Trick or treating might be all about the candy, but for a truly memorable Halloween, why not go the extra mile with some spooktacular Halloween cakes? Whether you’re hosting a haunted house party for your little ghouls and their friends, planning a grown-up Halloween spectacular or just want to make a memorable centerpiece to serve on October 31st, these ten terrifying Halloween cake ideas are all about making you look like the ghost host with the most.
There are plenty of Halloween cake ideas out there, so we’ve gone for a selection, with every ability level covered from GBBO tent-worthy showstoppers to novice baker-friendly bakes– but they’re all guaranteed to make a spooky statement.
1. Chocolate pumpkin bat cake
Perfect for the grown ups, one of the delicious Halloween cake ideas from Good Housekeeping combines the classic crowd-pleaser of a rich, layered chocolate cake with some autumnal pumpkin spice. This is one of the easier Halloween cakes to make – just add the ingenious and easy to make ribbon bats, and you’ve got a cake that’s ready to scare without needing lots of fussy Halloween cake decorating ideas, complicated fondant, or icing.
2. Halloween slasher cake
For Halloween cake decorating ideas that are a ‘cut’ above (no, we’re not really proud of the pun) look to the classic slasher movies that terrify so many of us during the spooky season. This terrifying Halloween cake design from BBC Good Food creates a simple-but-effective look using red food colouring that’s sure to get you a few smiles.
3. Haunted graveyard cake
If you’re ready to put a little more effort into your Halloween cake designs, this ghoulish graveyard cake from BBC Good Food is a cute option for a kid’s party, with plenty of decorations. Put your Halloween cake decorating ideas to work with meringue ghosts and chocolate tombstones.
4. Halloween layer cake
Maybe the quintessential classic of all Halloween cake designs – this yummy layer cake from Delish is the ultimate in Halloween themed cakes. Top tip: track down some American Halloween candy online and save yourself tons of time in making fiddly cake toppers.
5. Leftover Halloween sweets cake
On the unlikely chance that your little gremlins have any Halloween candy left – or if you ‘accidentally’ bought too much in for trick-or-treaters – this recipe from Delish is one of those delicious Halloween cake ideas that you can enjoy even once the festivities are over.
6. Mini mice Halloween cakes
More sweet than spooky, these adorable bite-sized mouse cakes from Woman’s Day are nonetheless sure to go down a treat at your Halloween party. Cute Halloween cake designs like this are a great choice if you’re throwing an all-ages event – and they’re easier to slip in a party bag than a wedge of cake.
7. No-bake ghost cookies
Really not a baking expert, or not feeling up to some of these showstopper Halloween cake ideas, but still have Halloween cakes to make for a party? Don’t worry, we got you. These no-bake Halloween themed cakes from This Vivacious Life can be spirited together in 15 minutes, and thanks to some creative use of fondant, they still look like a fa-boo-lous treat.
8. Chocolate cobweb Halloween cakes
These classic, simple cupcakes from the BBC are ideal Halloween cakes to make if you have little monsters in the house, and you want to get them helping with the baking. There’s no complicated Halloween cake decorating ideas here – just good old fashioned, yummy buns with some neat spiderweb icing. Show them how to draw a spiral and turn it into a spiderweb-with a toothpick, and they’ll be delighted knowing they helped make the Halloween treats.
9. Over the moon cake
This is one of those ingenious Halloween cake designs that looks super impressive, but is actually a lot easier to put together than you might expect! Follow the recipe from Woman’s Day, or use your own favourite chocolate cake recipe. For the pretty decoration, all you need is a steady hand to apply white icing in a crescent moon shape, and a bat-shaped cookie cutter. Why can’t all Halloween cakes be so simple?
10. Chocolate Halloween cobweb cake
We love inventive Halloween cake decorating ideas – and using strings of stretchy melted marshmallow to create a spooky cobweb effect is a winner in our book. Get the kids involved in making this recipe from Sainsbury’s – they’ll love getting sticky to create the spider strands, and deciding where to place the all-important plastic spider. Another great thing about simple Halloween cakes like this? It can be prepared ahead of time, so you’re not baking on the day of a Halloween party.
There you have it – ten terrifyingly good Halloween cakes, ready for you to serve up and cause a fright this October. For more ideas and How To guides, check out the thortful blog – and for some Halloween inspiration, pop to our range of Halloween cards.
