Description
This Ghost Cake is a whimsical and festive pumpkin cake perfect for Halloween celebrations. It features moist pumpkin cake layers, rich vanilla buttercream frosting, and delightful ghost and pumpkin decorations piped with colorful buttercream. The cake layers are baked in 6-inch pans for a tall, sculpted ghost shape, and the frosting is layered and smoothed for a professional finish. This recipe also includes tips for making, storing, and decorating the cake to achieve an impressive and tasty centerpiece.
Ingredients
Scale
Pumpkin Cake Layers
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (375g)
- 3 cups granulated sugar (600g)
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder (10g)
- 1 tsp fine salt (6g)
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon (6g)
- 1 tsp ground ginger (3g)
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg (2g)
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (226g)
- 1/2 cup egg whites or 4 large egg whites, room temperature (120g)
- 2/3 cup pumpkin puree (165g)
- 1 1/2 cups full-fat sour cream, room temperature (360g)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste (8g)
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- 2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature (452g)
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste (12g)
- 1/2 tsp fine salt (3g)
- 7 cups powdered sugar (875g)
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream, room temperature (60g)
Ghost Cake Decorations
- 4 x 6-inch cake pans
- Spinning cake stand
- 8-inch cake board
- Offset spatula
- Acetate sheet
- 5 small piping bags
- 1 large piping bag
- 4 small round piping tips (e.g., Wilton 10)
- 1 small leaf piping tip (e.g., Wilton 352)
- Black, pink, orange, green, and brown gel food coloring
Instructions
- Prepare Cake Pans and Preheat Oven: Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line four 6-inch round pans with parchment and grease with non-stick spray. If making larger layers, you can use 3 8-inch pans, but the ghost shape will be shorter.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a mixer with a paddle attachment until evenly mixed.
- Cream Butter into Dry Ingredients: Slowly add room temperature unsalted butter on low speed, mixing until the mixture resembles moist sand with no large butter chunks.
- Add Wet Ingredients: Pour in egg whites and pumpkin puree, mixing on low until incorporated. Then add sour cream and vanilla extract, continuing to mix gently. Optionally, add orange gel food coloring at this stage.
- Beat Batter: Scrape down bowl sides and beat on medium for about one minute to lighten the batter’s texture.
- Fill Pans and Bake: Evenly divide batter into prepared pans. Bake 34-38 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs. Cool pans for 10 minutes, then run an offset spatula around edges.
- Freeze to Cool Faster: Place pans in the freezer for 45 minutes to fully cool the layers. Carefully remove cakes from pans and peel off parchment.
- Level and Shape Layers: Using a serrated knife, level three layers flat and leave one rounded. Trim the rounded layer to a gentle dome shape. Stack layers and taper sides slightly to get ghost shape. Freeze wrapped if not assembling immediately.
- Make Vanilla Buttercream: Beat butter on medium-high until smooth and lighter in color. Mix in vanilla and salt on low. Gradually add powdered sugar and cream while mixing slowly. Adjust consistency with more cream or sugar as needed. Stir by hand to eliminate air bubbles. Cover to prevent crusting.
- Stack and Frost Cake: On an 8-inch cake board, place the first leveled cake layer and fix with a frosting dab. Alternate layers with frosting spread evenly between each. Top with domed layer. Apply a thin crumb coat of frosting around the entire cake, smooth with offset spatula and acetate, then chill the cake for 30 minutes in fridge or 10 minutes in freezer until firm.
- Prepare Colored Frosting for Decoration: Tint small amounts of buttercream with orange, pink, green, brown, and black gel food colors, placing each colored frosting into separate small piping bags with appropriate tips (round or leaf).
- Final Frosting Layer and Piping: Using the remaining white buttercream in a large piping bag, add a second thick layer of frosting. Pipe squiggly ruffles around the base to simulate ghostly draping. Smooth the final coat with offset spatula and acetate.
- Decorate the Ghost Face and Pumpkin: Lightly mark face and pumpkin placement with a toothpick. Pipe facial features with black frosting. Add rosy cheeks with pink buttercream. Pipe an orange pumpkin below the face and a small bow on one side of the ghost’s head. Pipe white arms of the ghost, then use brown and green frosting to add pumpkin details like a stump and leaf. Enjoy your festive ghost cake!
Notes
- Measure flour properly by spooning into the cup and leveling or use a kitchen scale for accuracy.
- Ensure all ingredients are at room temperature for better mixing and texture.
- Chill cake layers in the freezer before assembling for easier stacking and frosting.
- Crumb coat and chill the cake before applying the final frosting layer for a neat finish.
- Adjust buttercream consistency as needed for smooth spreading and precise piping.
- Make the cake layers and frosting ahead of time; freeze layers and refrigerate or freeze frosting.
- Store frosted cake in fridge up to one week or freeze up to one month; thaw in fridge before serving to prevent condensation.
- Use leftover frosting to seal cut surfaces and keep cake moist for up to a week.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice (1/24 of cake)
- Calories: 380
- Sugar: 44g
- Sodium: 180mg
- Fat: 20g
- Saturated Fat: 12g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7g
- Trans Fat: 0.2g
- Carbohydrates: 49g
- Fiber: 1.5g
- Protein: 4g
- Cholesterol: 55mg
