Candy Corn Cake

If there is one candy that most symbolizes the fall holidays I would have to say it is candy corn. I am not crazy for them myself, but I have a lot of friends who anxiously await this time of the year just so they can indulge their craving for these cute little nuggets of sweetness. Although I would take a chocolate bar over candy corn any day, I do have to admit that I love the look of candy corn. The white, orange and yellow layers just bring a smile to my face. So, I decided to take something I really do love, cake, and give it the look of candy corn for a cute little fall dessert. I present to you, the candy corn cake.

I think it kind of looks like a little house.

My favorite part of this cake is when you cut into it. Look at these adorable little candy corn cake slices.

When I first attempted to make this cake I had the not-so-bright idea of just layering the colored cake mix in the pan and baking it that way. I obviously still have a lot to learn about the science of baking because it sunk terribly in the middle and, although it came out pretty cool looking, it wasn’t the look I wanted at all. The batter had risen up the sides as it baked.

After another run to the store to get new ingredients, I started over. My second attempt was much more successful.

Here are instructions on how to make a candy corn cake.

Step 1: Prepare Colored Batters

I used two white cake mixes for this recipe. I added some additional ingredients to my cake mixes to make them a little denser and give them more of a white chocolate flavor. Click here for a printable version of my cake mix recipe.

Color one mix orange with some orange paste food coloring. Divide the other mix in half and color one half yellow with yellow paste food coloring. The other half just leave white.

Step 2: Bake in Loaf Pans

Take three standard sized loaf pans, spray them with a baking spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper then pour a different colored batter into each one. If you only have one loaf pan then you will have to bake each layer before moving on to the next one.

Bake in an oven that has been preheated to 325 degrees. The orange cake takes about 65 minutes to bake while the yellow and white cakes only take about 30 minutes. Test with a toothpick to see if done.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a cooling rack for 10 minutes then remove from pans and allow to cool completely.

Step 3: Level Cakes

Leveling a cake is when you cut the top mound off of it so that it is flat. You can do this with a serrated knife or, if you want to stay more precise, you can use a cake leveler.

Cut the orange cake so that it is 2″ tall. Cut the yellow cake 1 1/2″ tall and the white cake 1 1/4″ tall.

Here is a picture of the leveled cakes. They are turned upside down on my cooling rack in this picture.

Step 4: Stack Cakes

Stack the cakes, spreading some icing in between each layer. I made a white chocolate cream cheese icing for this cake. Click here for a printable version of the White Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing recipe.Click here for a printable version of the recipe. Make sure that that yellow cake is on the bottom, the orange in the middle and the white on the top.

After they are stacked, trim off the ends with a serrated knife so that they create a flat surface. This is the fun part because you get to see the colors appear.

Step 5: Carve Cake

You can free hand this part if you are good or you can do like I did and use a pattern. I found this picture on the internet so I enlarged it to 5″ tall and printed it out.

Spread a little bit of icing on the ends of the cake then stick the pattern to them.

Next, figure out the half way point of the cake and use your knife to cut into the cake about as deep as the edges of the pattern would end up going in on the cake. Do this to both sides of the cake.

Use your pattern as a guide and cut along it, up to the point where you made the initial cuts half way into the cake.

Once both sides are carved, flip the cake around and used the pattern on the other end to finish carving the cake. You just have to line your knife up along the pattern and the previously carved end.

Step 6: Crumb Coat Cake

Whenever you carve a cake it helps to give it a crumb coat. This is a thin layer of icing that captures all the loose crumbs and holds them against the cake so that they don’t get into your final layer of icing. Give the cake a thin crumb coat then refrigerate it for about a half an hour so that both the icing and the cake firm up.

Step 7: Decorate

Remove your cake from the refrigerator and ice it with the rest of your icing. I left my icing rough looking to give it some texture.

Finally, add candy corns around the base and on the very top of the cake for adornment.

Your cake is all done.

Whether a candy corn lover or not, I think this is a cake everyone will love.

Until next time, God Bless and Sweet Dreams.