Chocolate and Pumpkin Black Flame Candle Cake

I had to get you a special little Halloween treat, Chocolate and Pumpkin Black Flame Candle Cake. If you don’t know, Hocus Pocus is my absolute favorite Halloween movie. Oh, I guess it’s tied for first with The Nightmare Before Christmas. Which is why, when I was debating between doing a Hocus Pocus cake or a Nightmare Before Christmas cake, I took to Instagram with it’s nifty new feature to take polls.

I cannot make decisions on my own. That much has been well documented.

BTW this is all I had to go off of when making this cake… Had to use my imagination a bit.

Reasons you should watch Hocus Pocus if you haven’t already

• Tapered jeans, bowl cuts, drum sets, Sarah Jessica Parker… takes you back to 1993.
• A classic tale of a Brother/Sister relationship that will make you laugh, cry, but mainly think that Danny is a very annoying younger sister that get’s away with too much.
• Bette Midler is a comedic genius.
• A big bowl of dry-ice and glow sticks will make you think the witches are really brewing something special.
• Binx, the talking cat, is played by Dana’s boyfriend, Rich (or Jason Marsden). Remember? How amazing was their love on Step by Step.
• The movie will make you crave a classic 90’s dinner like tater tot casserole. But like a real one, with ground beef and cream of mushroom soup. None of that made from scratch stuff.
• One of the bullies in the movie looks and sounds like he could be the missing Franco brother. Very spooky.

All right, let’s talk nitty-gritty.

If you use a marshmallow fondant to make the flame, you will want to let it set for at least 24 hours. If you use a classic fondant, you should be fine with a few hours. I cut my flame free form and left enough room at the bottom to fold it around a dowel.

Last piece of advice, make sure a virgin by the name of Zach Denison lights it and summons the Sanderson sisters on All Hallows Eve.

I painted the fondant with Americolor black with a sprinkling of cocoa powder to thicken the mixture a bit. If you don’t have black, then used all three primary colors and add cocoa powder until it’s a paint consistency. Then I used some Lustre dust with almond extract to paint the rest of the flame. Feel free to use yellow or orange or gold if you don’t have lustre dust on hand.

The cake though!!!!!! It really makes it! It’s made with two different batters, YUM. A fluffy rich chocolate cake and a creamy, spicy, pumpkin cake that swirl together to make the perfect black flame candle cake. Honestly if all you do is make this cake into a sheet cake, I’ll be happy!!

Plus it’s pretty, so…. thriving.

I baked the cake in four 6-inch rounds. They are my favorite cake pans!! It’s the perfect size for a tall elegant cake that still has enough weight so it won’t topple over when you cut into it. There is no use for an un-cuttable cake, Instagram.

Personally, I prefer an Italian meringue buttercream, however, you need a sturdy American buttercream to do all the fun things with this cake. However, if you just want to frost this delicious cake with a black candle on top? Feel free to use your favorite frosting. Might I suggest cream cheese frosting????

Really, this is just a prototype for you all to do your own thing. Have fun with it! Treat it like you’re carving a pumpkin! Drip more white chocolate, leave it out! Add more detail in the painting, use none! The best advice I can give is to let it take you where it goes. It’s supposed to be an old creepy candle not a perfect cake! The only wrong thing you can do with this cake is not tell me about it.

Now get on your brooms, er, vacuums, er, Roombas and get to it!

If you make this cake, I really, really, really want to know! Please tag your photos on Instagram with @oliveandartisan or send me an e-mail, write a comment or smoke signal! I just gotta know.

Chocolate and Pumpkin Black Flame Candle Cake

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This Hocus Pocus-themed Chocolate and Pumpkin Black Flame Candle Cake is as delicious as it is themed! Your Halloween guests will thank you.

• Author: Karlee Flores
• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 27 minutes
• Total Time: 57 minutes
• Yield: 10 servings

Ingredients

|| Chocolate Cake ||

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup brewed black coffee

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup buttermilk

|| Pumpkin Cake ||

1/3 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon all spice

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup buttermilk

|| Buttercream Frosting ||

2 cups butter

2 teaspoons vanilla

8 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons cream

Coloring – Americolor

-for the drip-

1 cup white chocolate

1/4 cup heavy cream

Coloring – ivory Americolor

|| Paint ||

1/2 tsp Americolor terracotta

3 drops Americolor fog

1/4 tsp cocoa powder 

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease four 6-inch pans.

|| Chocolate Cake || Place the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda in a standing mixer with a whisk attachment. Mix on low until combined. Add the rest of the chocolate cake ingredients, and mix again on low for 1 minute. Turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides. Mix again on low for 1 minute. Pour into another bowl and set aside. Wash mixing bowl.

|| Pumpkin Cake || Place the pumpkin puree, vegetable oil, sugar, and eggs in a standing mixer and mix on low until combined. Add the vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, all spice, and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder together then add it to the pumpkin mixture. Mix until combined, and then add the buttermilk while still mixing on low for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides, and then mix on medium speed for 1 minute. 

With a large cookie scoop, add one scoop of pumpkin batter to each cake pan. Add one scoop of chocolate batter in each of the cake pans. Repeat this step until both batters have been used completely. 

Bake for 25-27 minutes. Let the cakes cool in their pans for 10 minutes before removing from pans and placing on a cooling rack.

|| Buttercream Frosting || In a standing mixer with a paddle attachment, mix the butter and vanilla until soft, add the powdered sugar, and mix until smooth. Add the cream and continue to mix until your desired texture. Add more cream if needed. Add 2 drops of Ivory Americolor food coloring.

|| White Chocolate Drip || Melt the white chocolate and the cream together in the microwave 30 seconds at a time, mixing between zaps until completely melted. 

Mix the painting mixture together until it’s slightly thinner than oil paints. Or about the consistency of BBQ sauce. 

Keywords: Halloween, Hocus Pocus, cake, chocolate, pumpkin