Suprise Pumpkin Cake

You will need:2 boxes Devils Food Cake

1 box white cake
3 cans white frosting (you can choose flavor)
1 golf ball sized portion of fondant
Orange, Green, Yellow and Black food coloring
Small round cookie cutter

I started out by making the white cake mix.  I am going to need only two cupcakes for this recipes, but I usually make four just in case I make a mistake along the way.  I do that a lot.  I used the remaining batter and make little cuppies.

But!  Before you use all that white batter, save about 1/2 cup.  Add 1-2 drops yellow food coloring and then make two yellow cupcakes.

I then baked four 8in (you can do 9in as well) round devils food cakes.  I stacked THREE of the layers, frosted between each layer and then frosted the outside.

You do NOT have to frost the outside.  I do not know why I did.  I was so, so foolish

Put it in the freezer for 15-30 minutes or in the refrigerator for a couple hours, or up to overnight.

Then get out your handy dandy small round cookie cutter

I think a good size would be just slightly smaller then the base of a cupcake.

Using your cookie cutter, find the center of your cake and press the cutter all the way to the bottom.  You will need to remove the excess cake, and I usually just use a spoon.

I then take the fourth devils food layer and cut out a V shaped potion out of the top.  This will be the 'flame' to our candle

Then take two white cupcakes, cut off any brown edges, and carefully insert them into the center of the devils food cake.  This is going to be the candle.

Now, place the fourth devils food layer on top.  Grab a yellow cupcake and shape the top in a V pattern.  Then just plop it onto the top!  The V part will be our 'flame" and the base of the cupcake will be our pumpkin stem

Now throw that in the freezer for a few minutes or in the fridge for an hour to get nice a firm.  Your next step is to carve your pumpkin shape!

I have seen this cake baked with casserole dishes to get the perfect shape for the pumpkin

You can either chill your cake again (I did) or start with your crumb coat.  This is a layer of frosting that is used to help keep all the crumbs from showing on your final coat.

Take two or two and a half cans of frosting and place in a bowl.  Add a few drops of orange food coloring until you get the desired color.  You are now ready to frost!

I also grabbed about a 1/2 cup of frosting and added green food coloring.  This is for the stem and all the swirly vines I love to add.

To get the perfect jack-o-lantern face, I have found that using fondant works really well.  I just took a small amount, added black food coloring, then rolled it out on a non-stick surface. (you can always add some corn starch below the fondant to ensure it doesn't stick)

Now, find your ideal jack-o-lantern face!  (you can do a search on google and find thousands) Print one off the internet and just trace onto your fondant or freehand one.  If you screw up, just re-roll your fondant and start over!

And here is the inside of our candle lit jack-o-lantern cake!  Fun huh?  And pretty simple to do.