Halloween Cake Decorations, Ideas & Recipes (2024)

Credit: Oxmoor House

Halloween is the perfect time to break out the creativity, and your Halloween cake is the perfect place to start! Whether you start with boxed cake mix and add fun decoration or let us take you start-to-finish through an amazing Halloween cake recipe, there's something for everyone in this inspiring Halloween cake collection. They taste even better than they look, and take little skill to accomplish. Don't get spooked; give one of our Halloween cakes a try!

Deserted Graveyard Cake

Deserted Graveyard Cake Recipe

Prepare this decadent, chocolate-frostedcakefor a festive Halloween dessert.

mr-Halloween Bundt Cake Image

Halloween Bundt Cake Recipe

This epic bundt-on-bundt cake earns its title by mimicking a children's jack-'o-lantern candy pail at the end of a highly successful night of trick-or-treating. It's guaranteed to be an instant hit at any Halloween party--especially once you cut in and let the haul of candy spill of for your guests. In order to create the full pumpkin pailcake pictured, you will need to double the Pumpkin-Walnut Bundt Cake recipe below to make 2 bundt cakes. For best results, we recommend preparing the 2 batches of cake batter separately, rather than doubling the ingredients listed and dividing the double batch of batter between 2 bundt pans. If you only have 1 bundt cake pan at home, you can prepare your first cake all the way through baking, then clean the pan and prepare the second cake while the first cools on a wire rack. All of that said, this toasty and perfectly spiced fall cake is a delicious, crowd-pleasing treat even without all of the bells and whistles, so preparing just on bundt to enjoy for dessert is a fine way to go. But if you take this route, you will only need half the amount of Cream Cheese Frosting (and you don't necessarily need to color it pumpkin orange).

Boo-tiful Pumpkin Cake

Boo-tiful Pumpkin Cake Recipe

Make two recipes of this pumpkin cake and create your own tasty pumpkin!

Graveyard Cake

Graveyard Cake Recipe

Halloween desserts definitely call for having a little extra fun in the kitchen. This kinda-cute, kinda-creepy Graveyard Cake is easy to make, fun to decorate (so recruit the kids’ help), and is sure to be a perfectly spooky centerpiece for any Halloween dessert table. Black icing transforms store-bought cookies into perfectly-sizedminiature headstones for the chocolate-frosted graveyard cake. And once you’ve placed your headstones, crumble chocolate wafer cookies around each to create “dirt.” Just be sure to make each "gravesite" the serving size you want to ensure easy slicing. Disperse a few candle “lanterns” throughout the chocolaty graveyard and you have the perfect cake for a Halloween birthday party. The classic chocolate cake recipe here is decadent and moist standby, but if you’re in a pinch for time, feel free to use your favorite boxed cake mix instead. Obviously, it’s all about the decorating on for this Halloween-inspired treat.

Spiderweb Spice Cake

Spiderweb Spice Cake Recipe

Colored candies are all you need to transform a chocolate cake into a creepy, crawling Halloween-themed cake. Don't worry, even with the spiders you won't be able to resist this delicious confection.

Mummified Candy-Corn Cake

Mummified Candy-Corn Cake Recipe

This festive candy corn-colored cake is sure to impress your Halloween guests.

Skeleton Cupcakes

Skeleton Cupcakes Recipe

Stop the presses! These too-cute cupcakes are a must-bake for your Halloween party. There's room for creativity on these delicious desserts, so make the faces fun or scary--your choice.

Halloween Kitty Cake

Halloween Kitty Cake Recipe

What a sweet kitty this is! The cake is baked, cut into shapes and then put together to make a purr-fect cake for any Halloween party.

Scissor Fingers Cake

Scissor Fingers Cake Recipe

Just a few little almond slices make these ladyfingers have quite the fingernails!

Cheesy Snake Cake

Cheesy Snake Cake Recipe

This cheesy cake takes on a scary look when a snake slithers across the top!

Pumpkin Toffee Crunch Cheesecake

Pumpkin Toffee Crunch Cheesecake Recipe

Bring Halloween cheer to the dessert table with this too-cuke cheesecake. Keep it simple by preparing just about everything for this cake ahead of time.

Candy Cake

Candy Cake Recipe

Use your favorite leftover candy to make this tasty cake. A bittersweet chocolate icing drizzle brings out the sweet chocolate crunch tucked into the Bundt cake.

Pumpkin Cake image

Pumpkin Cake Recipe

For this festive version of a pumpkin cake, we opted for a "spiced pumpkin" box cake mix, but any box mix will do. Adding powdered sugar to the prepared frosting helps make it thicker and less likely to melt off the cake or get too soft and drippy. It's helpful to use piping bags to get a nicel layer of frosting and then blend together on the pumpkin to get green vines and leaves.

Candy Corn Cake Wedges

Candy Corn Cake Wedges Recipe

Candy corn has never looked so good.

Bat Cake image

Bat Cake Recipe

For the Halloween crafter inside all of this, this simple Halloween sheet cake is a fun, easy dessert to make. Devil’s food cake is very dark chocolaty color, but a red velvet cake would look just as fitting and festive for the bat, too. Piping bags and tips are found in craft stores or specialty baking shops. Be sure to cut the cake rounds in the prescribed order so that the bat’s head with ears comes out as 1 of the cuts.

Orange Angel Food Cupcakes with Candy Corn Buttercream

Orange Angel Food Cupcakes with Candy Corn Buttercream Recipe

This citrus-flavored spin on angel food cake is perfect as the base for colorful Candy Corn frosting! Pile the cupcake high with buttercream and enjoy this Halloween treat.

Pumpkin Cake with Little Ghosts

Pumpkin Cake with Little Ghosts Recipe

Don't let this creepy cake fool you, it's infused with hauntingly-good spices, rich pumpkin flavor, and a decadent chocolate drizzle. Even the little ghosts are edible!