Halloween Bucket Cake

This year, instead of making the same old Halloween cake, mix it up with this fun idea. Using inspiration from an Easter Basket from several years back, I decided to make a candy bucket. It's actually pretty simple to construct and can be made with fondant or icing, whichever you prefer.

Note: Sorry for the lack of photos, my camera sketched out on me and wouldn't let me load photos to my computer. With that said, I snapped some shots with my phone, so at least you can see the final product!

You will need:

• 4 round, 8inch cakes ~ 2 cake mixes
• Roughly 2 cups of your favourite Icing
• Fondant (I bought pre-made at a local cake shop - if you're in St. John's, NL you can find it at bulk barn, Michael's & Stockwoods)
• Note: You can purchase pre-dyed fondant in some locations, but if they don't have the colour you're looking for, or if they only have white available, you will also need orange gel to dye the base and black gel for the handle, see instructions below.
• Bag of 20 or so of your fav Halloween treat mix (or if you lack willpower, 20 or so of your least fav so they actually make it to the cake)
• A strip of cardboard to cover with fondant - I cut a strip from a flattened cereal box
• Glitter gel icing for decorating the face or alternately you can use black fondant.

The Inspiration!

Instructions:
1) Prepare, bake and cool cakes. If lopsided, cut the cakes so they rest evenly.

2) Next, ice your cake by placing relatively thick layers of icing between each layer of cake, as well as a thin layer of icing on the top and sides. Since you will be covering it with fondant, it doesn't need to be perfect, it's more-or-less a layer to keep the fondant in place.

4) If you've purchased white fondant, you'll need to dye it orange. Wilton provides great fondant tips, so be sure to check them out! This cake was actually my very first fondant attempt ever and I have to admit, it's pretty easy to work with. Once fondant has been dyed and rolled, apply to your cake.

5) Create a slight well in the top of the cake using your palm. Next, using your fingers, create the grooves in the pumpkin.

6) Finally, add the finishing touches to your cake. Wipe down the candy wrappers with a damp cloth (to clean away any germs) and position them in the well. Use decorating gel or black fondant - create the jack-o-lantern's face. Then roll-out and cover your cardboard in black fondant before adding to the cake.

The final product

better shot of the top!

As I mentioned, this was my first time working with fondant and it was super fun! Turns out I'm pretty 'fond' of it ;)