OH man, candy corn?! You either LOVE it or you well, don’t really care for it. And whether you do or don’t this cake will have you all dolled up and ready for Halloween. By using black buttercream, Halloween nonpareils, and a little border of candy corns, this cake is inspired by the cutesty side of Halloween, versus my creepy/gory ones I’ve shared already this year. It stars a few of my favorite cake decorating techniques, and I’m here today to share the directions for all of it!

 

This cake started off in a few different directions, but ended up coming together for something fun and cohesive. I started off with the idea of wanting sprinkle candy corns along the bottom of the cake, and in order to do that, you need a few things:

CANDY CORN BORDER:  

What You’ll Need: 

  • You’ll need white, orange, and yellow nonpareils. I found these at Michaels Craft Store, but you can also find them on the Wilton website.
  • Parchment paper and scissors. Oh, also the ability to cut out a candy corn shape! You can do it, I promise.
  • Black buttercream and a small Wilton circle piping tip or the border. My recipe for this is in my cookbook, Cake Confidence. 

Method: 

  1. Stack, fill, crumb coat, and frost your cake. I made this one a 3 layer 6″ round cake.
  2. With one long parchment paper the length of the circumference of your cake, pencil in (or use a stencil) and cut out candy corn shapes in a row. I ended up cutting out one, and then using it as a stencil for the other ones.
  3. Wrap the freshly-frosted cake with the parchment paper; making sure to line everything up along the bottom of the cake.
  4. Place cake onto a cookie sheet on your cake turntable. You do not want a sprinkle mess, and cookie sheets are lifesavers for not having to sweep up those little rolling devils later.
  5. With your hands, carefully add on the first color (okay, so I did orange, but the bottom color of your candy corns is actually yellow! Ahh! So, it’s up to you whether you want it to be ombre, or true to candy corn color order). Don’t fill in the entire candy corn shape cut out! You want to leave some room for the other stripes. Add on the next color, then the next.
  6. FREEZE the cake for at least 20 minutes. Then peel off the parchment paper. It should not stick if it has been chilled enough.
  7. With your black buttercream and circle tip, pipe a border around each candy corn. This step isn’t essential, but really makes the candy corns pop!
  8. That’s it! You have yourself a darling little candy corn border.

SPRINKLE DRIP: 

What You’ll Need: 

  • White, orange, and yellow nonpareils.
  • White Chocolate Ganache (my recipe is all over my website and especially in my cookbook).

Method:

  1. Add your drip to your cold cake. Place cake onto a cookie sheet to catch sprinkles in the next step.
  2. Let sit for a few minutes, and then add on your nonpareils with your finger to the drip. If your drip is ready for this step, then sprinkles should stick right onto the drip. If it’s too firm, dip your finger n a touch of water, then run it along the set drip, then press on the nonpareils. It takes a long time, but it’s worth it for that final look.
  3. That’s it! I wish I could say easy peasy, but dang, it takes a while to do sprinkle drips!

For the black buttercream crown on top of the cake, I used my black buttercream, and a Wilton 6B piping tip. Start by making a circle on top, then wrap the buttercream overlapping the last circle in a continuous motion (see video below if I’m confusing the heck out of you). The last overlap swirl is the hardest, because you want it to be uniform with the rest of the cake. Just tuck it under as best as you can, then add a couple extra sprinkles to hide the ending if necessary. 😉

That’s it! I pressed on a few black sphere sprinkles on the side of the cake, added a bat cake topper, and set the cake onto a cake stand I found at Michaels. I love how this cake explores the fun side of Halloween – more kid-friendly than my teeth one, eh? haha.

Here’s a video of the process:

Hope you’re having fun either making, eating, or planning out some fun Halloween cakes for this year! Can’t wait to see what you create. And as always, make sure to tag me, @bakingwithblondie, on Instagram so I can join in on all the cake fun.

xo,

Mandy