There are many way to make a homemade sheet cake into an attractive and festive one for Halloween. The first thing to consider is the shapes and size of the pans you have. Most of us will own the usual 9” x 13” baking pan and a couple of round cake pans to make a layer cake.
The next thing to consider is how many people you will need to feed if you are having a party, or are contributing to a Halloween potluck or buffet.
In this series of articles, we will teach you how to make a fast and easy Tombstone Cake and a Pumpkin Cake.
Tombstone Cake
A 9” x 13” sized cake can serve at least 12 people, more if you cut into smaller slices rather than squares or rectangles. Make a tombstone cake by positioning the cake on a board that you can use to transport the cake. Hold it so that the shorter edge of the cake is nearest you. With a sharp knife, cut off the top left corner of the cake, working from the center downward in a curve, to create the first curved edge of the top of the tombstone. Repeat with the right corner. Save the cake wedges for more yummy treats later.
Using pure white frosting, frost the cake. Using icing gel in black or blue, write on your tombstone. You can put the initials R.I.P for Rest in Peace to make it look like a gravestone. Or you can write a Halloween sentiment like “Happy Halloween” in ‘spooky’ looking or spidery letters. You can also add a cobweb to one corner of the tombstone, on the top or bottom, using the icing gel, complete with a small spider if you really want to get into the ‘spirit’ of Halloween.
You can also use some of the gel to outline fingers and nails for a hand coming up out of the grave on the bottom of the tombstone cake. Coconut dyed green and some chocolate sprinkles will work well as ‘grass’ and ‘dirt’ for the bottom edge of the tombstone to add to the spooky effect of the hand coming out of the ground.
You can make the hand a little pink or even green with one drop of food coloring added to the white frosting. Create the frosting fingers by placing them in your desired area. Outline them with the gel. You can aim for a scary effect or a funny one. You might want to try the new Neon food colors from McCormick for a ghastly glow in the dark green. Just use one drop to start with. You can always add more if you have to, but it is impossible to remove it if your color ends up too dark.
In the next section of this article, we will look at how to make a fast and easy pumpkin face cake.
Further Reading:
Halloween Magic Even on a Budget: Halloween Activities, Costumes, Crafts and Recipes
How to Save Money This Holiday Season
How to Create Great Holiday Decorations for Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween and More
How To Create A Loving Thanksgiving Celebration for the Whole Family
Planning for and Preparing a Stress-Free Thanksgiving At Home
Planning For and Preparing a Stress-Free Christmas At Home
Fast and Fun Christmas Recipes
How to Create a Loving Christmas Celebration for the Whole Family
