This Velvet Spice cake with candied pumpkin seeds is truly one of the easiest surprise inside cakes I have done. And now I will show you how you can achieve the same results!
Start by making or purchasing your candied pumpkin seeds. My recipe is here.
Now bake your cake. I used my little ole copper pan that I found at the thrift store.
I just have to apologize in advance… these things are in abundance around here. Every time I go to the thrift store their are dozens to pick from, so I just assumed that was the case for everyone. Well, how silly of me! I was able to find this one on Amazon, and I think it would be a perfect fit for this specific cake.
Make sure the cakes are level. This will help when placing one on top of the other to ensure a snug fit.
Using my handy dandy little cookie cutter, simply find the center of each cake, then gently press the cookie cutter in. This is a guideline of where we are going to remove the cake from to create the hallow center.
Go in and scoop out as much cake as you want. Although I thought a larger cavity would be more realistic in this cake, it just didnt make sense portion wise. I didn’t want someone to get a tiny sliver of cake! So I kept the hole fairy shallow.
Since I was covering the exterior in glaze, I decided to use glaze for the interior as well. I tinted mine brown to match the cake, but it got a bit too red if you ask me. I don’t think its a necessary step for next time. White would have worked fine!
Simply add some candied pumpkin seeds to the cakes. Try to not overfill! To place one cake on top of the other, I place my clean hand flat over the cake, covering the frosting and seeds. Flip it over onto other cake, then gently remove hand.
Pour cinnamon glaze over pumpkin. I poured the glaze on the cake then actually flipped the cake over to make sure the bottom was fully covered. If you did not have a crumbly cake, you can re-use the excess glaze from your pan.
Let first coat set for about 30 minutes, then add additional coats of glaze. I did three total for this cake, but you can do more if you want a smoother, more refined finish.
Keep any excess frosting for drizzling over individual slices of cake.
Ingredients
- 1 2lb bag confectioners sugar
- 1/2-3/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup corn syrup
- 1-2 tbsp cinnamon (more or less to taste)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients until fully incorporated.
- You are going to want a "runny" consistency of glaze.
- If your glaze is thick simply add more milk.
- If you glaze is too thin (like the consistency of water) simply add more powder sugar.
To add the stem, I used the pieces of cake that were removed from the center and mixed it with a little glaze. Form cake into a stem shape and place in center of cake. I did this right after the first coat of glaze.
When cutting into the cake, just maneuver your knife around the seeds, as you do not need to actually cut through them.
Place sliced cake on plate and add extra seeds. You can also drizzle with reserve glaze frosting.
And enjoy! This is such a fun and easy way to really delight your guests this Thanksgiving!
And on that note, I want to say a VERY big Thank You to all the i am baker readers. I have really come to adore you, to look forward to your insights and feedback, and to be inspired by you.
I hope your Thanksgiving is blessed!
you make it look so easy and delicious! I just might give this a go tomorrow! eeek!
xoxo
You are too sweet!
You will do great!
neato! I don’t like pumpkin seeds so maybe I’d fill it with umm chocolate or something
Excellent idea, thanks!
Now THAT is an excellent idea!
That looks wonderful !! At first I thought you were using caramel to hold the layers together, hmmm…
wonder if that would work?
What a brilliant idea!
it always seems so easy when you do it Amanda……….so how ’bout you just make it and bring it to my house for Thanksgiving!
Happy Turkey Day!!
Its a deal!
I love this!! It’s beautiful and so much fun. And I really want some – sounds so tasty! Happy Thanksgiving, Amanda! xoxo
Happy Thanksgiving to you too sweet Brenda!! Hoping to see you at Steph’s in December.
YUM! This looks incredible! What a fantastic holiday treat!
Amazing! So is that wooden cake stand that it’s sitting on in the last picture!!!!!! Thanks so much for sharing!
Thank you! That is actually a candle stand I got at Michaels!
this is a great tutorial amanda! thank you so much for taking the time to share it! happy thanksgiving to you!
This is REALLY REALLY neat! I love how it’s so simple but complex at the same time. And I never knew there was such a thing as candied pumpkin seeds! Wowed me with this one!
Thanks girl! Pretty much say that EVERY time I go to your blog! lol
This is definitely going to be on my Thanksgiving table NEXT year! (After I order the pumpie pan from Amazon!).
Oh yay! Happy Turkey Day!
Love seeing how it all came together! I still crack up over the spilling seeds from the inside
Ha! Me too!
Happy Thanksgiving to you, Amanda!
You too Michelle!
awesome tutorial! I was wondering how you did that. And I am so jealous of your amazing thrift stores! I wish mine carried beautiful copper bakeware like yours
Thanks Ann! Yes, I do think we have a bunch of great thrift stores around here… I frequent them often!
As soon as I get my hands on a nice cake pan like that, I am definately trying this – no matter the season
This is such a good idea! I saw the picture and then I thought that it would be so complicated to make. Great use of the cake pan.
This looks great! I might have to try it out soon.
What a special treat to have a surprise inside a cake! Great tutorial…thank you!
Che meraviglia!
This is such a brilliant idea! So clever, and looking sooo delicious! My kind of thing! Congratulations!
Thanks for the tutorial, you’re brilliant as usual… Wishing you and your family a Blessed Thanksgiving!
giving this a try today, but I dont have a pumpkin pan so i will be making a round cake with maple buttercream so I can pipe leaves all over the cake, so excited!
Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!
What recipe did you use for the cake batter?
Looks festive and yummy. Thank you for sharing.
I will come out of lurking and say awesome surprise cake and Happy Thanksgiving to an inspiring, lovely gal!
Oh my word! You are so creative. I am swooning over here! I am definitely going to put this in my recipes-to-try notes.
Great idea is fantastic, love it, i already print the recipe, by the way i tried to leave a comment on the mixer giveaway but it doesn’t let me.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING, and thanks for all
Wanted to wish you a very happy Thanksgiving and tell you how thankful I am for you – you’ve been an amazing support since the very beginning – thank you. xo
this wasn’t as ridiculously complex as i thought it’d be, but it’s still mighty impressive!
was doing some online shopping….saw this and it reminded me of your blog….
just thought i would share it
http://www.etsy.com/listing/73162218/rainbow-frosted-layer-cake-necklace
btw….I am not connected in any way to this listing….
this is such an amazing idea!
You are so creative Amanda. This is an awesome idea!
HAHA! I adore this! Fantastic!
This is a cool idea. I have seen many shaped copper pans in thrift stores. When I asked the lady at the store, she said you cannot bake in them. Didn’t make sense, but she said they are for jello. I am sure I will be picking them all up when I go next time.
I SO love your new blog look! It’s super cute and the font is amazing. It’s much more fun and clean. Thanks for all your tutorials!
This is so elegantly, beautifully simple to look at, but I adore the hidden surprise of the sweet pumpkin seeds! Just gorgeous when you cut it open. It looks seriously mouthwatering!
This is such a beautiful cake! I didn’t know they had special pumpkin cake pans – I’ve eaten lots of bundt cakes in my life (I’m also from Minnesota – seems to be a normal cake around these parts) and figure you just made two and stacked them on top of each other. I love how you added the pumpkin seeds inside.
P.S. I’ve been reading off and on for quite some time and have never commented. I read your “What Good Bloggers Do” series of post and was struck by the one about readers. I started a blog in August and don’t respond back to people as much as I should, but I love it when others respond to me. Thanks for inspiring me to get back to what blogging is all about – relationships and community. I absolutely love your blog and am so inspired by it! My husband went to school for baking, so it’s something that’s talked a lot about in our household.
Have a great day!
I am so doing this next autumn, wow! It’s so creative!!