
Sprinkle Skull Halloween Cake
Steps involved
Make cake layers
Make buttercream (no color)
Split and color buttercream
Assemble and ice cake
Chill cake
Create stencil
Stencil skulls onto cake
Add sprinkles
READ BEFORE CONTINUING: The following recipes are scaled to make the cake pictured above -- a 4 layer cake made with 6-inch round cake layers. If you wish to make a smaller cake, please scale down these recipes.
recipes used
1 - 1.5 batches Italian meringue buttercream
I made this buttercream vanilla flavored by adding 1 tablespoon of vanilla to my 1.5x batch (can add less or more to taste)
Colors used
To get these colors, I used Wilton's Color Right Food Coloring System.*
For the icing:
The colors may differ depending on how much icing you're coloring and the starting color of your buttercream (certain butter brands are more white or yellow which can make the buttercream whiter or more yellow). These are the amounts I used and should get you close.
Green Icing:
Yellow: 180 drops
Blue: 45 drops
Supplies/tools
To find the tools I use for almost every cake I make and decorate (including pans, cake boards, icing smoothers, etc.), click here.
The supplies/tools below are specifically for decorating this cake, which I used in addition to the ones in the link above.*
*Some of these links may be affiliate. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I earn a small amount from some purchases, however, this does not affect my recommendations.
Decorating the cake
After the cake has been assembled, iced, and cooled until icing is firm:
Create a parchment stencil by cutting skulls out of parchment paper with an X-acto knife. To make this easier, find a skull pattern online that you like, print it out, lay the parchment on top, and cut out using the X-acto knife. You can either use a piece of parchment paper that is long enough to wrap around the whole cake, or use a smaller stencil and work in sections. (I chose to use a smaller stencil to avoid cutting out so many skulls from the parchment, but using a larger stencil that covers the whole cake will make stenciling easier) *The image I used as a reference can be found here. I've also put a picture below of the stencil I cut from parchment to show how I left the eyes and nose intact (click to expand the image).
Once your cake is cool and the icing is firm to the touch, remove from fridge.
Place the stencil on the cake making sure to press down all of the edges and small parts of the skulls, so there is no gapping between the parchment and the icing. (I find it easiest to use a brush on the small sections of the stencil)
Carefully using a small offset spatula, spread white icing over the stencil.
Use an icing smoother to create an even layer of icing over the stencil.
Carefully peel stencil away to reveal the skull pattern.
Refrigerate cake until the new icing is firm. This will make it easier to apply the sprinkles and do another stenciling without messing up the previous one (if using a small stencil).
Dip a tool of your choice (a brush or your finger) into some shortening and then dip it into the sprinkles to pick some up. Touch the tool to one of the skulls to place the sprinkles onto it.
If you're using a smaller stencil, repeat steps 4-8 until the whole cake is covered in skulls.
For the top "swirly dollops", lay out a piece of plastic wrap onto your counter. Place a horizontal line of white icing onto the plastic wrap, leaving room on each end. Place a horizontal line of green icing directly under the white line. Repeat so you have 4 lines, alternating between white and green.
Take the top and bottom edge of the plastic wrap and bring them together to allow the icing to form a log shape. Roll on the counter lightly.
Twist each side together to seal the ends (similar to the wrapper a hard candy comes in)
Set up a piping bag with a Wilton 1M tip.
Cut one of the twisted sides of the icing log and place the cut side into the piping bag.
Use the .gif or video below as a reference, pipe "swirly dollops" onto the top of the cake.
Slice and enjoy :)
SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO
