Halloween Cake...just a little late

I know Halloween has come and gone but this cake was too good not to

share.....and fun to make! Did I mention easy? Most of my recipes will either be easy to do, copied from another site (and then tried and photographed by me), or made from the box in a hurry. I'm not trying to stake my claim at being the next "top chef" or even a good cook....just having a little fun with cooking for my family. Ok, so here it is:

Jack-O-Lantern Cake

I cheated and used cake mix out of a box. I picked lemon and then used yellow food coloring to brighten it up some....but you can use vanilla, butter cake, or any other flavor mix that won't interfere with the process of dying it yellow. Since I've become a mother I seem to go through a lot more food coloring. It makes everything more fun!

You'll need 2 round cake pans (8 or 9 inches). I still need to invest in a couple round cake pans so for this impulsive adventure I bought the cheap foil kind for around a $1 and they worked great (and made clean up easier). I sprayed the inside of each pan with a little pam, or rub a little vegetable oil in them, and then sprinkle a little flower in the bottom of them. Then you hold the pan in one hand and tilt it to the side while you tap it from underneath, moving it in different directions to coat the pan in flower. I promise it's not nearly as complicated as it sounds and it will make getting the cake out of the pan so much easier.

I also used store bought frosting and colored it with food coloring (using red & yellow to make orange). I bought an over-sized can and then got worried it wouldn't be enough so I added a little shortening and powdered sugar to it (which is a quick way to make frosting). I ended up with way to much so you should be fine with 2 regular cans, or the new over-sized can they have.

After you've baked the 2 cakes you'll dump one out onto a plate and frost the top of it. Then you'll need to dump the other one out but you may want to do that on the (clean) counter or another plate. If you try to dump it out right onto the other cake it might not turn out as planned. Place it on the frosted top of the other cake. Frost the entire cake with the rest of your orange frosting. I used dark chocolate chips (yum!) to make the jack-o-lantern face and topped it off with a little green frosting for a stem. (I made the green frosting out of a little bit of frosting I set aside before dying the rest of it orange). I also put some of the chocolate chips in between the two layers of cake....just because I love chocolate. Have fun with the face and be creative!! My daughter had a lot of fun making this one with me and loved how it looked like a lit-up jack-o-lantern when we cut it open.