Jack-O'-Lantern Cake
Submitted by lunpoly
Jack-o'-lantern cake: a lemon-scented butter cake wrapped in homemade orange fondant with a black pumpkin face. A showstopper Halloween centerpiece, no special tins required.
YIELD
1 CakePREP
25 minCOOK
35 minREADY
1 hrsThis is a proper Halloween centerpiece that uses a plain 8-inch round pan and a homemade fondant wrap to fake a pumpkin. No specialty tin, no complicated carving, just a buttery lemon-zest cake under a rolled sheet of bright orange sugar.
The cake is a creamed butter cake with three egg yolks for richness and a teaspoon of grated lemon zest to keep it from tasting flat. Alternating flour and milk into the creamed butter is the classic method that produces the tight, fine crumb you need to support a fondant wrap.
The covering is a simple fondant built on powdered sugar, egg white, and liquid glucose. That glucose is the make-or-break ingredient. It keeps the fondant pliable and prevents it from cracking as you drape it over the cake. Light corn syrup can sub in a pinch.
Roll the fondant thin, about ⅛ inch, on a surface dusted with confectioners’ sugar. Place the sheet on the cake, smooth from the top down, and trim the excess. Those trimmings become the pumpkin lid and black cut-out face.
Kitchen Tips
- Bring the butter, eggs, and milk to room temperature before mixing. Cold ingredients curdle creamed butter.
- Let the cake cool completely before draping with fondant. Warm cake melts the sugar and causes sagging.
- Gel food coloring gives deeper orange and black than liquid coloring, and does not thin the fondant.
- If the fondant cracks on the cake, brush the crack lightly with water and smooth with your fingertip.
Variations
- Swap lemon zest for orange zest and a splash of vanilla for a warmer pumpkin-flavor vibe.
- Bake the batter in a half-ball cake pan for a more 3D pumpkin shape.
- Use marzipan instead of fondant for the wrap if you prefer an almond note under the sugar.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375℉ (190℃). Line an 8-inch round pan with wax paper and grease.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the egg yolks, then add the lemon rind. Fold in the flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the milk.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes, then unmold and transfer to a rack.
For the covering, sift 4½ cups of the confectioners’ sugar into a bowl. Make a well in the center, add 1 egg white, the glucose, and orange food coloring. Stir until a dough forms.
Transfer to a work surface dusted with confectioners’ sugar and knead briefly.
Roll out the cake covering to a sheet about ⅛ inch thick.
Gently place the sheet on top of the cooled cake and smooth the sides. Trim the excess and reserve.
From the trimmings cut shapes for the lid. Tint the remaining cake covering trimmings with black food coloring. Roll out thinly and cut shapes for the face.
Brush the undersides with water and arrange the face and lid on the cake.
Place 1 tablespoon of the remaining egg white in a bowl and stir in enough confectioners’ sugar to make a thick frosting. Tint with black food coloring, fill a paper piping bag and pipe the outline of the lid.
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