Pumpkin shaped cake with buttercream frosting and fondant accents.

Pumpkin shaped cake with buttercream frosting and fondant accents.

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 leaves 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).

But before you do all that, download this pattern and cut out the leaf patterns.

Cutting fondant leaves.

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.

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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

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.

The nest makes a great cake on it's own

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Dessert Pizza Cookie Cake

This has to be one of the easiest and most fun shaped cakes to make.  It’s great to create with children, and there’s very little chance of doing anything that can’t be fixed.  It incorporates both buttercream and fondant, but there are many variations that can be introduced.  Instead of buttercream cheese, grated white chocolate can be used.  A fruit pie glaze would work as tomato sauce instead of buttercream cookie frosting, and a variety of candies and cookies can be used as toppings.

To keep things simple for this recipe, a refrigerated sugar cookie dough was used.  You can use a cake mix instead; just keep in mind that you’re using a pizza pan with a much larger surface area and will need less cooking time for your cake.  For sugar cookie dough,  be sure that your dough is soft enough to easily spread across the entire pan using either your fingers or a spoon.  Bake the cookie at 350 degrees for about ten minutes, and you should end up with a nice edge that is high on the outside, looking very similar to pizza crust.

Next comes the fun part. After your cookie has cooled, use a cookie buttercream frosting in red to make tomato sauce. Let it firm, and then use buttercream (in a shade of ivory) coupled with a straight decorating tip to create strands of mozzarella cheese.

Buttercream Mozzarella Pizza Cheese

Pizza Cake Tomato Sauce

Let the buttercream cheese dry and form a crust (at least an hour) so that it will better hold its shape when you add your fondant meats and veggies. Color and cut out fondant pizza toppings (this pizza cake features black olives, pepperoni, green pepper, and onions), place them on the pizza, grab a pizza box from a local pizza place to use for presentation, and you’re done.

Fondant Pizza Toppings

Completed Pizza Cake

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A fresh batch of the Butteriest Buttercream Frosting.

This is the best buttercream frosting for people who love a rich and buttery tasting frosting (and for those who prefer a shortening-free frosting).

It’s a soft and creamy frosting that makes gentle peaks, spreads easily, and has a warm glow.

Added bonus? It’s super easy to make!

Ingredients

• 14 oz (3.5 “sticks”) room temperature butter
• 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 7 cups powdered sugar (approximately 2 pounds)*
• 6 tbsp milk

Directions

1. Thoroughly cream butter, vanilla, and one cup of powdered sugar.
2. Add one cup of powdered sugar and one tablespoon of milk. Beat thoroughly at medium speed.
3. Repeat step #2 until you have added all of the milk and powdered sugar.
4. Beat for an additional 5-7 minutes at medium speed.

Yield: Approximately five cups of frosting.

For flavor, this frosting recipe is my absolute favorite and always my first choice for dressing up a cake.

However, if your cake will be attending the company’s summer picnic and expected to stand up to a sunny day, you might prefer the Bright White Buttercream Frosting which substitutes shortening for part of the butter. The shortening makes for a stiffer and sturdier frosting, less prone to wilting in the summer heat.

*For a stiffer frosting add up to one and one-half cups additional powdered sugar (one half cup at a time) until you reach the desired consistency and flavor.

1/2 Batch

To make half a batch, follow the instructions above, but use the following list of ingredients

• 8 oz (2 “sticks”) room temperature butter
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3-4 cups powdered sugar (approximately 1 pound)
• 3-4 tbsp milk

Yield: Approximately three cups of frosting.

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A fresh batch of Bright White Buttercream Frosting.

Bright White Buttercream is a great decorating frosting with a heavenly taste.

This frosting has a lighter taste than the shortening free Butteriest Buttercream, spreads easily, and is stiff enough to form lovely peaks. An easy decorator frosting that’s great for novelty cakes.

Ingredients

• 8 oz (2 “sticks”) room temperature butter
• 1 cup shortening
• 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp clear vanilla extract
• 7 cups powdered sugar (approximately 2 pounds)
• 6 tbsp milk
• <1 drop blue liquid food coloring (optional)

Directions

(See below for addition of food coloring directions.)

1. In one bowl, thoroughly cream butter, shortening, and vanilla.
2. Add one cup of powdered sugar and one tablespoon of milk. Beat thoroughly at medium speed.
3. Repeat step #2 until you have added all of the milk and powdered sugar.
4. Beat for an additional 3-5 minutes at medium speed.

Yield: Approximately five cups of frosting.

The blue food coloring used for whitening icing.

First, the easy way to get “white white” frosting is to replace the eight ounces of butter in this recipe with one cup of shortening (and be sure to use clear vanilla extract). But if you want to keep the butter and the buttery taste, you’ll want to “neutralize” the yellow color of the butter.

Rather than starting a lengthy discussion on Color Theory, I’m just going to tell you that the secret to a bright white buttercream frosting is the tiniest bit of blue food coloring. If you want more information on the science behind why blue “neutralizes” the yellow of the butter, read this Wikipedia article, but if you just want white frosting without all the theory stay here and read on.

CAUTION! The first time you experiment with adding blue food coloring to white icing should not be at the same time you’re making an important last minute dessert that must be perfect — if you’re not careful, it’s easy to cross from “bright white” right into “pastel blue”.

For “whitening” an icing, my preferred food coloring is the liquid blue coloring (McCormick) available at most U.S. grocery stores. With more concentrated food colorings (like Wilton’s), it’s difficult to get a small enough amount to keep the icing white and not blue.

Whitening Buttercream Frosting During Preparation

1. Place one drop of blue food coloring in a measuring spoon (this makes it easier to control how much food coloring goes in the frosting).
2. At the point you add the third cup of powdered sugar to the mix, carefully tip the spoon with blue coloring and add the tiniest amount possible to your frosting. Do not worry if the icing turns blue.
3. Each time you stop to add another cup of powdered sugar, evaluate the color of the frosting. If the frosting appears yellow, again add the tiniest amount of blue you can manage. If the frosting doesn’t appear yellow, skip the coloring.
4. Once you’ve added all the powdered sugar, evaluate the color. If the frosting is still yellow, again tip the spoon, dispensing the smallest amount of blue possible. You should never need more than the initial drop of blue food coloring to whiten the amount of frosting in the above recipe. In fact, the odds are strong that you will not use the full drop.

And there you have it — a wonderful decorating frosting that is bright white and tastes great. Now get spreading!

If you prefer a shortening-free frosting, check out the Butteriest Buttercream Frosting Recipe.

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