Pumpkin Chocolate Halloween Cake
Make this pumpkin chocolate Halloween cake for your holiday celebration! With its spooky stripes and festive garnishes, it will be the hit of the party!
Ok so we are *nearly* mid-October (eep!) so I think it’s about time to start breaking out the Halloween desserts. Hooray!
What do you say we kick off the season with this spooky and fun Pumpkin Chocolate Halloween Cake!
What do you think? Alternating layers of spiced pumpkin cake and my most favorite moist chocolate cake, filled with silky vanilla buttercream and topped with a drippy dark chocolate glaze. Looks pretty impressive huh? I bet this would make a big splash at a party!
Real talk: sometimes just the thought of making a layer cake gets me all sweaty. I know! What is my problem?? I make desserts all the dang time, layer cakes should be a breeze for me. I can’t explain it, but I often get stressed just at the thought of it.
Well, this one was really pretty siimple. True, there are a lot of components, but you can make almost all of them ahead, and the decorations guarantee that this cake will be an absolute stunner. With minimal effort! It’s as easy as scattering on some store-bought Halloween candy.
I baked the layers on day one, made the frosting, assembled, glazed, and decorated it on day two. And still had time to snap all the pics before the sun went down (which is happening way too early these days, btw).
In fact, I really think it helps a lot if the cake layers have a night in the fridge. Somehow, the cake holds together better, is less crumb-y, and seems to become more moist as it chills. Just wrap them up tightly with plastic wrap so they don’t dry out.
How do you like the “naked cake” look? Where the frosting on the sides of the cake is really thin, and you can see the layers peeking through? I think it’s cool, especially when the cake is kinda different and eye-catching, with alternating black and orange stripes.
As for the garnishes, they really make the whole presentation. The tall, witch-pumpkin thing is a gummy lollipop I found at my local supermarket. The ghosts are marshmallow peeps, stuck onto bamboo skewers. Candy corn and mello-creme pumpkins are scattered around the one side, and chopped Oreos and festive sprinkles fill in. It’s super simple and gives such a fun look to this pumpkin chocolate Halloween cake.
If you have a Halloween party coming up I really think this cake would be a perfect addition to the table!
Check out this page for lots more fun Halloween dessert ideas!
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Pumpkin Chocolate Halloween Cake
Ingredients
For the pumpkin layers
- 1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cups (66.67 g) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar,, packed
- 1/2 teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) salt
- 1/2 teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon (0.13 teaspoon) ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon (0.13 teaspoon) ground ginger
- 6 tablespoons (88.72 g) unsalted butter,, softened
- 2 eggs,, large
- 1/3 cup (81.67 g) pumpkin puree
- 3 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the chocolate layers
- 3/4 cups (150 g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (62.5 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup (31.25 g) cake flour
- 1/2 cup (43 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3/4 teaspoons (0.75 teaspoons) baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) kosher salt
- 1/2 cup (115.77 g) unsalted butter, (1 stick), softened
- 2 eggs,, large
- 1/2 cup (100 g) plain Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the filling/toppings
- 6 egg whites
- 2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar
- 2 cups (5.45 kg) unsalted butter, (4 sticks), softened
- 2 1/2 teaspoons (2.5 teaspoons) vanilla extract,, divided
- 1/4 cup (59.5 g) heavy cream
- 2 ounces (56.7 g) bittersweet chocolate,, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons dark corn syrup
- Garnishes: , gummy pops, marshmallow ghosts, mello-creme pumpkins, candy corn, chopped Oreo minis, and sprinkles.
Instructions
To make the pumpkin layers:
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- Generously mist two 8-inch diameter cake pans with non-stick spray, and line with circles cut from parchment paper.
- Place the flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices in a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine.
- Add the soft butter, and mix on low speed until the mixture resembles wet sand.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula after each addition.
- Add the pumpkin, Greek yogurt, and vanilla, and mix on medium-low speed for about 90 seconds, to aerate the batter and develop the cake's structure.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the thickest part of the cake comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- Cool completely, then fill and frost with vanilla buttercream.
To make the chocolate layers:
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- Generously mist two 8-inch diameter cake pans with non-stick spray, and line with circles cut from parchment paper.
- Place the sugar, flours, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl, and whisk to combine.
- Cut the butter into smaller pieces and add it to the dry ingredients.
- Mix on low speed until the mixture resembles damp sand (30 seconds to a minute).
- Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula after each addition.
- When all of the eggs are fully incorporated, add the Greek yogurt and vanilla, and beat on medium speed for about 60 to 90 seconds, to aerate the batter and strengthen the cake's structure.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans, and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the thickest part of the cake comes out clean or with one or two moist crumbs.
- Cool completely, then fill and frost with vanilla buttercream.
For the frosting:
- Place the egg whites and sugar in a large mixing bowl set over a pot of simmering water.
- Cook, whisking occasionally, until the mixture is smooth, thin, and translucent, and it no longer feels gritty when rubbed between the thumb and forefinger.
- Remove the bowl from the heat and whisk on medium-high speed until fluffy and stiff, and no hint of warmth remains when you place your hand on the side of the bowl.
- Add the butter, a tablespoon at a time, whipping after each addition. (If the mixture seems runny, place it in the refrigerator for 10 to 20 minutes, then re-whip.)
- When all the butter has been added and the mixture is fluffy and spreadable, stir in 2 teaspoons of the vanilla extract.
For the topping:
- Place the cream in a large liquid measuring cup.
- Add the chocolate and corn syrup, and microwave on high for 15 second intervals, stirring, until smooth.
- Stir in the remaining vanilla extract, and pour the glaze over the top of the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides.
- Garnish with gummy pops, marshmallow ghosts, mello-creme pumpkins, candy corn, chopped Oreo minis, and sprinkles.
I only have 9inch and 7 inch pans. Should I just go with 7 and be taller or double it for 9inch?
That’s entirely up to you! Just be aware that the bake times may need to be adjusted slightly. Good luck and enjoy!
How high/tall is each layer?
I made this back in 2016 so I’m guesstimating here, just based on what I see in the photos… I would say around 1-inch? Maybe slightly more or less?
Hi! would I be able to make this cake ahead of time? like maybe the day before?
Yes absolutely!
This looks so perfect! I definitely want to try this. I am not the best with making and decorating cakes so I know it won’t look as good as yours, but that is ok tho. It will still taste good I am sure even if I make a big mess haha 🙂
I’m sure it will be awesome! Good luck and enjoy 🙂
Feel like I’m doing something wrong with the pumpkin cake layers….they don’t rise. Quite flat. Tried them twice with same results. Chocolate not much better but not quite so pancake looking.
Hey Martha! I’m so sorry you’re having trouble. Are your layers baking up flatter than what you see in the pics? I did design the layers to be on the thinner side, since it’s a 4-layer cake and I didn’t want it to be too tall and wobbly. One tip I would give is to try straining your pumpkin puree before adding in to the cake batter. Sometimes pumpkin puree can be very wet and heavy, and that can prevent your bakes from rising properly. I hope this is helpful!
I’m in the process of making this tonight (or at least the cakes, to frost tomorrow) and wanted to share a couple of things and errors in the recipe as its written. I’m making this cake to donate to a bake sale for a school event.
First, I read the comments about the pumpkin layers being thin so I doubled just those layers. And I thought it was crazy because even doubled and evenly divided (I weighed them as I filled the cake pans so they were almost 50/50 exactly, within a few grams), they are just barely an inch high! On the upside, they are SUPER flat – make sure you tap the pans on the counter to even the batter out, because it’s thick and so it will not spread like a more fluid batter, so those weird imperfections will probably be evident but its being frosted so who cares. These are probably the flattest cakes I’ve ever made – I don’t even think I will have to trim them, much to the dismay of the rest of the household who is used to being able to eat cake trimmings.
I was slightly disturbed when I weighed out the chocolate layers…. the pumpkin layers came out to something like 550g each (I can’t recall exactly but it was in the 500’s) so when I weighed the chocolate layers, I freaked out a little bit internally when they were only around 320g each. Maybe I should have doubled those too?! But it was too late.
That being said, the chocolate layers are still in the oven but they appear that they will come out fine?! Baking chemistry is weird… oh well, moving along.
– In the pumpkin layer directions, it specifies baking soda as an ingredient but does not mention it in the directions. I thought maybe that was why so many people had short pumpkin layers but I’m positive I added it so I don’t think so.
– I had to bake it for 25 minutes, but that was probably because I doubled it and it was thus thicker.
– When reading the ‘Fillings/Toppings’ part, it’s confusing and I can see how another commentor was confused. This section appears to be both making a frosting for filling/frosting AND also making the glaze. But the two components are not separated in any way. Its like it just says mix all this stuff together and then suddenly you’re making the glaze. So it appears that you are just making one thing. I spent quite awhile looking for a decent vanilla buttercream frosting before realizing there was one already included with the recipe.
– I wish that the recipe didn’t specify so many times to specifically use a 8×3″ pan, because I actually went out and bought 2 of them (I only had 8×2″) thinking that the ones I had would be too short 🙁 And I totally did not need to.
Anyways, those were my observations! I wish that I had some trimming to do so I could taste it since it is being donated and I won’t get to eat it 🙁 The chocolate batter tasted absolutely divine so I will have to make that one again soon!
Thanks so much for the feedback!