My favorite sprinkle-filled cake all dressed up in a decadent black cocoa frosting! This festive Halloween Funfetti Cake cake is perfect for the spooky season!
Halloween Funfetti Cake
It’s officially October and I could not resist creating a cake with black frosting and loads of sprinkles! Halloween seems to bring out the kid in many of us, and this cake does exactly that. It’s loaded with festive sprinkles inside and out and topped with a dark chocolate frosting. And let me tell ya, investing in a $15 bag of black cocoa is worth it. It creates the most beautiful, natural black color in this frosting, and you’ll be able to use it all season long 😉
Here’s What You’ll Need For This Cake
All-purpose flour
Baking soda + baking powder
Salt
Butter (I use plant-based)
Cane sugar
Eggs
Vanilla + almond extracts
Milk (I use oat milk)
Black & orange jimmies sprinkles
Vegetable shortening
Natural cocoa powder
Black cocoa powder
Powdered sugar
More Halloween sprinkles
Let’s Talk Black Frosting
For a Halloween-themed cake, black frosting just makes sense. To avoid using black food coloring (and charcoal powder) I gave this cake a decadent, dark chocolate frosting made with black cocoa powder. Yes, the black cocoa powder is all you need to get that beautiful black frosting! This is the exact cocoa I used for this cake. Since black cocoa has a more bitter flavor than traditional cocoa powder, you will also use natural (regular) cocoa powder in this recipe for maximum chocolate flavor. The powdered sugar will balance out the cocoa to create a delicious and unique chocolate frosting.
It’s important to note that when you first make the frosting it will be a dark gray color. But as the frosting sits, the color darkens. By the time I finished assembling and frosting my cake, the frosting was black, and that’s what you see pictured in these photos. The black cocoa powder is like magic!
Halloween Cookie Recipes
Halloween Charcoal Sprinkle Cookies
Triple Chocolate Inside Out Cookies
Peanut Butter Monster Cookies
Orange White Chocolate Chip Cookies
Halloween Funfetti Cake
A fluffy, moist funfetti sprinkle cake all dressed up for Halloween! With a black cocoa frosting, this grownup version of a childhood favorite will delight both kids and adults.
Ingredients
Funfetti Cake
- 2 2/3 cups (347g) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup (170g) plant-based butter, softened (or regular butter)
- 1 cup (240g) unrefined cane sugar (or 200g/1 cup regular white granulated sugar)
- 3 large eggs, room temp
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 tsp almond extract
- 1 1/2 cups plant-based milk, room temp (or regular milk)
- ~1/2 cup (85g) halloween jimmies sprinkles
Black Cocoa Frosting
- 1 1/2 cups (339g) plant-based butter, softened (or regular butter)
- 1/2 cup (96g) vegetable shortening (or more butter)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup (80g) natural cocoa powder
- 1 cup (112g) black cocoa powder
- 5 cups (600g) powdered sugar
- ~3-4 Tbsp plant-based milk (or regular milk)
Instructions
Make the Cake
- Bring your eggs to room temperature by placing them in a glass of warm water for around 10 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and prepare three 6" cake pans by spraying them with non-stick spray and then placing parchment paper circles in the bottoms.
- In a medium bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; whisk to combine and set aside.
- Prepare the cup of milk and set aside. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then the extracts.
- Beat in 1/3 of the dry ingredients. Beat in 1/2 of the milk. Repeat until, finally, you beat in the final 1/3 of dry ingredients. Beat until batter is smooth and well combined.
- Stir in the sprinkles. Scoop or pour the batter into the prepared cake pans, evenly distributing the batter amongst the three pans (it's best to use a kitchen scale to weigh the batter). Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted into a cake comes out clean).
- Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
Make the Frosting
- Once the cake layers are totally cool to the touch, you can make the frosting. In a large bowl, beat together the butter, shortening, and extract.
- Sift in the cocoa powders and beat. Sift in the powdered sugar and gently beat until mostly combined (it will look dry). Add milk 1 Tbsp at a time, beating each time, until your frosting reaches a thick but spreadable consistency. If it becomes too thin, add more sugar. If it's too thick, add a bit more milk. The frosting will continue to darken in color as it sits, going from dark gray to black.
Assemble the Cake
- If desired, trim the tops of the cake layers with a large knife (I did this). Then begin assembling the cake by stacking the layers, adding an even amount of frosting between the layers. I like to invert the top layer of cake for a flat, smooth top.
- Frost the outside of your cake as desired. I started with a light crumb coat and then smoothed extra frosting around the cake and then on top.
- Decorate your cake however you like! I added frosting stars around the top edge of my cake and extra Halloween sprinkles at the base and around the stars.
Did you make this Halloween Cake?!
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