I have something very serious to talk with you about today.  There is a great travesty occurring in our nation. A great injustice!  And I cannot, no I WILL NOT sit idly by for one moment longer.

And please forgive my boldness as I callously divert from the true spirit of this blog.  I try so very hard to have fun here.  To keep things light.  But enough is enough.  This has to stop.

Candy Corn Cake & cake decorating tutorial! #cakedecorating #halloween #cake

I am taking a stand.

There is the little tiny candy that I hold near and dear to my heart.  I have loved it from the moment I tried it.

Candy Corn Cake! Full frosting tutorial! #halloween #candycorn #cake

Its candy corn. To be more specific Brach’s Candy Corn.  The REAL stuff.

There is only one real candy corn.

 

That stuff?  Over on the right?  IMPOSTOR.  I dislike them very much.  I dislike them on a crutch.  I dislike them on a spoon.  I dislike them under the moon.  I dislike them all the way to mars and back!  I would not eat them, not for all the money in a sack!

Why oh why are the grocery stores carrying them?  Why do companies even try to replicate the awesomeness that is Brach’s Candy Corn?  It must be stopped!!

(Brach’s has never heard of me, I am seriously just a big -weird- obsessed fan.)

So anyway.  While I dislike the fake version, I have intense adoration for the real stuff. Hence this cake.  Which I am pretty sure has been made a million times before.  Except this is kinda  new way to frost a cake. At least I haven’t seen much of it around, so I figured why not a tutorial?

(A word of warning, this post has numerous images.  Many more than I usually post, so I apologize for any slow loading times!)

CANDY CORN CAKE {cake decorating tutorial}

You will need: (please feel free to substitute a box mix here!)

3 white cake recipes

2 buttercream recipes

Yellow and orange gel food coloring (I use Ateco or Americolor)

9 inch cake pans

#32 tip, pastry bags, coupler set

Rotating Cake Stand (optional)

Prepare cake batter.  Tint one recipe cake batter yellow and place in a prepared 9-inch cake pan.  Prepare another white cake and tint orange; place in prepared 9 inch cake pan.  Make last white cake and place in prepared 9 inch cake pan.  Bake for approximately 10 minutes longer than the recipe directions call for.  When cakes are done baking remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature in pan.  Carefully remove cake from pan and determine which is the shortest cake.  Level all the cakes to that level.

Next came frosting.  There are two full buttercream recipes here, which is a lot of frosting.  Divide one batch equally into two parts then tint one yellow and one orange, trying to match the shade of your cooked cake.  Leave remaining batch of buttercream white.  Cover with plastic wrap until ready to use.

Candy Corn Cake: Frosting Tutorial #halloween #cakedecorating #buttercream

 

Start by placing your yellow cake on the cake stand.  Cover in approximately 1/2 cup of yellow buttercream.  Carefully place orange cake on top.  Cover with approximately 1/2 cup of orange buttercream.  Place white cake on top.  Smooth out an excess frosting.

As you can see above, I chose not to do a crumb coat.  I wanted to be sure I had enough frosting!  With the two recipes of buttercream it turns out I did, so I would recommend covering your cake in a crumb coat of white buttercream.

Great trick for changing out frosting bags when decorating a cake! #cakedecorating #halloween

For the frosting.  My trick is this: (this is a life changer, seriously)

I place ALL my frosting into plastic disposable pastry bags.

I then get a new clean bag with the tip I am using, in this case a #32 tip, and coupler set.

Cut off about 2 inches from the tip of the bag with your first color and place the frosting into the bag with the couple set and #32 tip.

Pipe out decoration and then when the frosting runs out, remove empty frosting bag from bag with tip and coupler.

Grab new frosting bag, cut off tip and drop into bag with tip and coupler.  When you have a new color change out your frosting tip.

Candy Corn Cake Tutorial: the frosting #cakedecorating #halloween #buttercream #cake

Starting with the yellow frosting in the bag with the #32 tip; place your tip at the very base of the cake.  Apply pressure and then swoop UP.  If you are at all uncomfortable with the motion, practice on a piece of parchment paper until it feels right.

At this point you can determine how big you want each dab to be; just try to remain consistent around the entire cake.  Continue this motion around cake until you have completely covered the bottom of the cake.

Candy Corn Cake Tutorial: the frosting #cakedecorating #halloween #buttercream #cake

For the next row, place your frosting tip right in between the dabs from the bottom row.  Repeat the same motion as you did above and do this around the entire cake until you have two full rows of mini scallops.

You will be doing three full rows of yellow, so once you have completed the second row, go back in and do a third in the exact same way.

Remove yellow frosting from your bag with the coupler set.  Change out to a clean #32 tip and then add orange frosting.

Just a note: I pipe one handed and was able to turn my cake around with the other hand.  If you want to make the piping even easier, place cake on a rotating cake stand.

Candy Corn Cake Tutorial: the frosting #cakedecorating #halloween #buttercream #cake

This is how the cake should look at this point. (Of course, yours will be neater since you did a beautiful crumb coat!)

Candy Corn Cake Tutorial: the frosting #cakedecorating #halloween #buttercream #cake

The orange dabs are done in the exact same way as the yellow.  Do one row, go back in and add another row, then finish with a third row.

Candy Corn Cake Tutorial: the frosting #cakedecorating #halloween #buttercream #cake

This is how the orange layer looks when done.  You can see it will overlap onto the white layer of cake and that is great.

Candy Corn Cake Tutorial: the frosting #cakedecorating #halloween #buttercream #cake

If you are anything like me you will want every single dabs to be perfectly uniform and placed just right.  Well, I got over that pretty quick!  In my humble opinion, imperfections are beautiful too.  If you have a dab you dont like, simply remove it carefully then go back in and pipe another one.  This cake is very forgiving!

Candy Corn Cake Tutorial: the frosting #cakedecorating #halloween #buttercream #cake

For the white layer, do the dabs exactly as you have done wit the yellow and orange.  I did two rows of white dabs around the cake.  Looking back at the finished cake I could have fit three in, but didnt.  Be sure to carefully look at your cake and see what will work best.

Candy Corn Cake Tutorial: the frosting #cakedecorating #halloween #buttercream #cake

The third row I started at the very edge of the cake then swooped IN, towards the center of the cake.  I went around the cake until I reached the center.

If you are a faithful iambaker reader you will recognize this technique from this Mini Heart Surprise Inside Cake I did!

Candy Corn Cake: frosting tutorial #halloween #cakedecorating #buttercream #cake

Keep going around and around the cake until you reach the center.

Candy Corn Cake: frosting tutorial #halloween #cakedecorating #buttercream #cake

When you get to the center just take extra cake to make your final dabs as uniform as you can.  Even if they are not its ok, the over effect is still quite lovely.

Candy Corn Cake: frosting tutorial #halloween #cakedecorating #buttercream #cake

And this is how the top looks all completed!  Can you see the reflection of the yellow and orange in the cake server?  I totally planned that. #totalydidnotplanthat

So lets re-cap.  All impostor candy corn is wretchedly bad.  Brach’s candy corn is the real, the best, and the only candy corn allowed in this house!

Candy Corn Cake! #halloween #cakedecorating #buttercream #cake

As you can see, I may have a small obsession with them.  It is my understanding that some people even add peanuts to theirs.  And M&M’s or some such nonsense.  I am afraid this is the dividing line between us.  Difference in political and religious beliefs?  I can handle that.  Nuts in my candy corn?  Get outta here.

No nuts!  No M&M’s!

Candy Corn inspired cake! #cakedecorating #halloween #cake #frostinglesson

Just candy corn.  Lots and lots and lots and lots of CANDY CORN!

And cake.  Always lots of cake.

Candy Corn inspired cake! #halloween #cakedecorating #cake #buttercream #beautifulcakes

My apologies for this longest and most picture heavy post I have ever had the pleasure of assembling.  Please do let me know if you have any questions.

And lets brainstorm for the next cake!  Should we tackle this one for Christmas?  Red, white and green?  Should we take on New Years and make it black, white and gold?  How about Fourth of July with red, white and blue?  How about a rainbow with all the beautiful colors??  The possibilities are endless!  Cant wait for the next one, which you are sure to see very soon!

Candy Corn Cake! #halloween #cakedecorating #buttercream #cake

For the record, I have enjoyed candy corn with salty peanuts before and they were ok.  I may have gotten a little intense up there.;)

Feel free to check out my other Candy Corn Cake!  Its based off of the Indian Candy Corn.

Share with your friends!

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Meet Amanda Rettke

Amanda Rettke is the creator of I Am Baker, and the bestselling author of Surprise Inside Cakes: Amazing Cakes for Every Occasion – With a Little Something Extra Inside.Over the course of her 15+ year blogging adventure, she has been featured in and collaborated with the Food Network, New York Times, LA Times, Country Living Magazine, People Magazine, Epicurious, Brides, Romantic Homes, life:beautiful, Publishers Weekly, The Daily Mail, Star Tribune, The Globe and Mail, DailyCandy, YumSugar, The Knot, The Kitchn, and Parade, to name a few.

Reader Comments

  1. I totally agree about Brach’s Candy Corn!! It is the bomb!! I love candy corn…and there is no comparison to Brach’s!! Like you….I won’t eat any other brand.

  2. This nod to a time-honored candy is beautiful through and through Amanda. I particularly love the fast switch with the pastry bags. Brava!

  3. Beautiful cake Amanda! and I totally agree about Brach’s being the best! ……but I must confess, I do love it with peanuts as well. Think of it as a totally other treat. It tastes just like a Payday, my favorite candy bar!!

    One quick question. What is the purpose of putting the frosting in a second bag? is it just to save time, so you don’t have to stop and fill your bag again?

  4. I envy your patience in decorating cakes……………they’re truly amazing! Ill try and make some one of these days.

    Thanks for the great ideas!

  5. Hi! I’m so excited about this recipe, it looks really great! But i have one question. Is about the cooking time of the batter. When you say to cook 10 min longer than the recipe, by recipe you mean the 8 inch recipe or the original 9 inch recipe from epicurious? Thank You!.
    Is a very didactic and artistic tutorial!

    1. You will want to cook about 10 minutes longer than whatever recipe you use since your entire bowl of batter is going in one pan. 🙂

  6. Amanda, thank you so much for sharing your tutorials and photos of your lovely cakes. I’m only at the beginning and learning something every time I step into the kitchen. Without your generous spirit and diligence, I would not be where I currently am, or have any hope of getting better.

    OK, at this moment, my kitchen is smoking…literally. All was going well, until the cakes started to rise right out of the pan. The whole batch of batter came more than 2/3 up the side of my standard 9″ pan. I thought since I didn’t see any comments about it spilling over here I was safe. Alas, I was not. I yanked out the smoking orange and yellow cakes, scraped off their sides and their tops, cleaned the oven racks and bottom and jiggled them around and put those puppies back in because they were liquid in the middle (after 37 minutes)…they’re baking now (for a second time) but I don’t have much hope. BE CAREFUL NOT TO FILL THE PANS TOO FULL.

    I’m going to have to tackle new cakes again tomorrow (too tired right now) as I need it to fill an order. I’m going to fill the pans no more than half way, or collar them (I haven’t decided which). Has anyone done either of these? Or I could put all the batter in an 8″ fat daddio pan that is twice as tall. This will make a very tall cake though…no?

  7. Loved the recipe!
    Delish.
    Also, I so much enjoy the way you write.
    It’s as if you’re actually “speaking”, conversation-style, which is what I do and always get yelled at!!!
    Typical: “MOM! It’s an e-mail not a phone call” – { … probably why I don’t text or tweet}!
    Sorry, I write w/ my mouth not necessarily my brain which is what gets me me into a whole lotta trouble – always has and I’m far into my 50’s
    But anywho, The cake was fab – not a crumb left.
    Holiday cakes sound like a great idea.

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