Pumpkin shaped cake with all buttercream frosting.
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I’m primarily a buttercream broad, but when I was designing the Dr. Horrible Party Cakes, I knew I was going to be using a lot of fondant.
I decided a pumpkin-shaped cake would be an excellent place to experiment with shaping fondant — it’s easy enough to make a lovely pumpkin cake with just buttercream frosting, but fondant is a great way to add some pumpkin leaf and curly vine details.
If I had it all to do over again, I would have rolled the fondant quite a bit thinner and I would have added some painted details to the leaves with liquid food coloring (a process I used a lot on the goggles cake).
But for a primarily buttercream broad, I was pretty satisfied with the pumpkin’s fondant accents.
Pumpkin Shaped Cake Supplies
Enough batter for three cakes (3 standard box mixes)
Buttercream Frosting (enough for approximately 3 cakes)
Fondant
Wilton’s Gel Food Coloring: Green, Orange, Yellow, Royal Blue (the Yellow and Royal Blue are optional colors)
Pumpkin Leaf Pattern
Toothpicks
Specialty Pans: Bundt Pan
Using the bundt pan in ways it was not intended.
The foundation of the pumpkin-shaped cake is almost always the bundt pan. The contemporary bundt pan was originally designed for baking “bundkuchen”, a type of German coffee cake. Today the bundt pan is used for baking just about any type of cake — even pumpkin.
For the pumpkin cake, bake two bundt cakes. The size of your bundt pan will determine just how much batter is needed, but for the average pan, one box mix will do. Bake time will be considerably longer than when baking two layers from one box — close to twice as long, but start checking the cake early and make sure not to over-bake.
When I started this cake, I thought two bundt cakes were the answer for the perfect pumpkin shape.
I was wrong.
In order to keep the cake from collapsing, I knew I was going to use this stacking method and when I put the cake together, well… just look at the pics:
Looking for the perfect pumpkin cake shape.
The first picture is of two bundt cakes stacked on top of each other. I like the curved edges on the top and on the bottom, but the curves in the middle are not making me happy.
So I leveled off what would traditionally be the “bottom” of each bundt cake and put the cake back together — and that’s the second image.
I now had a more traditional pumpkin-shaped cake — a very short, kind of flat, pumpkin-shaped cake.
And this is when the third box mix comes into play. I baked two 9″ layers (the size should match the size of your bundt pan). One would be used for the stem of the pumpkin and one would be the middle layer of the pumpkin cake — and that’s the third picture.
Now that I had a shape I was happy with, it was time for the frosting.
Tip: I use disposable chopsticks as my primary source of “dowels” for stacking cakes — not your good chopsticks, but those cheapo break apart ones that always accompany takeout and splinter your lips.
Smooth buttercream frosting.
If you squeeze one batch of buttercream frosting, you can frost this entire cake, but if you apply frosting with a pastry bag and frosting tip (which tends to put the frosting on thicker), you might need 1.5 batches.
Before you add the orange coloring, set aside 1/2 cup of frosting (this will be the frosting for the stem).
I colored the frosting with Wilton’s Orange gel coloring, but because I wanted a more natural orange (and not cartoon orange), I added a tiny amount of Royal Blue. This just dulls down the orange and is a completely optional step. Once the cake is frosted, use the paper towel method to smooth the frosting.
Making grooved on side of the pumpkin cake.
Allow the smoothed frosting to “rest” for 10-15 minutes.
Place a paper towel on the frosting and gently drag the back of your finger along the cake to make the grooves of the pumpkin.
Stem made from cut out cakes circles.
Using a cookie/fondant cutter, cut circles of cake from the second 9″ layer of cake. Stack those layers (you’ll likely need to use toothpicks to stabilize the stack) and carve to your satisfaction. Make sure you don’t carve the stack so skinny that it will fall through the hole in the center of the top bundt cake.
Get the frosting you set aside earlier and color with Wilton Gel coloring (I used Kelly green). Frost the stem and then place the stem in the center of the cake — use toothpicks to hold the stem in place. Drag the tines of a standard dinner fork through the frosting to make it rough.
Pumpkin shaped cake with all buttercream frosting.
For you buttercream freaks, your work here is done! If you want some fondant extras, continue reading.
Download the pumpkin leaf pattern PDF
If you’re new to fondant, you can either purchase “rolled fondant” (ready-to-use) or make Pix’s Marshmallow fondant. They’re similar to work with, but Pix’s is reportedly yummy. Most ready-to-use fondant is… an acquired taste.
I say Pix’s is “reportedly yummy” because I’m a fondant weenie and I bought ready-to-use.
Once you have the fondant of your choice, color it green with Wilton’s Gel Coloring (check Pix’s tutorial on Coloring Fondant).
Use the downloaded leaf patterns to create the green fondant leaves.
Fondant leaves draped over plastic containers.
To give the fondant leaves some interest, drape them over small plastic containers or bowls or whatever else you have in the kitchen that seems suitable. I used a mixture of plastic containers and chopsticks.
Fondant snakes wrapped around chopsticks.
For the pumpkin vines, roll out some snakes of fondant. I wanted some variety, so I added some Golden Yellow in varying amounts to little bits of the already green fondant. Once you have the snakes, wrap them around chopsticks, lolly sticks, or the round handle of a wooden spoon. Allow the fondant to dry for approximately 30 minutes.
Vine curls removed from chopsticks and shaped.
Once the vines have dried (but aren’t completely hardened), slide them off the chopsticks and stretch them out. You can also “bend” them so that they will fall more gracefully along the sides of the pumpkin. Allow the fondant to harden fully. If you try to drape the curls on the pumpkin too soon, the weight of the dangling fondant will stretch out the curls completely and/or cause the curls to break.
Pumpkin shaped cake with buttercream frosting and fondant accents.
Once all of your fondant pieces have dried, attach them to the cake. For the curls, I just stuck one end in the buttercream. For the leaves, I just placed them on the pumpkin and allowed them to rest naturally against the stem and sides of the pumpkin.
This is a super fast cake. I decorated it in 30 minutes. Most people decorate log cakes for Yule cakes during the Christmas season and while it’s wonderful to celebrate Winter with this cake I thought it would also be great to celebrate new life,spring time and Easter with it. Why not make one every equinox?
Log with branch
Take store bought log cake (could use a jellyroll or chocolate like I have here) roll over and slice off about 1/6th of the bottom.
Cut bottom of cake
Cut this piece in half vertically and place on top of each other to form another branch.
Place slice to make branch
Cut a slight diagonal off one end of the branch so it fits snug against the branch and juts out like a branch
Cut a slight diagonal off one end of the log
Chocolate buttercream icing recipe
60 grams of butter at room temperature
1 tbls of milk
1 ¼ cups of chocolate icing sugar (powdered sugar)-sifted
Here in Australia this comes already mixed. If you need to make it up yourself try using 1 cup icing sugar (powdered sugar) and ¼ cup of cocoa –sifted together
Either place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until combined and fluffy, or beat with a wooden spoon to combine then finish with electric whisk.
A more luxury version of buttercream frosting can be found here but use perhaps only half the recipe
Cover with chocolate buttercream icing.
Add chocolate buttercream
Use a nice thick coating
Use a fork to mark out bark like lines on the cake.
Use fork to make bark marks
Birds nest
Melt chocolate in a bowl and break into it “Shredded wheat” type cereal and mix together well.
Shredded wheat cereal
You can use cocoa pops , rice crispies/bubbles etc or other cereal. I just use shredded wheat because it looks more like twigs.
Grease the inside of a ramekin, bowl or mug and form a nest shape in the base. Make sure the base is nice and thick.
Form nest in dish or ramekin
Then put it in the freezer for 10 minutes to speedily set.
Remove nest from container (you may need to stand the container in warm water for 20-30 seconds to help loosen it and perhaps run a knife along the top)
Place the nest in between both branches. I raised mine a little by using the thin wedge I had sliced of in the beginning underneath.
Place nest in between branches
Add candy and/or chocolate eggs to the nest.
Place eggs in nest
I added a “Happy Easter” message from pre-prepared icing letters and a new growth “twig” made from Curly Wurly and a couple of new leaves made from jellies. For those in the US you could pick up a curly wurly up from a British goods shop or use a flake.
The finished Easter cake-log with nest
Of course this cake was put together with speed in mind and it’s totally up to you how much time you would like to put into the decorations.
As suggestions you could add alcohol or flavouring to the cake and/or the icing. Sprinkle some coconut coloured with green food colouring around the base of the cake. Add flowers.
There we have the easy, very fast Easter cake (or spring cake )in around half an hour.
The birds nests we made make fantastic Easter gifts. Make in muffin or fairycake (cupcake) cases. Add a chick and break open one of the eggs. Great fun for kid’s and incredibly easy.
One pattern makes both of these MOM cakes. Kids can help make these cakes perfect for Mom's birthday or a fabulous Mother's Day Celebration.
These two cakes were designed for the dads and kids who don’t know a lot about baking or decorating cakes, but who want to make a special cake for Mother’s Day or mom’s birthday.
The first cake is super easy, decorated right in the pan with a simple Cool Whip frosting, and topped off with children’s cereal or mom’s favorite colorful candy. The second cake is a bit more work, but older kids will have fun with the buttercream frosting and sugar pressed decorations.
MOM Cake Supplies
13″ x 9″ pan
One box mix cake (plus required ingredients listed on the back of box — usually eggs and oil or butter)
Assorted “sprinkles” for decoration (found in the “baking supplies” aisle of most grocery stores)
Super-Easy MOM Cake Instructions
MOM pan cake.
Super-easy (and just a little bit messy), Mom will love this cake prepared by Dad and the little ones.
Make sure you have all the supplies listed above (including the downloadable cake pattern) and start by baking your cake. While the cake is baking, prepare the pudding and place it in the refrigerator. Once the cake is baked and cooled (make sure it has cooled), the fun starts.
Place paper pattern on top of cake.
Print out the downloadable cake pattern and cut out the grey shapes — if the kids are old enough to be trusted with scissors, this is a great task for them. Once all the pieces are cut out, place them on the cake as shown. It’s easier to get the correct placement if you first measure the cake and lightly mark three equal sections (the three letters) on the cake.
Score MOM pattern in cake.
Following the patterns, use a sharp knife to score the cake — cut about half-way into the cake (precision is not important).
Remove a layer of cake from scored areas.
Use a fork to “flake out” the cake in the areas previously covered by the pattern. Remove about half the cake in each pattern piece. If you remove too much, don’t worry — just stuff some cake back in the hole.
Frost cake while still in the pan.
In large bowl, fold (gently mix) pudding with thawed Cool Whip. Once mixed, spread the frosting over the entire cake (still in the pan). This is a fun step for the kids to do. Don’t worry about “messy” or about filling up the holes you just made — it’s easier to remove some frosting than to avoid the holes while frosting.
Once frosted, refrigerate the cake for twenty minutes.
Once the cake is chilled, use a spoon to scoop out any excess frosting that filled in the holes.
MOM pan cake.
Fill the holes with colored cereal or candies. The cake is easier to “read” if you only use one or two colors for filling. Sorting the cereal or candies is a great “helper task” for little hands. Use the same decorations to make two “lines” separating the letters.
This cake is naturally “messy” and won’t look like it came from a professional bakery. But Mom will know it was baked and decorated by the ones she loves — and that makes it perfect.
Easy Buttercream MOM Cake Instructions
Cut out Mom cake.
This cake starts with the same pattern as the Super-easy cake, but it takes a bit more effort to get the spruced up look.
If you want to use Pressed Sugar Decorations, it’s best to prepare these ahead of time to give them time to dry (the yellow stars on the pictured cake are pressed sugar). These decorations are a great project for kids: they look great, they’re simple to make, and require getting your hands covered in colored sugar — what could be better?
Or, for an easier decoration, pick up an assortment of candies to put on the cake. Less messy fun, but easier to do last minute.
Start by baking your cake mix in a 13″x9″ cake pan. Once baked, allow the cake to cool for ten minutes and then remove it from the pan. Allow cake to finish cooling.
Canned Frosting: if you go this route, I recommend on of the “whipped” frostings. They’re easier to spread and that’s important when you’re frosting a cake that has been cut up. Plan on using a minimum of two cans of frosting.
“Cool Whip” frosting: read the recipe above in the Super-easy cake instructions. Please note, this is the messiest option and will not make for a “tidy” finished cake. However, if you go the Cool Whip frosting route you can also use liquid food coloring (available in most grocery stores) to color the frosting.
Once you’ve frosted the cake, decorate it with pressed sugar decorations and lots of sprinkles (this is the easy part and a great job to hand over to the kids). Be sure to get lots of sprinkles on the serving plate around the cake.
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