It’s the night before Halloween and we’ve got something super-cute brewing in our kitchen with a chocolate Cauldron Cake decked out with ghoulishly green pistachio pudding slime on top, gumball bubbles and cotton-candy steam! We’re saving time, but not skimping on taste with boxed cake mix and Nutella for the frosting, ’cause we fancy like dat. This Cauldron Cake is just S O much fun to make with the kids. So it’s all hands on deck to wow your Halloween guests.
Double, double toil and trouble,
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
Eye of newt, toe of gnat,
Spit of frog and poop of bat!
Cauldron Cake
Serves: 6
Prep: 20 mins
Oven: 350 *F
Bake: 25 mins x 2
Note: For this recipe, a 6-cup Bundt pan works well, making 2 cakes
Ingredients
Cakes
2 boxes chocolate cake mix (I love Ghirardelli), baked one at a time
4 free-range eggs each
1 1/3 cup milk each
2/3 cup vegetable oil each
butter & flour to coat baking pan
Decorations
2 good handfuls of small candies
2 16-oz jars chocolate hazelnut spread (you know Nutella)
24 chocolate wafer cookies, finely ground in a food processor
rolled wafer cookies for the “logs”
3.4 oz pistachio pudding mix
1 3/4 cups milk
6-7 large green gumballs
1/4 cup green nonpareils
white cotton candy for the “steam” (optional)
sugar-coated candies (optional)
Instructions
Butter and flour Bundt pan, set aside
Preheat oven to 350 *F.
Make one cake at a time.
Each cake will need 2 eggs, 2/3 cup milk, 1/3 cup veg oil.
Mix and pour batter into Bundt pan.
Transfer to hot oven and bake 20-25 mins, til you can smell the cake.
Remove cake from hot oven and let it rest in the pan 10 mins.
Turn onto a metal rack to finish cooling.
Wash and dry cake pan.
Make the second cake.
Once both cakes have cooled completely, start decorating!
Arrange some rolled wafer cookies onto a large plate or cake stand. Use a bit of frosting/Nutella to make them stick to position. These are the logs for the fire.
Slice about 1 inch slice off the flat end of one cake and set aside. This is going to be the top of the cauldron.
Set this cake cut-side up gently over the rolled wafer cookies.
Slice about 1/2 inch off the flat end of the other cake. Save the cake scraps.
Set this cake cut-side down onto the first cake.
Slice a bit off the top to make it level.
Fill the Bundt hole with cake scraps or CANDY!
Going around the top cake, about 1 inch from the edge, scoop a well about a 1/2-inch-deep.
Frost the entire lot generously. I prefer Nutella, but any dark frosting will do nicely.
Mix pudding with milk.
Pour pudding into the well.
Top with gumballs, small non pareils, googly eyes and cotton candy for the steam, if using.
The Art of Illusion
Halloween is a time for fantasy, dress-up, pretending to be someone totally different from your Daily Joe. This year, I’m teetering between dressing up like the Bride of Frankie or painting my face like a pretty Dia del Los Muertos sugar skull. Truth be told, since Halloween falls on a weeknight this year, I may just slap on a witch’s hat and dish out handfuls of candy. Whatever my attire, one thing’s for certain, this decadent chocolate cauldron cake will be served for dessert, because even food is fun at Halloween, especially if you got little hands to help prepare it. So, play dress-up and stuff your face with yummy treats. We don’t eat like this every day!
This is so much fun! I love the way you used the bundt shape to get the round cauldron — and its rim. Smart! And Nutella! YUM! Where do the ground cookies go? (Forgive me if I’m missing it!) Perfect for a Halloween party!! 🙂 ~Valentina
Into the hole in the center of the Bundt cakes. I made this cake again and, the second time, the girls filled the hole in with chocolate M&Ms, both plain and peanut. The candy center was a great surprise when we sliced into the cake!
Dear Colette, what a smart idea to use a bundt cake pan for the body of the cake and the border…Halloween is a great holiday and we are always so busy so it’s a nice idea to save on time when making such a gruesome cake for the kiddos an dthe guests!
You created an awesome Halloween treat, my dear!!! Bet you all loved it!