Introducing the Haunted Village Cake! It’s a spooktacular two-tier centerpiece for your Halloween celebration. Made of Halloween confetti cake, it’s decorated with a landscape of haunted house sugar cookies.
Spooky season is here, and I wanted to make something extra-special for the occasion! This Haunted Village Cake is definitely a project, but it’s also really fun to put together. As I was planning the design and sketching out the specifics, it reminded me of when I was a kid – I loved drawing haunted houses! Adding all the details was so much fun, and it was really neat to think about what kind of eerie creatures lived there. So I’d fill in windows with spooky cats, bats, ghosts and monsters. I’d always draw a witch on a broom flying over the rooftop.
This two-tiered confection is a true homage to that memory. It’s made of funfetti cake, with confetti sprinkles in Halloween hues and colorful swirls of batter hidden within. It’s decorated with frosted sugar cookie haunted houses – each one with a resident specter or spooky inhabitant!
The cake batter.
First, whip up a large batch of my favorite WASC cake. It takes on food color beautifully because of its pure white base – it’s also super moist and tasty! Remove one cup of batter to each of three bowls. Tint each bowl a different Halloween color. I used neon green, purple, and orange. Set these aside for a moment.
Funfetti batter.
Add Halloween confetti sprinkles to the remaining plain white batter. Fold it in until all the sprinkles are well dispersed throughout. You can usually find this mix at most US grocery stores and craft stores in the seasonal/baking aisle, or you can buy them in bulk (like I do!) right here.
Swirl in some color.
Next, divide the funfetti batter between greased cake pans. You’ll need four 8-inch round cake pans and three 6-inch pans. Place a spoonful of each colorful batter into each pan and swirl with a butter knife. Next, bake them until well puffed and a toothpick tester comes out clean when inserted in their centers.
Level the cakes and frost.
The cakes will puff slightly in the centers. So, level them in order to have stackable tiers. You can save the scraps for cake pops, or just eat ’em! Whip up some confectioners’ neon purple buttercream, fill and frost the cake. Use a bench scraper or cake smoother to make the edges as smooth and neat as possible. Because next, we’ll add a spooky stenciled tree motif to the sides of the cake!
How to stencil a cake.
I had this 6×6 tree stencil on hand from a previous cake project, and decided it would create the perfect backdrop for a haunted neighborhood. This stencil is not made for cakes specifically, but it works well enough. However, if you don’t want to buy the stencil, you could just pipe on some branches with some black or chocolate buttercream.
Chill the cake well before applying the stencil. You’ll hold the flexible stencil against the cake with one hand, and with your dominant hand you’ll spread black buttercream over the stencil opening. Next, scrape away the excess black buttercream and carefully peel away the stencil. You need to chill between each ‘tree’ application before adding the next to set the image. Only stencil the bottom 8-inch cake tier.
Make the haunted house cookies.
The sugar cookie recipe is my old standby, from the Sprinkle Bakes cookbook. It’s a buttery cookie that holds its shape well during baking. Instead of buying another set of cookie cutters (my collection runneth over) I decided to make some templates – and you can too! Just print this template on some cardstock at 100% size and cut them out. Chilled, the dough handles really easily and cuts cleanly. Use your sharpest small paring knife or I recommend using a kitchen-dedicated X-acto knife to cut around the templates and into the dough. Alternatively, you can buy some haunted house cookie cutters right here and here.
I didn’t get too fancy or complex with the frosting of these cookies, because there’s a lot going on already with the stencil. However, I did use some mini fondant cutters to make windows and doors. Cover each cookie with a different color of flood royal icing and let them dry completely. It’s up to you whether you make all of the dough into cookies, or just enough cookies to decorate the cake. However, if you’re having a Halloween party, some extra cookies on a platter near the cake will look nice!
Chocolate wafer ghosts, bats, cats, and skeletons!
The Halloween mold I used was purchased years ago (in 2016!) for an Etsy Journal project (see here), so of course – it is no longer available. But there are so many other cute ones for purchase now, such as this one) that will work well with this project. I may have to add them to my collection!
Simply melt chocolate wafers, pour into the molds, and freeze them. Then pop them out and use a little royal icing to affix them to the haunted house cookies. Now, the house cookies are ready to decorate the cake!
Tah-dah! The Haunted Village Cake! (Which is also a bit inspired by THIS Gingerbread Village Cake I made for Food Network.)
Choose your slice.
This cake will serve a crowd for sure, but it’s not as huge in real life as you might expect! Don’t let the double tiers intimidate you – it’s pretty easy to put together. It’s a moist cake but sturdy enough that I didn’t have to use a dowel to anchor the tiers together. However, you should totally dowel it if it has to travel.
Each slice reveals a different swirl of colors. So party-perfect – really fun to share!
You can serve your Haunted Village Cake in classic wedge-shaped slices, or as pictured above. Which is more like wedding cake-size slices. Cutting it this way will make the cake go further if you have a lot of people to serve. Instead of wedge-shaped pieces, you’ll cut a cake tier into 2-inch rectangles, then cut the rectangles into pieces. I wish I had a better illustration, but you can find template guide near the end of this (very long) post.
Here’s an affiliate link to an easily shoppable picture of the cake, which has most everything I used for its creation and decoration. As I mentioned earlier, the exact candy mold is no longer available, but there are two very similar mold options at the link that I’d love to have in my collection!
Happy Haunting!
Related recipe: Giant Stained Glass Spider Web Cookie
Haunted Village Cake (Halloween Confetti Cake)
Equipment
- 8-inch cake board
- Haunted house cookie cutters or template linked in the blog post
Ingredients
White confetti cake layers
- 2 boxes white cake mix 16.25 oz. each
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 2 cups sour cream
- 2 cups water
- 6 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- Neon orange gel food color
- Neon green gel food color
- Neon purple gel food color
- 3/4 cup confetti sprinkles in Halloween hues
Purple buttercream and black stencil
- 2 cups unsalted butter softened
- 8 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Milk or cream to thin
- Super black gel food color
- Neon purple gel food color
Sugar cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 pinch salt
Royal icing and decors
- 4 cups confectioners’ sugar sifted
- 3 tablespoons meringue powder sifted
- 1/4 cup water plus more for thinning
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- Super black gel food color
- Neon orange gel food color
- Neon green gel food color
- 12 oz. white candy melts
- 12 oz. black candy melts
- 12 oz. orange candy melts
- 6 oz. green candy melts
- Spider sprinkles
- Bone candies
Instructions
White confetti cake layers
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat three 6-inch round cake pans and four 8-inch round cake pans with flour-based baking spray. Set aside.
- Sift together the first 4 ingredients into the bowl of an electric mixer and whisk to combine.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the sour cream, water, eggs and extracts. With the mixer running on low speed, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Scrape the bowl down and mix again.
- When the batter is consistent, remove 1 cup of batter to each of 3 bowls. To one bowl add neon orange food color. Mix, and add more as needed to achieve a vibrant orange hue. Repeat the process with the neon green and purple food colors. Set the three bowls aside.
- To the remaining batter, fold in the confetti sprinkles. Divide the confetti batter evenly between the prepared pans, 1 cup per 6-inch pan, and about 1 1/2+ cups per 8-inch pan. Next, add spoonsful of each colorful batter to each pan and swirl the batters together with a butter knife or skewer.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes for the 8-inch pans, and 20-25 minutes for the 5-inch pans. – or until the cake springs back in the center when pressed. Remove the cakes from the pans to wire cooling racks. Cool completely. Level each cake using a cake leveler. (Save the cake scraps for cake pops or just eat them!)
Purple buttercream and black stencil
- In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, mix together the butter and confectioners’ sugar. Begin on low speed until crumbly, and then increase to high and beat for 3 minutes.
- Add vanilla and beat again for another minute. Add milk or cream a little at a time until the mixture is spreading consistency. Beat until light and fluffy.
- Remove 1/2 cup of the frosting to a small bowl. Mix in 1 teaspoon of super black food color and mix well. Add more food color if needed to achieve a consistent black color. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and set aside.
- To the remaining bowl of frosting, add 1 tablespoon of neon purple food color. Mix well until a brilliant shade of purple is achieved. Add more food color if needed to deepen the hue.
- Place a dot of frosting on an 8-inch round cake board. Place an 8-inch cake layer on top. Cover with a thin layer of purple buttercream. Repeat step with the next three cake layers. Spread an even thin crumb coat layer of frosting over the cake and refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes. Add a second, thicker layer of frosting to the cake and smooth evenly using a bench scraper or cake smoother. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
- Place a dot of frosting on a 6-inch cake board; top with a 6 inch cake layer. Fill and frost as previously instructed with the 8-inch tier – repeating the crumb coat layer and final smooth layer. Refrigerate until firm, 30 minutes. Reserve any leftover buttercream in an airtight container.
Stencil the cake
- When the 8-inch tier is firm, remove it from the refrigerator. Hold the flexible stencil flat against one side of the cake with one hand, while you spread on the reserved black frosting using an offset spatula with the other hand. Scrape away the excess black frosting using a bench scraper and gently peel off the stencil to reveal the branch design. Refrigerate the cake until the stenciled area is set, about 5 minutes. Repeat the process around the rest of the cake (about 4 stenciled areas total). Store both tiers in the refrigerator uncovered while you prepare the sugar cookie decors.
Sugar cookies
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter and sugar together until just incorporated. Do not over-mix at this stage, or the cookies may spread while baking. Add the egg and vanilla extract. Mix again on low speed, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl intermittently as needed.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Add to the butter and egg mixture. Mix on lows peed until a dough is formed and there are no longer any streaks of butter in the mixing bowl. The dough will often clump around the paddle attachment while being mixed. This is normal and a good sign that your dough is the right consistency. If your mixture does not come together and is crumbly, add ice cold water 1 tbsp. at a time until the dough clumps.
- Roll the dough flat between sheets of parchment paper and chill until ready for use, at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Use haunted house motif cookie cutters to stamp shapes from the dough (or use the provided template linked in the blog post). Transfer them to the prepared pans. Use mini fondant cutters to cut out windows and doors. Chill the shapes in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Bake cookies for 12-15 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly brown on the edges. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Re-roll scraps and repeat process.
- Allow all the cookies to cool completely before icing.
Royal icing and decors
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, sift in the confectioners’ sugar and meringue powder; whisk on low speed until combined. Add the water and beat on medium-high speed until thickened and pure white. Mix in the flavoring. Scrape down the bowl and beat again. Divide the frosting into three bowls and cover them with damp paper towels. Tint one bowl with black gel food color and mix until a dark black color is achieved. Stir neon orange food color into a second bowl until a bright orange color is achieved. Tint the last bowl neon green and mix until a consistent bright green color is achieved.
- Mix in just drops of water at a time to each bowl and stir well, repeating this process until the icing thins to flood consistency. It should be thick and pourable like a milkshake but not too runny. Run a spatula through the icing to check; the indention should disappear by the count of 10. If it disappears more quickly, it is too thin, and you'll need to add in additional sifted powdered sugar.
- Transfer the three flood frostings to disposable piping bags and close the ends with rubber bands. Prep three tall drinking glasses with a wet paper towel in the bottoms of each. Snip a small hole in the end of the black icing piping bag. Outline a cookie with the icing and then flood the center with the icing. Use a toothpick or a scribe tool to push the icing into any gaps or blank areas. Repeat with 1/3 of the cookies. Reserve the remaining black icing by folding over the snipped end and standing it upright into a glass. Repeat the process with another 1/3 of the cookies and the orange icing, then the final 1/3 of the cookies with the green icing. Let dry completely, about 4 hours or overnight.
- Melt each color of candy melting wafers according to the package directions. Transfer to small piping bags. Snip a hole in the ends and pipe the candy into the corresponding cavities: white candy melts for ghosts and skulls; black candy melts for bats and cats, orange candy melts for pumpkins, and green for their stems. Mix together black and white candy melts to create grey and pipe into tombstone cavities.
- Place the mold in the freezer and chill until solid. Gently remove candies from their cavities while they are still frozen. Repeat molding process until all of the candy is used (this makes a LOT of molded candies – plenty enough for all the sugar cookies!).
- When the cookies are set, use the reserved icing to adhere the molded candy to the cookies. Use ghosts and black cats to haunt windows. Place tombstones and pumpkins beside doors.
Decorate the cake
- Place the 8-inch tier on a cake stand or serving platter. Spread a small dot of leftover buttercream in the top center of the cake and top with the second smaller tier. (If the cake is traveling, use a long dowel to anchor the two tiers together.)
- Use the reserved buttercream to dot on the back of the haunted houses. Place 5 decorated house cookies, spaced evenly, around the bottom tier of the cake. Affix extra molded candy pieces around the houses. Place 5-6 decorated houses end-to-end around the edge of the top tier. Add candy bones around both tiers of the cake.
- Store the cake loosely covered in plastic wrap. Bring to room temperature before serving. Serve slices of cake with accompanying haunted houses.
