Sorry for the flurry of recipe posts but I had some deadlines to meet. I’m entering some Halloween recipe contests.
When I read about a recipe contest, I immediately thought about those pumpkin bread cakes with Nutella filling I previously made using this pan.
I really wanted to make them look like jack-o’-lanterns rather than just pumpkins, so I set about making jack-o’-lanterns.
I changed the recipe up a little. These cakes have a lighter crumb compared to my previous version. The Nutella filling inside is a delicious surprise that works well with the cake.
For the decorations, I used ready-made icing frosting by Betty Crocker that I bought at the store. It even comes with four icing tips including one to make leaves. So used that tip to pipe some green leaves on each pumpkin. Then I took an edible black pen to draw the eyes and the mouth. I think these came out pretty cute while still fitting the Halloween theme. If you want another fun Halloween dessert you might like my Halloween Cupcakes, too!
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Jack-o-lantern Pumpkin Cakes with Nutella Filling
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup Nutella
- green icing (see note)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. In a mixing bowl of a stand mixer, combine sugar, oil, pumpkin and eggs. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon. Add flour mixture to the wet mixture and mix on high speed for about 5 minutes until batter is smooth and no clumps of flour remain.
- Grease pumpkin pan. Spoon batter into each mold until about 1/2 full. Add 2 teaspoons of Nutella into the middle of each mold. Spoon more batter into each mold so that the Nutella is covered and molds are about 2/3 full.
- Bake in preheated oven for approximately 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted on the side comes out clean. If you insert it where the Nutella is, only melted Nutella should cling to the toothpick and not uncooked batter.
- After cakes have cooled, use green icing to pipe leaves on top. Decorate jack-o-lantern faces with edible black pen (see note).
Notes
- Nordic Ware Platinum Collection Pumpkin Patch Pan*
- Edible Black Decorating Pen*
- I used Betty Crocker spray can green icing
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
these are so cute and fun!
This is my go-to dessert for this season. I’ve made them three times already!
Beautiful! It’s creative but easy-to-make. I love it
Yes, I love how easy they are to make. I’m going to make them for a few upcoming Halloween events.
Wow they look so good. Love the little scary faces on them. So cool, not to mention delicious
Aw, thanks! I’m really happy people are liking these. It was a last minute idea that I came up with.
Those pumpkins so cute! I like the smiley face you painted on them! 🙂
I’ll say it again, you must have the biggest/best collection of baking pans ever!!!
When I buy a house, I’m going to look for one with a bigger kitchen and room for my bakeware collection. haha. I like the smiley faced toothy look too. FH was trying to make them look scary but I didn’t think it would work so I went for cute instead.
These look almost too cute to eat! Almost. Those edible black pens are doable! I was afraid you made your own little stencil and found some edible spray paint! Thank you for sharing this. 🙂
Oh yeah, the edible black pens are a lot easier! I thought about piping, but it seemed too hard. I might try a gel icing pen next time. No stencils and sprays for me. I wanted to keep decorations as pain-free as possible.
And I did have a hard time eating these…to tell you the truth, I saved a few undecorated ones to eat. Once I put a face, it’s really hard to eat them.
These turned out really cute! I love the cute details!
Aw thanks! I’m pretty happy with them too.
They are really cute.
Thanks!