Description
I’ve been hooked on The Great British Baking Show. There was one episode where one of the contestant’s flavors just weren’t there… they weren’t an utter failure, they were just kind of bland. As they were reviewing the contestants before deciding on whom to send home, Prue says to Paul that this contestant’s flavors were “not worth the calories. My ultimate test.” I loved that. It is so spot on.
It is so easy to look at the calories attached to a meal or dessert and let that dissuade you from having it. BUT, you’re missing out on so much goodness. As Prue says, it has to be worth the calories. The flavors have to be there. You have to enjoy it. The experience needs to be worth the calories. It is such a simple statement, but it captured my approach to cooking and eating!
So that said, we get into this witchy Halloween pumpkin cake! This is worth the calories! And this is the most complicated recipe I have blogged about thus far, so let’s get into it. I had a craving for Halloween desserts after my friend shared with me a website dedicated to sprinkles called Sweetapolita! Her sprinkles are so much fun! I went completely overboard (of course) and have been contemplating for almost a month now on what I wanted to make before setting sights on a Halloween pumpkin cake. What could be more fitting for Halloween and the fall season!?
I will also tell you this recipe, as shown, was not how I had set out to make it, but an utter failure of getting the color I wanted made me divert paths. I had set out to make an all black cake with a black mirror glaze. BUT, I wanted a maple buttercream frosting, which is white… I didn’t have ENOUGH black food coloring to get it black… so I had a batch of dark gray buttercream and no idea what to do.. start over?
So, I conferred with said friend. Fortunately, since I completely overdid it at Sweetapolita, I had several sprinkle options. I was going to use a batch called Potion & Spells, a mix of black, white, orange, and gold sprinkles. But, since there was no way I could achieve black icing anymore, I could either start over and go with a white frosting with an orange mirror glaze OR take a different approach. Fortunately, I ALSO had a batch called Witch-ful Thinking made with purples, greens, white, and black. Think a witch’s brew! Well, this was perfect! To fix my funky gray buttercream, I added several different purples and a bit of pink food coloring and I got a nice witchy dark purple. It’s almost the color of my stand mixer!
Instead of a black mirror glaze (since I had NO more black food coloring), I decided to match the green sprinkles! So, even with my blunder, I ended up with a perfectly witchy pumpkin cake!
To be totally honest, I made this over three days. I have a life! And I have other recipes to make and write about too! So, I split this up over several days so that I wasn’t bogged down with it for half a day. Also, splitting it up gave plenty of time for the cakes to cool and the icings to set!
The recipe calls for three 6” cake pans. I only have one! So I had to make one cake at a time, pop the cake pan off, cool it under cold water, and then repeat! Not a huge deal, but it did mean I was baking for over an hour and a half! I let the cakes come down to room temperature and then wrapped them in plastic wrap and refrigerated them overnight.
Day two, I made the buttercream, had the gray blob disaster, corrected course, and iced the cakes with one layer of frosting. I made room in my freezer for the cake and let it rest overnight, letting the frosting get fully firm. The remaining frosting I placed in the refrigerator. Day 3, I did a second layer of frosting and then sprinkled my Witch-ful Thinking sprinkles haphazardly around the bottom half of the cake. I didn’t want to create an even line around the bottom half of the cake. It needed to look a bit scattered. Again, think witch’s brew!
The green mirror glaze was super easy to make, even though the idea was daunting (I have never made it before!). To create a marble look, I lightly stirred in a darker green and then slightly moved the pot back and forth as I poured it over the cake. I think the marbling came out perfectly! Then I popped the cake back in the freezer until the glaze set.
This seems like a daunting recipe because there are so many steps. BUT, it’s really an easy recipe to make! Just break it down, and do it over several days if you don’t want to take the task on for an entire afternoon! This recipe is definitely easy enough to get your kids involved in the Halloween fun too!
If you make this fun cake, I would love you to tag me on Instagram, #theoldwoman_and_thesea, so I can see all the fun creations you guys come up with!
Remember, have fun with this! After all, it’s Halloween!
Ingredients
Pumpkin Cake
¾ cup white sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 tsps vanilla extract
1 can pure pumpkin puree
2¼ cups flour
½ TB baking soda
½ TB baking powder
1 TB ground cinnamon
2 tsps nutmeg
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp salt
Maple Buttercream
1 cup butter, softened but still slightly cool (~60°)
8 oz low-fat cream cheese, room temperature
1½ cups powdered sugar
½ cup pure maple syrup
2 tsps vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp ground clove
purple food coloring
black food coloring
Mirror Glaze
½ cup sweetened condensed milk
¾ cup white sugar
⅓ cup water
¾ cup white chocolate chips
½ oz gelatin (+ ¼ cup cold water)
bright green food coloring
dark green food coloring
Additional Ingredients
Witch-ful Thinking sprinkles, or green and purple sprinkle mix
Butter ~ 2 TBs
Instructions
Make the Cake
Preheat the oven to 350°. Prep three 6” round cake pans, taking butter to coat the sides and bottom.
In a standing mixer with the paddle attachment, whisk together the sugar and eggs on medium-high until light and fluffy ~ about 5 minutes. Lower the speed to medium. Add in the oil and vanilla extract and continue mixing until combined ~ about 1 minute. Add the pumpkin purée and mix until combined ~ 30 seconds.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and salt. Lower the mixer speed to the second lowest setting. Slowly add in the flour mix bit by bit until evenly mixed.
Distribute the batter among the three cake pans ~ about 460 grams of batter per pan. Gently smooth the top with the back of a spoon. Place the cake pans on the middle rack making sure they are not touching each other. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean ~ about 35 minutes (but I recommend checking at the 30 minute mark).
Place the cake pans on a wire rack and cool until you can touch the pans to release them. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to cool completely.
Make the Buttercream
Clean your standing mixer bowl and paddle attachment and dry well.
Return them to your standing mixer. Add in the butter and cream cheese and whip on a medium speed until light and fluffy ~ about 5 minutes.
Add in the maple syrup, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. Mix until well combined ~ 30 seconds. Add in the powdered sugar. Continue to whip the ingredients until it’s light a fluffy ~ about 2 more minutes.
With the standing mixer still running, add in the black food coloring the buttercream looks like a dark gray. Add in the purple food coloring until you have a dark purple to your liking. (I used two different kinds of purple and a pink to give it a bit of a sparkle).
Place the bowl in the refrigerator until cooled slightly ~ 30 minutes.
Assemble the Cake
Level each cake layer by removing the domed top with a serrated bread knife or cake leveler. Place a small scoop of buttercream onto a cake turntable to prevent the cake from moving when frosting. Place the first layer of cake, top-side up, on top of the buttercream.
Pipe the frosting around the edge of the cake and throughout the middle. Using an icing spatula, smooth the buttercream evenly across. Repeat with the second layer.
Place the third cake bottom side up and cover the top and the sides of all three cakes with buttercream. Using the icing spatula or a decorating comb, smooth the icing around the sides and bottom.
If there is room in your freezer, place the cake on the turntable into the freezer and let rest until cold and the icing firm. Otherwise, place in your refrigerator ~ 1 to 2 hours.
Remove the cake and spread a second layer of icing around the sides and top. Smooth the icing. Carefully tilt the turntable about 45°. Shake the sprinkles over the bottom half of the cake. It should not create an even line. You may need to place the larger balls on to the cake manually.
Return the cake to the freezer (or refrigerator).
Make the Mirror Glaze
In a small bowl, mix together the gelatin and cold water. Set aside for 5 minutes, or until set.
In a large microwave safe bowl, whisk together the condensed milk, sugar, and water. Microwave for 3 minutes and whisk. Pour the mixture into a small sauce pan. Whisk in the gelatin mixture and cook over medium-high heat until it starts to boil (watch this carefully so it doesn’t boil over!).
Add the white chocolate chips, stirring occasionally until melted ~ about 5 to 10 minutes. (Again, watch this carefully so it doesn’t boil over!).
Stir in the bright green food coloring to the saucepan until it gives you a bright green that matches the sprinkles. Remove from the heat and let cool, stirring occasionally to help the temperature drop. Once the temperature drops below 90 degrees, remove the cake from the freezer.
Add in a squirt of dark green food coloring and stir the glaze until the dark green dye creates circled lines through the bright green glaze (do not thoroughly mix this! You probably only need to stir in a circle three to five times to get this effect).
Slowly pour the glaze over the top of the cake, slightly moving the pot back and forth to create a marbled effect. You may not need the whole batch of glaze. Pour until you have glaze dripping over the edges but with some of the purple buttercream still visible and the sprinkles partially exposed.
Place in the refrigerator until the glaze is firmly set ~ about 1 hour.
Slice and enjoy!
Keywords: Pumpkin Cake, Halloween Desserts, Halloween Dessert Ideas, Spooky Cake, Witch Desserts, Witch Cake, Maple Buttercream, Mirror Glaze