Spooky Halloween Cake
, Published Oct 18, 2023
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Get into the spirit of Spooky Season with my Halloween Red Velvet cake! This easy Halloween cake is ghoulishly gory and devilishly delicious, dripping with edible blood and decorated with bloody eyeballs 🧟
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Hello Spooky Season! October is my birthday month and with both my and my son’s birthday so close to Halloween, we can’t help but get swept up in the spirit of all things spooooky!
My son requested a Halloween Cake for his birthday this year and I was more than happy to oblige. I mean no Halloween Party would be complete without a sweet yet scary dessert to take pride of place among spooky decorations and buckets of trick or treat candy…
EASY HALLOWEEN CAKE FROM SCRATCH
I chose Red Velvet as my Halloween cake flavor to and then brainstormed with my son for hours about how to decorate it…
After scrolling through pages of Halloween cake ideas we settled on bloodshot eyeballs and plenty of dripping blood (don’t worry, it’s edible!).
HERE’S WHAT YOU WILL NEED
This Halloween cake is made up of red velvet cake layers, easy vanilla buttercream, edible blood and finally the spooky eyeball decorations. Fear not, it is all very easy to make and you will have a lot of fun too 😉
For the cake
This is a classic red velvet cake made with buttermilk, red food coloring, vinegar, vanilla, baking soda, sugar, butter, eggs, cocoa powder and flour. If you are pressed for time you can always use a boxed cake mix and jazz it up with our spooky decorations.
Our Buttercream
I made a three-ingredient vanilla buttercream using sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract and softened butter. You can make a classic cream cheese frosting instead if you prefer.
The (Edible!) Blood
We are using my realistic yet edible blood recipe here, using cornstarch, food coloring, corn syrup and cranberry juice. Messy and gory, just as it should be!
Halloween Cake Decorations
These spooky eyeballs are made with lychee, cherries and googly eyeball candy – they are such an easy way to upgrade your Halloween cake (or your Halloween cocktails ⬇️)
HOW TO MAKE MY SPOOKY HALLOWEEN CAKE
Full measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page. Please take a look at the steps and video before attempting this recipe!
PREPARE THE CAKE
Combine the buttermilk and food coloring in a large mixing bowl, adding as much gel coloring as needed to achieve the perfect blood-red color. Stir in in the red wine vinegar and baking soda.
Add the sugar, vanilla, softened butter and eggs and beat with a hand mixer (or stand mixer) to combine. Sift in the cocoa powder and flour then beat together until you have a smooth batter.
Divide the batter between three greased and lined 8-inch cake pans and bake until the cakes are risen, springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool in the pans for five minutes then carefully turn out on to a cooling rack. Allow the cakes to cool completely before frosting.
MAKE THE EDIBLE BLOOD
Combine the juice and cornstarch in a saucepan. Add the corn syrup and vanilla and bring to a simmer, stirring, until the blood thickens.
Take off the heat and add red food coloring to create the desired shade. Transfer to a jar and cool before using.
PREPARE THE BUTTERCREAM
Beat the butter until light and fluffy then gradually add the condensed milk, beating well. Add the vanilla and salt and beat on maximum speed setting until the buttercream is smooth and holds peaks.
MAKE THE SPOOKY EYEBALL DECORATIONS
Drain a can of lychee reserving the juice or syrup to use in cocktails. Dry the lychee using paper towels.
Place a candy eye inside a cocktail cherry then insert this into the lychee – our decoration is ready to use!
ASSEMBLE THE HALLOWEEN CAKE
Pipe a generous layer of buttercream to sandwich the cake layers together. Drizzle with blood too, for added gore!
Use off cuts from leveling the cakes can be blitzed to breadcrumb consistency in a mini chopper and used to top the cake.
Drizzle the top of the cake with edible blood, allowing it to drip down the sides. Top the cake with the crumb.
Secure the eyeballs with toothpicks or wooden skewers (ideally of different heights) and stick them on top of the cake. Drizzle with more blood and serve immediately!
HALLOWEEN CAKE TIPS
- Make sure you use a red coloring paste or gel that’s suitable for baking. Liquid food coloring is not recommended as it can affect the consistency of the batter.
- What can I use instead of red food coloring for red velvet cake? If you hate the idea of using all that food coloring you can try using beet powder as a natural alternative.
- You can use your favorite buttercream or frosting for this cake.
- Level the cake layers as needed and use any scraps to create cake crumbs for decorating the cake with ⬇️ .
HAVE YOU MADE MY SPOOKY HALLOWEEN CAKE RECIPE? Please leave a rating to tell me how you liked it! Better yet, snap a photo and share it on Instagram with the tag #supergoldenbakes
Spooky Halloween Cake
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
For the cake
- ¾ cup (180 ml) buttermilk
- 2 tsp red paste food coloring or as needed
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups (300g) sugar caster or granulated
- ¾ cup + 2 tbsp (200g) unsalted butter softened
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- ¾ cups + 2 tbsp (320g) flour all purpose flour / plain
- ¼ tsp salt
For the vanilla frosting
- 2 cups + 2 tbsp (250g) unsalted butter softened
- 14 oz (395g) sweetened condensed milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ⅙ tsp salt
For the edible blood
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) cranberry juice
- 2 tbsp cornstarch (cornflour)
- 1 cup (240g) corn syrup or liquid glucose
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp red gel food coloring as needed
To decorate
- 6 lychee (or as many as you like)
- 6 cocktails cherries (or as many as you like)
- 6 candy eyes (or as many as you like)
Instructions
PREPARE THE CAKE
- Combine the buttermilk and food coloring in a large mixing bowl, adding as much gel coloring as needed to achieve the perfect blood-red color. Stir in in the red wine vinegar and baking soda.¾ cup (180 ml) buttermilk, 2 tsp red paste food coloring , 1 tbsp red wine vinegar, 2 tsp baking soda
- Add the sugar, vanilla, softened butter and eggs and beat with a hand mixer (or stand mixer) to combine.1 tsp vanilla bean paste , 1 ½ cups (300g) sugar, ¾ cup + 2 tbsp (200g) unsalted butter, 3 large eggs
- Sift in the cocoa powder, flour and salt then beat together until you have a smooth batter.2 tbsp cocoa powder, ¾ cups + 2 tbsp (320g) flour, ¼ tsp salt
- Divide the batter between three greased and lined 8-inch cake pans and bake until the cakes are risen, springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool in the pans for five minutes then carefully turn out on to a cooling rack. Allow the cakes to cool completely before frosting.
MAKE THE EDIBLE BLOOD
- Combine the juice and cornstarch in a saucepan. Add the corn syrup and vanilla and bring to a simmer, stirring, until the blood thickens.⅓ cup (80 ml) cranberry juice, 2 tbsp cornstarch, 1 cup (240g) corn syrup, 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Take off the heat and add red food coloring to create the desired shade. Transfer to a jar and cool before using.1 tsp red gel food coloring
PREPARE THE BUTTERCREAM
- Beat the butter until light and fluffy then gradually add the condensed milk, beating well. Add the vanilla and salt and beat on maximum speed setting until the buttercream is smooth and holds peaks.2 cups + 2 tbsp (250g) unsalted butter, 14 oz (395g) sweetened condensed milk, 2 tsp vanilla extract, ⅙ tsp salt
MAKE THE SPOOKY EYEBALL DECORATIONS
- Drain a can of lychee reserving the juice or syrup to use in cocktails. Dry the lychee using paper towels.6 lychee, 6 cocktails cherries, 6 candy eyes
- Place a candy eye inside a cocktail cherry then insert this into the lychee – our decoration is ready to use!
ASSEMBLE THE HALLOWEEN CAKE
- Pipe a generous layer of buttercream to sandwich the cake layers together. Drizzle with blood too, for added gore!
- Use off cuts from leveling the cakes can be blitzed to breadcrumb consistency in a mini chopper and used to top the cake.
- Drizzle the top of the cake with edible blood, allowing it to drip down the sides. Top the cake with the crumb.
- Secure the eyeballs with toothpicks or wooden skewers (ideally of different heights) and stick them on top of the cake. Drizzle with more blood and serve immediately!
Notes
- Only add the decorations when you are ready to serve the cake. They will eventually start to melt due to the moisture. Remove the decorations before slicing the cake.
- The cake layers can be prepared up to a day in advance. Cool and cover with plastic wrap until ready to use.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is always approximate, and will depend on quality of ingredients and serving sizes.
