Skip Pumpkin Carving and Bake a (Tastier) Jack-o’-Lantern Cake

The trick to making this super-fun fall holiday pumpkin-shaped cake? A Bundt pan or two! Flip a Bundt cake upside down and put another on top of it, and you're halfway to a perfect pumpkin.

A simple cake cone makes a nice stem—and a bit of black fondant is easily cut into the "carved" eyes and mouth. (We even have a template to help.)

Voila! You have a centerpiece dessert worthy of showing off at any Halloween party. Now all you have to do is decorate and find a costume.

Yields: 14-16 servings

Prep Time: 1 hour 30 mins

Total Time: 2 hours 15 mins

Ingredients

For the Cake:

• Baking spray

• 4 1/2 c.

  all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled

• 1 tbsp.

  plus 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/2 tsp.

  baking soda

• 2 tsp.

  pumpkin pie spice

• 1 tsp.

  kosher salt

• 2 1/4 c.

  granulated sugar

• 5

  large eggs

• 1 c.

  canola oil

• 1

  (15-oz) can pumpkin puree

• 1 tsp.

  pure vanilla extract

• 2 c.

  whole milk

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1

  (8-oz) package cream cheese, at room temperature

• 1/2 c.

  (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

• 1 tsp.

  pure vanilla extract

• 6 c.

  confectioners’ sugar

• Orange food coloring

• Cake cone (for stem)

• Black fondant for face (template here)

Directions

1. Make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat two 10-cup Bundt pans with baking spray. (If you only have one Bundt pan, bake one cake at a time.) Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and sugar in a bowl. Whisk together eggs, oil, pumpkin puree, vanilla, and milk in a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined.

2. Transfer batter to prepared pans, dividing evenly (about 4 cups per pan). Bake, until tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean, 45 to 55 minutes. Cool in pans on a wire rack, 15 minutes, then turn out onto the rack and cool completely.

3. Make the Cream Cheese Frosting: Beat cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and creamy, about 1 minute. Beat in vanilla and confectioners’ sugar. Beat for 1 minute. Add a few drops of orange food coloring and beat until evenly distributed.

4. Place one Bundt cake, flat side up, on a cake plate or stand. Spread a thin layer of frosting on top. Top with the second Bundt cake, right side up. Frost cake. Run the tip of a large offset spatula over the frosting, starting at the top of the cake and going all the way down to the bottom, to create the pumpkin ridges.

5. Place the ice-cream cone, bottom side up, in the hole in the top of the cake. Roll out black fondant and cut out a jack-o'-lantern face. (You can use this template to help.) Place the face on the side of the cake and serve immediately. (If you want to make the cake in advance, add the face just before serving.) Store, loosely covered with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days.

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