Jack-o-Lantern Cake

Check out this pan! It is another for Target by Wilton product and unique with the cut-outs for eyes, nose, and mouth! Imediately I thought of putting Jell-O in those empty spaces.

For this cake, I used Buddy Valastro's Vanilla Cake Recipe, that was on the Rachel Ray Show. This recipe makes enough batter for 2- 9 inch cakes, so I used half the batter for my Mummy Mickey Mouse Cupcakes and the other half for this cake! As the Cake Boss says in his recipe, I allowed the cake to fully cool and reach room temperature while in the pan. After the cake was fully cooled, I traced the pan onto cardboard, cut it out, and covered it in foil to make my cake board. I liked how the rise in the top of the cake turned out, so I left the top of the cake the top.

For the Jell-O inserts: I used the opposite side of the Jack-o-Lantern pan and greased the openings with Wilton Cake Release.  I mixed one 3 ounce size box of Lemon Jell-O with 1 cup of boiling water, stirring until fully mixed. I then poured the hot Jell-O into the pan and refrigerated for about an hour and half. After the Jell-O had set, I loosened the Jell-O shapes with a toothpick and they fell right out.

To insert the Jell-O shapes, I flipped the cake over using another cake board covered in waxed paper and inserted the Jell-O pieces and then flipped it back over onto the first cake board.

I initially tried to use the Wilton #2010 Triple-star tip for the stars on the cake. I found the Triple-star tip difficult to use in tight spaces and around edges. After piping the stars on the side, I switched to Wilton star tip 17 (roughly the same size stars), it is actually much easier to use than piping 3 at a time and it looks a lot nicer!

The vines are with tip 4 and the leaves are tip 352.

Shaped pans are a really easy way to make fun looking cakes for any occasion!

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This cake is shared with:
Bacon Time: Party Mindie Style
Alli N Son: Sweet Tooth Friday
Happy Hour Projects: Freestyle Friday
Mangoes and Chutney: Fat Camp Friday
Tidy Mom: I'm Lovin' It
A Well-Seasoned Life: Sweet Indulgences Sunday
Blissful and Domestic: Let's Party!
The Kurtz Corner: Tuesday Tutorials

This cake is feature at:
Blissful and Domestic: Linky Party Features