Chocolate Funfetti Halloween Cake

So, I promised a coworker I'd make a Halloween cake for her party she was having for some kids in her neighborhood.  I had it all planned out.  It was going to be a sheet cake with all kinds of spooky decorations.  A graveyard, ghosts, spooky trees....  Then, life happened.  I completely ran out of time.  Being a single mother to a toddler can be a little difficult and sometimes you feel like some crazy circus juggler with everything that seems to come up at once.  So, that being said, I did make her a cake but it was a lot smaller and less fancy.  I still think it came out cute and so did she, so we're all happy.

I ended up just doing 2 box cake mixes (don't judge me) that were Devil's Food Cake and Funfetti.  It was very simple and, when in a pinch, this is not a bad way to go.  For the frosting, I went with a store bought Chocolate frosting (please, please don't judge....).  Obviously, I wasn't able to sample the cake being given away but there was enough batter left over that I was able to make a mini cake for my daughter and I to enjoy and it really didn't turn out bad at all.

my favorite box mix brand when I'm short on time

Down to the details...

I made this cake in a bundt pan.  If you don't have one, I suggest adding it to your stock because they just make really fun shaped cakes. =)

I started out by pouring about 1/2 of the Devil's Food cake batter into a well greased pan.  I use Pam for Baking.  On top of that, I poured in about 1/2 of the Funfetti that I added Wilton's Orange Food Coloring to so that the cake would be Halloween colors.  I wanted to add black to the Devil's Food cake but Michael's was all out. Brown and Orange work, though..  When you cut into the cake, it has a bit of a swirl to it and looks pretty cool.  Fun for a kids party. I baked according to package directions for the Bundt cake.

As for decorating, once cooled, I frosted completely with Chocolate frosting.  I thought I'd get creative and make homemade marshmallow fondant.  WHAT A DISASTER!  Not only did I have a 2 year old trying to help me out but I ran out of powdered sugar!  How did I not have any powdered sugar!  I always have it!!  So, I made my own.  Sugar in a food processor will turn into powder but I don't think I was patient enough because it wasn't powdery enough.  It was a big mess.  I finally got it to a point where it was somewhat workable and ended up just cutting out a couple of ghosts to stick onto the cake.  Never again... Or at least not for a long time..

what a mess!

By the end of the day, although the cake turned out fine, I was so happy to get it out of my hands and into the hands of the kids who would devour it!