Pumpkin Shaped Halloween Cake

This is a novelty Halloween cake shaped like a real pumpkin, built from two 12-cup fluted bundt cakes stacked bottom-to-bottom. The cake itself is a doctored-up banana mix, but the showstopper here is the construction: a sandwich of pecan cream filling holding the halves together, an orange buttercream shell, and an ice cream cone or banana on top tinted green to look like a stem.

Bake both cakes the same day, ideally back-to-back so they come out the same size and color. Mismatched halves produce a lopsided pumpkin that looks wonky on the table.

The filling is a quick stovetop pastry cream thickened with flour. Boil it for a full minute after adding the cream and sugar to ensure the flour cooks through. Undercooked flour leaves a pasty taste that ruins the otherwise rich, pecan-studded filling.

Level the cake bottoms before assembly. A thin slice off each base gives you flat surfaces that can press together without splitting. Skip this and the cake leans or falls open like a poorly built sandwich.

The upside-down glass technique for the stem is the secret to a sturdy build. Without the support, the cone or banana stem tips over and ruins the pumpkin silhouette. Use a small juice glass or a heavy ramekin.

Pro Tips

• Tint the orange frosting with red and yellow gel food coloring, not liquid. Liquid colors thin the buttercream too much.
• Frost in two coats. A thin crumb coat sets in the fridge for 20 minutes, then a thicker final coat smooths cleanly.
• Use the back of a knife or a frosting comb to score vertical lines into the orange frosting for pumpkin ribbing.
• A real green stem leaf from a sturdy bay laurel or fresh herb sprig pushed into the frosting at the base of the stem completes the look.

Variations

• Substitute a pumpkin spice cake mix in place of banana for a more autumnal flavor.
• Add a teaspoon of cinnamon to the buttercream for a spiced finish.
• Pipe a face onto the front with black gel icing for a jack-o-lantern version.