This festive candy corn cake is made with real candy corn for the best true flavor! Swirled in candy corn colors, this soft and moist poke cake is soaked with a candy corn-infused syrup, then topped off with a luscious whipped cream cheese frosting. It’s the perfect Halloween cake — so tasty and festive!
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Test Kitchen Approved
Kerri
This cake honestly tastes like candy corn without being too sweet! The cake was super moist and fluffy, and the whipped frosting was the perfect way to finish it off. Bonus: Making the cake and the candy corn simple syrup was super easy!
Why This Is Our Favorite Halloween Cake
When I started thinking of fun dessert ideas for our annual Halloween party, I knew I wanted to try to make a real candy corn cake made with the actual candy! Most candy corn cake recipes I found were colored in yellow, white, and orange, but did not have any real candy corn flavor. By soaking the cake in a homemade candy corn simple syrup, I was able to infuse the cake so it really *tastes* like candy corn! Here’s why I know you’re going to love this cake:
- Real Candy Corn Flavor: The easy homemade candy corn syrup adds a special, nostalgic real candy corn flavor to every bite!
- Moist Texture: Thanks to the poke cake method, this tender cake stays extra moist, soaking in all that syrupy goodness.
- Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting: The fluffy frosting is so light, slightly tangy, and perfectly complements the sweet candy corn cake.
- Great for Parties: This cake serves a crowd, and you can prepare it a day ahead, and the festive colors make it an ideal dessert for Halloween parties or fall gatherings!
Looking for more Halloween themed sweet treats? Check out these pumpkin pie pops, homemade Halloween cocoa bombs, or easy Halloween chex mix!
Key Ingredients
Below you will find helpful notes for key ingredients used to make this recipe for candy corn cake. Scroll down to the recipe card below for the full ingredient list and exact amounts!
- Candy Corn: Avoid the chocolate style harvest candy corn and stick with the classic yellow, orange, and white candy corn for the best flavor.
- White Cake Mix: While you can use a box of yellow cake mix instead, I recommend using white cake mix to keep the classic white, yellow and orange coloring.
- Mayonnaise: You can also use yogurt or sour cream, but it is a secret weapon to keeping your cake extra moist!
- Gel Food Coloring: Always use icing or gel food coloring to get the most vibrant shades of yellow and orange. If you use regular food coloring, you will need to use more to reach your desired color.
- Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting: While I think this light and fluffy frosting really *makes* this candy corn cake, you could use cool whip if you prefer.
How To Make This Candy Corn Cake
This easy Halloween cake recipe comes together with a few simple steps! Below is a quick recipe overview, but please scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full instructions and to watch the step-by-step video.
- Make the candy corn syrup: Heat candy corn and water in pan, stirring occasionally, until candy corn is fully melted. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
- Make the cake batter: Whisk to combine cake mix, eggs, egg yolk, whole milk, melted butter, vanilla and mayo.
- Dye the batter: Separate batter into 3 bowls. Use food coloring to make one bowl yellow, one bowl orange, and leave one bowl white.
- Assemble the cake: Pour each color in a 9×13 baking dish – yellow on one side, the orange on the other side, then the white down the middle. Use a butter knife to gently swirl the colors together.
- Bake and make candy corn mixture: Bake cake for 24 to 26 minutes. With 5 minutes of bake time left, pour the sweetened condensed milk into the candy corn simple syrup. Heat over low heat and stir until incorporated.
- Poke and pour: Once cake is done baking, remove from oven. Poke holes all over the surface of the still warm cake. Then, pour the candy corn syrup mixture all over the top. Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting.
- Frost the cake: Once the cake is completely cooled to room temperature, top it with whipped cream cheese frosting.
- Chill cake: Cover and refrigerate the cake for at least 2 hours, or better yet overnight. This helps the cake soften and meld together, it’s an important step!
- Garnish and serve: When ready to serve, top the cake with candy corn and slice into pieces! Enjoy!
Chef’s Tips and Variations
- Poke Cake: Be generous with the poking to ensure the syrup gets into every nook and cranny of the cake. Also make sure to do this while it is warm, fresh out of the oven!
- Layering the Colors: For distinct cake layers instead of a swirled look, freeze the batter in between each color layer for about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Decorating: Add the candy corn just before serving to prevent the colors from running on top of the icing. You can also use festive fall sprinkles instead!
- Let it Chill: While you may be tempted to serve this candy corn cake right away, let it chill for 8 hours for best results. It makes a big difference to its final texture and taste!
How To Make Ahead and Store
- Make Ahead: This is a great make ahead cake, as it tastes best after chilling in the fridge! Assemble it completely, and wrap it tightly with foil or plastic wrap. Do not garnish with the candy corn until serving as the colors will bleed onto the white icing.
- Store: Cover your Halloween cake tightly with foil or plastic wrap, or transfer it to an airtight container. Store in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Yield: 12 servings
Best Candy Corn Cake (Halloween Cake)
This festive, soft, and moist Candy Corn Cake recipe is soaked with a homemade candy corn syrup and topped with whipped cream cheese frosting! It's the perfect Halloween cake — so tasty and festive!⭐️Test Kitchen Approved!⭐️
Ingredients
Candy Corn Simple Syrup
- ⅓ cup candy corn
- ⅓ cup water
Cake
- 1 (14.25 oz) box white cake mix, dry mix only
- 3 eggs + 1 egg yolk
- ¾ cup whole milk
- ½ cup (1 stick) melted butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste, or vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise, sour cream, or yogurt
- ¼ teaspoon yellow gel food coloring, optional
- ¼ teaspoons orange gel food coloring, optional
- 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 batch whipped cream cheese frosting
- candy corn, optional garnish
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13 baking dish and set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, over medium-low heat, add candy corn and water. Stir occasionally until candy corn is fully melted and combined with the water. Then remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Do not take the simple syrup out of the saucepan.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk to combine the cake mix, eggs, egg yolk, whole milk, melted butter, vanilla bean paste and mayonnaise. Mix until thoroughly combined.
- Separate batter into 3 bowls. Approximately 1 1/3 cups of batter for each color. Use food coloring to make a bowl of yellow batter, one of orange batter, and leave one white batter. Make sure to mix each color thoroughly.
- Carefully pour each color length wise in the baking dish – yellow on one side, the orange on the other side, then the white down the center. Take a butter knife and gently swirl the colors together, being careful not to over mix the colors. Gently shimmy the baking dish front-to-back, side-to-side to ensure even distribution of the batter.
- Bake cake on the middle rack, for 24 to 26 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
- With 5 minutes left for baking the cake, pour the sweetened condensed milk into the candy corn simple syrup still in the saucepan. Heat over low heat, stirring until simple syrup is fully incorporated.
- Once cake is done baking, remove from oven and set on a protected level surface. Using a fork or a toothpick, immediately poke holes all over the surface of the cake. Then, pour the candy corn syrup mixture evenly over the top of the cake. Allow cake to fully cool and the liquid to soak into the cake before frosting.
- Once cake is completely cooled to room temperature, frost the cake with whipped cream cheese frosting. Then cover and refrigerate the cake for at least 2 hours, or for best results overnight, to allow the cake to soak up all the syrup and fully soak up the syrup. Top cake with candy corn right before serving and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Store: Cover cake tightly or transfer to an airtight container to retain moisture and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Make Ahead: This is a great make ahead cake, as it tastes best after chilling in the fridge for up to 24 hours! Assemble it completely, and wrap it tightly with foil or plastic wrap, but do not garnish with the candy corn until serving.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 slice, Calories: 711kcal, Carbohydrates: 106g, Protein: 6g, Fat: 30g, Saturated Fat: 12g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g, Monounsaturated Fat: 7g, Trans Fat: 0.5g, Cholesterol: 83mg, Sodium: 537mg, Potassium: 215mg, Fiber: 0.3g, Sugar: 91g, Vitamin A: 430IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 194mg, Iron: 1mg
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