A tri-colored cake is soaked in sweetened condensed milk, topped with a fluffy cream cheese frosting and covered in colorful candy corn for the Halloween cake of your dreams!
1boxwhite cake mixplus the required ingredients from the back of the box
orange gel food coloring
yellow gel food coloring
14ozsweetened condensed milk
1cupcandy cornmore if desired
For the cream cheese topping
8ozcream cheesesoftened
1cuppowdered sugar
1tablespoonpure vanilla extract
2cupsheavy whipping cream
Instructions
To make the candy corn cake
Prepare a 9x13 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
Mix the cake mix according to the package directions and divide the cake batter into 3 bowls. There should be about 1 1/2 cups of batter in each bowl.
Leave one bowl of batter as is. Add yellow food coloring to one bowl until you have a bright lemon yellow color. Add orange gel food coloring to the last bowl until you reach a rich orange color.
Now, pour the yellow batter evenly across the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Place it in the freezer on a level surface for about 20 minutes to allow this layer to set up.
Remove the dish from the freezer and spread the orange batter across the yellow layer and smooth it out evenly. Return the dish to the freezer for another 20 minutes.
Next, spread the final layer of white batter on top of the orange layer and spread it evenly.
Allow the cake batter to come to room temperature while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Bake the cake according to the package directions and allow the cake to cool slightly.
Next, use a chopstick, a drinking straw or the end of a wood spoon handle to poke holes evenly across the cake.
Now, pour the can of sweetened condensed milk over the top of the cake and into all of the holes.
Cover the cake and place it in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours or overnight.
For the cream cheese topping
Place a mixing bowl in the freezer for about 15 minutes - this helps the whipping cream whip easily.
In a separate mixing bowl, cream together the cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla extract until it is smooth.
Remove the chilled bowl from the freezer, add the whipping cream and mix it on medium speed for 1-2 minutes. Then, increase the speed to high and continue whipping until stiff peaks form.
Add the cream cheese mixture to the whipped cream and mix it on medium speed for another 1-2 minutes and it is well combined.
Spread the topping over the chilled cake and top it with candy corn. Cut and serve chilled.
Notes
If you prefer, use your favorite from scratch classic vanilla cake recipe instead of a boxed cake mix.
For a fruity cake, mix up a small box of orange or lemon jello and pour the liquid jello over the cake instead of the sweetened condensed milk. Chill and frost the cake as directed.
While we made a homemade cream cheese topping, you can use your favorite purchased frosting to frost this cake.
This recipe can be made in a bundt cake pan or into cupcakes, too! Adjust the baking time accordingly.
Store this cake covered in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. We don't recommended freezing this cake since the fresh whipped cream in the frosting can liquify/separate during the thawing process.