKE IS COMPLETELY COOL BEFORE DOING THIS STEP.  I suggest making the cakes the day before frosting and storing them in the refridgerator.  Pipe frosting onto the first cake layer and then smooth it using an icing spatula or some other flat kitchen utensil so it is even.  Repeat with the next two layers before frosting along the sides and smoothing it using the same icing spatula.

Step 5 – Add sprinkles

Add sprinkles to the cake.  I used Sweets & Treats Sweet Sprinkles Mix: Dragon Dreams and I ball sprinkles from the mix on the side of the cake and the rest of the sprinkles on top.  Alternatively, you can use similar ball sprinkles and sprinkle mixes on the cake if you can’t get the same one I used.  In order to get the sprinkles to stay, lightly press them down as you put them on the cake.

Tips and tricks on this halloween monster mash cake

• You can use one 6″ pan to cook the cakes, just wash it out, grease, and dust it with flour after each cake so that nothing burns.
• You can use two 8″ pans instead of three 6″ pans, the bake time may need to be adjusted.
• You can use extracts other than vanilla to give the frosting flavor, I just went with vanilla because it’s a favorite of mine.

Looking for more Halloween recipes?

• Graveyard Dip – The perfect dessert dip for Halloween parties! Brownie batter dip topped with crushed oreos, sprinkles, and a candy skeleton!
• Ghost Cupcakes – A delicious black chocolate cupcake topped with orange vanilla buttercream frosting and a cute candy ghost!
• Mummy Dip – Pepperoni pizza dip baked inside puff pastry shaped like a mummy! This is the perfect appetizer for a Halloween party!

Featured on the Pioneer Woman

Yield: 8 slices

Halloween Monster Mash Cake

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Halloween Monster Mash Cake - A fun Halloween cake perfect for a party! Green and purple layers of vanilla cake topped with black buttercream frosting.

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Additional Time 15 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients

Vanilla Cake

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup milk
• 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• green gel food coloring
• purple gel food coloring

Vanilla Buttercream

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• black gel food coloring

Decorations

• Sprinkle mix, I used Sweets and Treats Sweet Sprinkles Mix: Dragon Dreams

Instructions

Vanilla Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease and dust three 6 inch pans with flour.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and vanilla bean paste using the paddle attachment until light and fluffy.
3. Add in each egg one at a time and then add in the milk.
4. Add in flour one cup at a time along with baking powder and salt until completely mixed into the batter.
5. Divide the batter evenly between three bowls.  Add green food coloring to two of the bowls and purple to one of the bowls.  Adjust the amount of food coloring to your preference and stir it in until it is completely mixed in.
6. Transfer batter to the cake pans and bake for 33-37 minutes or until you can stick a toothpick into the cake and it comes back clean.  Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack to cool.

Vanilla Buttercream

1. Beat together butter with 1/2 cup of powdered sugar at a time until all of the powdered sugar has been incorporated.  Add in vanilla extract, heavy whipping cream, and black food coloring and beat until you get the desired color of frosting.  If it is not dark enough, continue adding in more black food coloring.
2. Transfer frosting to a piping bag with a 2A piping tip.

Assembly

1. If your cakes are not flat on top, cut the tops off to make them flat and each layer even in height.
2. Take one of the green cake layers and pipe frosting around the edge and in the middle.  Use an icing spatula to spread the frosting evenly on top.  Repeat with the next two cake layers (make sure the purple cake layer is in the middle).  Pipe around the side of each of the cake layers and then using the icing spatula to spread it evenly around.
3. Seperate the ball sprinkles from the rest of the Sweet Sprinkles Mix: Dragon Dreams.  Place the ball sprinkles along the side of the cake and the rest of the sprinkles on top.  To keep the sprinkles from falling off, lightly press them on to the cake as you place them on.

Notes

Adapted from Liv for Cake's Vanilla Cake and Buttercream

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 798Total Fat: 44gSaturated Fat: 27gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 181mgSodium: 335mgCarbohydrates: 95gFiber: 1gSugar: 66gProtein: 8g

This nutritional information can vary depending on the specific products you choose so this is a general guess of the correct nutritional information based on the products I used. Please keep that in mind when making the recipe.