Ghostly Pirate Cake Recipes

GHOSTLY PIRATE CAKE

Steps:

• Prepare and bake cake according to package directions, using two greased and floured 9-in. round baking pans. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to cool completely. , Cut two pieces from the lower edges of each cake, forming a pirate's head (save small pieces for another use)., For frosting, in a large bowl, beat butter until fluffy. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar, milk and vanilla; beat until smooth., Place one cake layer on a serving platter; top with 1/2 cup frosting; top with second cake layer. Frost top and sides with remaining frosting. , For pirate's bandanna, place Fruit Roll-Ups over top edge of cake. Tint coconut with black food coloring; sprinkle over chin for goatee. Decorate pirate's features with assorted candies.

GHOST CAKE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, eggs and water; beat on low speed for 30 seconds. Beat on medium for 2 minutes. Pour 2-1/4 cups batter into each of two greased and floured 6-in. round baking pans (discard remaining batter). Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely., For frosting, in a large bowl, combine confectioners' sugar and meringue powder. In a large bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer, combine the shortening, water and vanilla. Beat in sugar mixture (mixture will be stiff)., Using a serrated knife, level tops of cakes. Place one cake layer on a serving plate. Spread with 3/4 cup frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread 1-1/2 cups frosting over top and sides of cake., Cut fondant block in half lengthwise so that one half is slightly larger than the other. Tint the larger half orange; set aside a small amount of orange fondant for pumpkins. Cover fondant with plastic wrap when not in use. On a clean work surface, roll out remaining orange fondant into a 14-in. circle. Slide an icing knife between fondant and work surface to loosen; transfer to cake. Smooth top and sides of cake. Trim any overlapping fondant with a pizza cutter., For ghost: Form a 2-1/4 in. tall cone from white fondant; attach to cake with additional vanilla. Roll a 1/2-in. cube of fondant into a 6-in. circle. Drape over cone. Tint a small amount of fondant black. Form three small dots; attach to face of ghost., For pumpkins, leaves and tendrils: Tint reserved orange fondant a darker shade of orange with red coloring. Using dark orange and/or white fondant, form five pumpkins; add imprint lines with a veining tool or toothpick. For stems, tint a very small amount of white fondant brown. Shape into stems; attach to pumpkins using vanilla. Tint a 1-in. cube of white fondant green. Roll out; cut five leaves with a 1-1/4-in. leaf-shaped cookie cutter. For tendrils, using a pizza cutter cut remaining portion into thin strips. Carefully wrap strips around toothpicks; set aside to dry., To finish cake: Carefully remove tendrils from toothpicks and attach to pumpkins using vanilla. Attach pumpkins and leaves to cake. Using shell pastry tip #18 and remaining frosting, pipe shell border along bottom edge of cake.

EASY GHOST CAKE

Steps:

• For the cake: Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat one 9-inch round cake pan and one 9-inch square cake pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line the bottom of each with parchment paper; lightly coat the paper with nonstick spray.
• Whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a large bowl until combined. Beat the butter, granulated sugar, oil and vanilla with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the eggs and yolks one at a time, beating to blend between additions and occasionally scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl until the batter is completely combined, smooth and creamy. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Scrape the batter evenly into the prepared pans. Smooth the tops. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through, until the cakes are a light golden brown and a tester inserted into the centers comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes. Transfer the pans to a wire rack and let the cakes cool for 30 minutes. Run a knife around the sides of the cakes and invert onto the wire rack. Remove the parchment and let the cakes cool completely.
• For the frosting: Meanwhile, beat the butter in a stand mixer on medium-high speed until very creamy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Mix the milk, vanilla and salt in a liquid measuring cup, then add it to the butter. Mix slowly on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium and beat until very smooth. Add half of the confectioners' sugar and beat on low speed until just combined. Scrape the bowl again with a rubber spatula. Add the remaining confectioners' sugar and beat on low speed until combined and smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then mix on medium-low speed until fluffy and well combined, about 5 minutes. Transfer 1/2 cup of the frosting to a small bowl and mix in black gel food coloring until very pigmented. Set both bowls of frosting aside at room temperature until ready to assemble the cake.
• For assembling: Once the cakes have cooled completely, place the square cake, domed-side down, in the center of a large cutting board or platter (this will be the body of the ghost). Place the round cake domed-side down and cut in half with a sharp knife into 2 half-moons. Place one half-moon above the square cake with the cut-side adjoining the body (this will be the head of the ghost). Repeat with the other half-moon below the body (this will be the bottom of the ghost from which two arms will be cut). Next, cut a scalloped edge of 3 curves, each about 2 inches wide, into the bottom of the ghost, keeping the cake scrap intact as one piece. Then cut two oval-shaped arms from that cake scrap. Place one arm on each side of the ghost's body. There should be minimal cake scraps left; enjoy or save for another use.
• Use a little white frosting to help adhere the head, bottom and arms to the body. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining white frosting, smoothing out the top with an offset spatula. Transfer the black frosting to a piping bag fitted with a small round pastry tip; pipe two eyes and a mouth onto the ghost. Serve right away or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

SPOOKY SPIDER CAKE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, beat the chocolate cake mix, water and eggs on low speed for 30 seconds. Beat on medium for 2 minutes. Pour into the two halves of a greased and floured sports ball baking pan. Bake at 350° for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean., Meanwhile, in another bowl, beat the white cake mix, water and eggs on low speed for 30 seconds. Beat on medium for 2 minutes. Pour into two greased and floured 9-in. round baking pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. , Cool all cakes for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely., For frosting, using a heavy-duty stand mixer, combine the shortening, 1/4 cup water and vanilla. Combine confectioners' sugar and meringue powder; beat into shortening mixture., For base cake: Tint 2-1/4 cups frosting purple. Using a serrated knife, level tops of white cakes if necessary. Place one cake layer on a serving plate; spread with 1 cup frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread remaining tinted frosting over top and sides of cake., Combine 3 cups frosting, cocoa and remaining water until smooth; tint black. Combine 1/4 cup black frosting and corn syrup. Using round tip #2 and black frosting with corn syrup, pipe webs and spiders around sides of cake. , With 3/4 cup white frosting and shell tip #18, pipe border along bottom edge of cake. Insert dowels into center of cake. Cut cardboard circle to measure 3-1/4 in.; place over cake. , For spider cake: Using a serrated knife, level the rounded side of one chocolate cake; attach to cake circle with a small amount of black frosting. Spread top with 1/3 cup black frosting; top with remaining chocolate cake. , Using grass tip #233 and black frosting, pipe hair over cake. With white frosting and round tip # 12, pipe eyes and teeth. Pipe pupils with round tip #2 and black frosting., For legs, insert a toothpick into the ends of each licorice rope. Insert one end into side of spider; insert other end into top of purple cake. Garnish with candy corn.

HALLOWEEN MINI-CAKES

Steps:

• Grease two 13x9-in. baking pans; line with parchment and set aside. Prepare cake batter according to package directions. Pour into prepared pans. , Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes. Using parchment, remove cakes from pans and invert onto wire racks; carefully peel off parchment. Cool completely. , Cut 1 cake into pumpkin shapes and the second cake into ghost shapes using 3-in. cookie cutters dipped in confectioners' sugar. Carefully arrange individual cakes on wire racks over waxed paper. , For icing, in each of 2 large bowls, combine 4 cups confectioners' sugar, 4 tablespoons milk and 2 tablespoons corn syrup until smooth. Tint icing in 1 bowl orange. Place orange icing in a heavy-duty resealable bag; cut a small hole in a corner of bag. Pipe over top of pumpkin shapes, allowing icing to drape over cake sides. Repeat with white icing and ghost cakes. Let stand for 30 minutes or until icing is set and dry. , In a small bowl, combine the remaining confectioners' sugar, milk and corn syrup until smooth. Tint black. Pipe faces onto pumpkin and ghost cakes.

PRAIRIE BIRTHDAY CAKE

Steps:

• Prepare and bake cake according to package directions, using a greased and floured 13x9-in. baking pan. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes; invert onto the rack to cool completely. Transfer cake to a 15x12-in. covered board., In a bowl, cream shortening, butter and vanilla. Gradually beat in sugar and milk until light and fluffy., Place 1 cup frosting in a bowl; tint pink. Place 1/2 cup frosting each in two bowls; tint one yellow and one purple or blue. Place 1/4 cup frosting in another bowl; tint green. Cover and set bowls aside. Set 1/2 cup white frosting aside. Frost cake with remaining white frosting. , With a knife, score a straight line lengthwise down the center of the cake; score two lines widthwise, creating six sections. Cut a small hole in the corner of a pastry or plastic bag; insert star tip. Fill bag with reserved white frosting. Pipe rows of white shells over the scored lines, Prepare another bag; insert star tip and fill with pink frosting. Pipe shells on each side of the rows of white shells, being careful not to cross over the lines. Pipe a row of pink shells around top and bottom edges of the cake., Trace a sunbonnet pattern onto waxed paper and cut out. With a sharp knife, trace pattern in top left, bottom middle and to right squares., Prepare another bag; insert round tip and fill with pink frosting. Outline and fill in the bonnet and form a bow in the top left square. In the center of each of the empty squares, pipe two pink flowers., Prepare another bag; insert round tip and fill with purple or blue frosting. Outline and fill in the bonnet in the middle bottom square and form a bow. Pipe two purple or blue flowers in the squares with the pink flowers. Place a small dot of purple or blue frosting in the center of pink flowers., Prepare another bag; insert round tip and fill with yellow frosting. Outline and fill in the bottom in the top right square and form a bow. Pipe two yellow flowers in squares with the other flowers, forming a bouquet. Place a small dot of the yellow frosting in the center of purple or blue flowers. , Prepare another bag; insert round tip and fill with green frosting. Pipe stems and leaves on bouquets. Place a small dot of green frosting in the center of yellow flowers.