If you are looking for an Easy Halloween Chocolate Cake then you need this easy Halloween sheet cake recipe. An easy way to use up leftover Halloween candy and create a beautiful piece perfect for a Halloween party.
The Easy Halloween Cake is a simple chocolate sponge traybake decorated with a rich chocolate cream cheese buttercream. For the easy Halloween cake decoration I used my favourite Halloween sweets.
It’s nearly time for Halloween and I for one needed to make something to use up all my Halloween candy and sweets that I have been buying. There are so many brilliant ghoulish sweets available and I am easily led to buy them. I love having a mix of the sour sweets and soft chewy ones. Plus of course some chocolate because I am a chocolate fiend.
For this bake I wanted to make an easy cake that would travel well for a Halloween party but also look incredible and taste delicious. I opted for am easy chocolate sponge tray bake or sheet cake if you are baking this in America.
This Halloween sheet cake is a perfect way to use up your leftover Halloween candy and a lovely easy Halloween cake to make for a party. No matter the age of the guests it will go down well.
It’s also a great cake that parents can make and allow their children to decorate. It’s a simple chocolate sponge and the chocolate cream cheese buttercream adds a gorgeous soft chocolate topping which isn’t too sweet like normal buttercream.
What do I need for the Easy Halloween Chocolate Cake?
For this Easy Halloween Chocolate cake you only need a few ingredients to make the sponge cake part of the bake.
- Unsalted butter or you can use a baking block like Stork which is what I used for this recipe. It makes light cakes and is always soft and at a malleable texture so easy to mix together with the sugar without having to leave it to warm up to room temperature.
- Light brown soft sugar. Now I used this sugar along with the caster sugar to give a warmer and richer flavour to the cake. It’s only a little amount but it really does make a difference. The Easy Halloween Chocolate Cake will still work perfectly without the light brown soft sugar but if you leave it out, add the extra amount of sugar with caster sugar.
- Caster sugar to give the Halloween traybake sponge some sweetness.
- Eggs make the consistency of the cakes strong and adds structure and stability. It also helps combine the ingredients together.
- Plain flour to bind the ingredients together.
- Cocoa powder – what a chocolate Halloween cake without cocoa powder to give it a rich chocolate flavour.
- Baking powder to help the cake rise and give a beautifully finished bake.
- A small pinch salt to bring out the flavour of the chocolate. You don’t need much but a tiny pinch will help the finished Easy Halloween cake.
- Semi-skimmed milk keep the mixture beautifully smooth and moist once baked.
Easy sponge tray bake
This easy sponge tray bake is exactly that. It’s also lovely easy Halloween cake. Plus with all my recipes it is super easy! It’s a soft sponge cake with added cocoa to give it a rich a delicious chocolate flavour.
For the topping of the easy sponge tray bake I added my favourite cream cheese buttercream. I love this buttercream recipe as it makes a much softer buttercream which isn’t as sweet.
To keep on the chocolate theme running through the cake I added cocoa powder to the cream cheese buttercream too. Oh my gosh it works so well. I was happily licking the spoon and the bowl when I had finished the cake.
This is an easy sponge tray bake recipe and one that you can use for any occasion if you just change the decorations. It’s my go to easy sponge tray bake and I hope it will be yours too.
What candy can I use for Chocolate Halloween Cake?
The best thing about this recipe is that you can use any types of Halloween candy for this cake. I would recommend a mix of sweets and candy. Have some softer chewy ones, some sour candy to make your face go funny, some fruity and even some chocolate too.
What is so great about this Chocolate Halloween cake is that it can be decorated with anything
Easy Chocolate Cake Recipe
This is my go to Easy Chocolate Cake recipe. It’s super easy and you only need one mixing bowl. I usually make it into a traybake but if you want to use it for a normal sponge round cake for a birthday cake or event cane you can. For this amount of mix you could make 2x 8 inch cakes. Then you can use the chocolate cream cheese buttercream on top and sandwiched in the middle. It would be delicious.
For an easy chocolate cake recipe it really easy. You just need one good mixing bowl and a wooden spoon or you can make it a mixer. I hope you enjoy this easy chocolate cake recipe as much as I do.
What size traybake tin do I need for the Halloween Traybake?
For this Easy Halloween traybake you will need a 9 inch by 12 inch rectangular cake tin. If you don’t have a traybake tin you can divide this recipe between two 8 inch cake tins and make it a layer cake instead of a traybake.
You could also half this recipe and do one layer of a cake tin you have, preferably an eight inch cake tin. It still be a sort of a traybake but in a different shape. Still the great tasting easy chocolate cake.
How do I line a traybake tin?
The best way I have found to line a traybake tin is to have a layer of greaseproof paper on top of one of aluminium foil/silver foil. Turn the traybake tin upside down and push the greaseproof paper and then aluminium foil over the tin shape.
The silver foil will help the greaseproof paper hold it’s shape. Turn the tin over and lay the greaseproof paper and silver foil over and you’ve made a liner. Pop it in the rectangle traybake tin and you’re ready to bake.
Amazing Halloween Cakes
There are so many amazing Halloween cakes out there and I think this recipe for my Easy Halloween Chocolate cake gives everyone an opportunity to create an amazing Halloween cakes at home. This cake is a blank canvas for everyone to create their own amazing Halloween cake.
From the simple sheet cake sponge cake you have a chocolate canvas to top in what ever way you like. Add your favourite sweets, your favourite flavours and create a truly iconic cake that no one will have before.
How to make an Easy Halloween Chocolate Cake step by step
Measure our the caster sugar and light brown soft sugar.
Measure out the unsalted butter.
Cream together the sugars and butter until it’s light and fluffy.
Add the eggs and mix together. If it starts to curdle add a tablespoon of plain flour.
Measure out the cocoa powder, plain flour, baking powder and salt.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones.
Give it a good mix until it’s all well combined.
Add in the milk and stir.
Add the cake mix into the prepared cake tin.
Bake for 35-40 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.
Making the chocolate cream cheese buttercream
Measure out and add the butter and icing sugar to a bowl.
Whisk together with an electric whisk until light and fluffy.
Add the cream cheese and whisk until it starts to thicken.
Next, add the cocoa powder and whisk until smooth.
Add the chocolate cream cheese buttercream to the cooled cake.
Smooth over the chocolate buttercream and your chocolate traybake cake is ready to decorate.
What is a sheet cake?
A sheet cake is the American version of a traybake. It’s literally as the name suggests – it is like a sheet. It’s a flat cake usually large and rectangular. Sometimes it’s built up with layers but most often it’s a flat single tier shallow cake with lots of delicious buttercream or frosting on. A sheet cake makes a perfect canvas for a Chocolate Halloween Cake.
What is the difference between a sheet cake and regular cake?
The difference between a sheet cake and a regular cake is that a sheet cake is a wider, thinner, shallower cake usually one layer. It is perfect for large parties when you want something easy to slice. In the UK it’s more well known as a traybake. Scroll down for the Easy Halloween Chocolate Cake which is also a Halloween Sheet cake.
Sheet cakes and traybakes are a great choice for large parties where you want a cake that can be divided up really easily. They are also brilliant as they can be put back in their tin to be transported. My go to cake for picnics.
How do I make a Halloween sheet cake?
Making a sheet cake is very similar to making a normal cake. It’s just how you cook it and what you cook it in. A sheet cake is normally cooked in a shallow large tin giving it, it’s name sheet cake. For this Halloween sheet cake recipe it is an easy sponge tray bake. Add the mix to the prepared rectangle tin and bake just as you would a normal cake.
Halloween Cake Decorations
There are so many different Halloween cake decorations available from supermarkets, cake shops and online. They range from little fun Halloween sprinkles in shiny purple, black, green and orange. To the fabulous gooey sweets that look like skulls and bones.
There are some wonderful and incredibly tasty marshmallows shaped like pumpkins. There are just so many options in decoration this Easy Halloween Chocolate Cake.
I am a huge fan of mixing different sweets. Some sour, some soft, some gooey and some chewy. There is so many ways you can decorate this Easy Halloween candy cake.
Scroll down for the Easy Halloween Chocolate Cake Recipe
Follow me on Instagram to see what I’ve been making recently. www.instagram.com/sewwhite
Check out my other recipes and Halloween recipes below
Halloween Cheesecake – Easy No Bake Recipe
Healthy Halloween Snacks Oranges as Pumpkins
Bleeding Apple Mummy Pastries
Easy Halloween Chocolate Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
- 380 g (13.4 oz) unsalted butter (or baking block like Stork)
- 100 g (0.45 cups) light brown soft sugar
- 250 g (1.25 cups) caster sugar
- 4 medium (4 medium) eggs
- 350 g (2.8 cups) plain flour / all purpose flour
- 60 g (2.12 oz) cocoa powder
- 0.5 teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) baking powder
- small pinch (small pinch) salt
- 150 ml (150 ml) semi skimmed milk
Chocolate Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
- 125 g (4.41 oz) unsalted butter
- 180 g (1.25 cups) icing sugar / confectioners sugar
- 180 g (6.35 oz) cream cheese
- 80 g (0.87 cups) cocoa powder
- Halloween Sweets and Candy
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
- Grease and line a 9 inch by 12 inch traybake cake tin with greaseproof paper.
- In a large mixing bowl cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs and mix in.
- Sieve the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and the salt in to the mixing bowl and mix well together.
- Stir in the milk and add some flour if the mix starts to separate.
- Pour the mix into the prepared tin and level out. Gently tap the tin on the worktop to remove any air bubbles.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes until the centre of the cake is cooked – use a cake tester or skewer to check. If the tester comes out clean the cake is cooked. If it has pieces of uncooked cake on, leave the cake to cook for a few minutes more and test again.
- Leave in the tin to cool for 30 minutes and then remove from the tin to cool completely.
Chocolate Cream Cheese Buttercream
- Make sure the unsalted butter is at room temperature as it will help make it a lot easier to make.
- Using a hand mixer, mix the butter and icing sugar.
- Add the cream cheese and create a smooth mix.
- Sieve in the cocoa powder and mix in. If the mix is very thick add a splash of milk and mix again.
- Smear the chocolate cream cheese buttercream thickly over the cold cake.
- Decorate with your favourite Halloween candy and sweets.
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that the nutrition information provided above is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
Easy Halloween Chocolate Cake, Halloween Sheet Cake, Halloween Traybake, Halloween Sweet Cake, Chocolate Halloween Cake , Easy Halloween cake,
I made this cake and decorated with leftover Halloween candy and it was such a hit! Thanks for the easy recipe!
Thank you so much Sue <3 I'm glad it was enjoyed so much.
This is so creative. Love the cute toppings and the chocolate cake looks delicious. Perfect for the festivity.
Thank you so much <3
I love how quick and easy this is and how great it looks! Such a delicious Halloween treat.
Thank you. So simple to make and it looks good too.
How cute is this! It looks like a great way to use up all the leftover sweets we have from Halloween.
Thank you Dannii, I love this way to use up the sweets. Although I think I ate most while putting them on the cake!
Such a great cake for Halloween! Bookmarking it for next year for sure! x
I hope you enjoy it!