Poison Apple Cake
This Poison Apple Cake features tender cake layers in purple and orange covered in neon green cream cheese frosting and decorated with a green apple and chocolate ganache. It’s the ultimate Halloween treat.
When the Halloween season rolls around, we love to make fun desserts and treats to serve when we have friends over. This delicious cake is the perfect Halloween snack to feed a crowd with its classic colors, tender cake, and sweet, cream cheese frosting.
Table of contents
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- The cake is so tender, and the cream cheese frosting is deliciously sweet and tangy.
- It’s loaded with fun Halloween colors.
- It’s a flashy cake that makes a great centerpiece for your Halloween dessert table.
- It looks fancy, but it’s actually very easy to make!
🛒Ingredients
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Cake
- Softened butter
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Milk
- flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Neon lime green, purple, and orange food coloring gel
Frosting
- Softened cream cheese
- Softened butter
- Vanilla extract
- Heavy cream
- Powdered sugar
Ganache
- Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips
- Heavy cream
Decoration
- Washed and dried green apple
- Chocolate sprinkles
See the recipe card below for quantities.
🔪 How to Make Poison Apple Cake
This cake might seem difficult when you look at it, but it’s actually very easy to make. It’s the best kind of cake recipe. It only LOOKS hard.
Step 1: Combine Wet Cake Ingredients
Cream the butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and milk until creamy in a stand mixer.
Step 2: Combine the Dry Ingredients
In another bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together.
Step 3: Make the Cake Batter
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing on low speed until blended. Scrape down the bowl and mix on high until smooth and creamy.
Step 4: Color the Batter
Divide the batter evenly into two bowls. Then, add several drops of purple food coloring to one bowl and several drops of orange food coloring to the other bowl.
Step 5: Bake
Grease and flour two 6-inch cake pans and pour the batter into the pans. Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Then, transfer the cake pans to a wire rack to cool completely.
Step 6: Make the Frosting
Beat the softened butter and cream cheese in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment until smooth and creamy. Then, add the vanilla and heavy cream and mix on low until blended. Finally, add the powdered sugar one cup at a time and blend between each addition, scraping down the bowl as needed, until all powdered sugar has been added and the frosting is thick and creamy.
Step 7: Frost the Cake
Remove the cakes from the pans and place a teaspoon-sized dollop of frosting on a cake plate or stand and place the purple cake layer on top of the frosting. This will hold the cake in place. Generously frost the top of the purple layer, then gently place the orange layer on top of the frosting. Then, frost the entire outside of the cake in a thin layer of frosting until you have a uniform, smooth layer of frosting over the entire cake.
Place the cake in the refrigerator to cool. While you prepare the remaining frosting.
Step 8: Finish Frosting
Add several drops of neon green food coloring to the remaining frosting and stir until it reaches a uniform color. Then, remove the cake from the refrigerator and frost the entire thing with the remaining green frosting. Gently press the chocolate sprinkles around the bottom of the cake and place it back into the refrigerator.
Step 9: Make the Ganache
Place the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and heat at 15-second intervals, stirring between each interval, for 1 minute or until the chips are completely melted. Add the heavy cream to the melted chocolate and stir until it’s smooth and glossy. Add more cream if needed and continue stirring until you have chocolate that looks like glass and is pourable. Allow it to cool completely.
Step 10: Decorate the Cake
Remove the cake from the refrigerator and place the apple in the center of the cake, pressing down gently to seat it in the frosting. Then, pour or spoon the ganache over the apple, allowing it to run down onto the cake. Add a few sprinkles on top and place the cake back in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
📝Variations
Do you want to change up this Poison Apple Cake recipe and make it your own? Here are some ways that you can do that!
- Your Favorite Cake – You can make this recipe using your favorite cake flavor. White, yellow, and vanilla cakes all work well.
- Buttercream Frosting – If you like sweeter frosting, use buttercream.
If you love cakes like this, then check out our chocolate Cosmic Brownie cake.
🥄 Equipment
It only takes a few simple pieces of baking equipment to make this recipe.
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Stand mixer
- Cake pans
- Wire cooling rack
- Frosting knife
- Cake stand
- Microwave-safe bowl
- Spoon
🥫 Storage
Store this cake in the refrigerator for up to 6 days. As always, the cake tastes better the fresher it is.
💭 Tips
- Be sure your butter and cream cheese are fully softened so they incorporate completely when mixed. Otherwise, you’ll have little bits of solid butter and cream cheese in your cake and frosting.
- Always let your cake cool completely before frosting it or the frosting won’t stick.
- Be sure your ganache is completely cool so it doesn’t melt your frosting when you pour it over the cake.
- It’s a good idea to make this cake the day before you plan to serve it to ensure that it’s completely set.
- The ganache will feel very stiff when you first add the cream to the chocolate. That’s okay. Just keep stirring and add a bit of extra cream if needed until you reach that glossy look and pourable consistency.
⁉️ FAQ
Do you have questions about this Poison Apple Cake recipe? Here are the answers to the most commonly asked questions.
Absolutely. It’s all a matter of personal preference.
Store it in the refrigerator for up to 6 days.
If your cake is even a little bit warm, the frosting won’t stick. Be sure it’s completely cooled.
🍽 More Recipes
Do you enjoy apples? Then, try these delicious recipes:
🧾Poison Apple Cake
Want to make this recipe? Print the recipe card below, or pin this recipe, so you can find it later.
📌 PIN IT!!
Poison Apple Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup Butter softened
- 1 ½ cups Sugar
- 3 Eggs
- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla
- 1 cup Milk
- 2 ¼ cups Flour
- 2 ¼ teaspoons Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- Neon Lime Green Food Coloring Gel Purple Food Coloring Gel, Orange Food Coloring Gel
Frosting
- 8 ounces Cream Cheese softened
- ½ cup Butter softened
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- ¼ cup Heavy Cream
- 1 32 ounce Powdered Sugar
Decorate
- 1 Green Apple
- Chocolate Sprinkles
Ganache
- 2 cups Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips
- ½ cup Heavy Cream plus more Cream if needed – see instructions
Instructions
- In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, place the Butter, Sugar, Eggs, Vanilla, and Milk, and blend until creamy.
- In a separate bowl, add the Flour, Baking Powder, and salt, and stir well to mix.
- Add them to the mixing bowl, and mix on low speed until blended.
- Scrape down the bowl, and mix on high until smooth and creamy.
- Divide the Cake Batter evenly into two bowls, and add several drops of Purple Food Coloring Gel to one bowl, and several drops of Orange Food Coloring Gel to the other bowl.
- Grease and flour two 6 inch Cake Pans, and pour the Cake Batter into the pans.
- Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove Cakes to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the Frosting
- Place the softened Butter, and Cream Cheese in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, and mix with the whisk attachment until smooth and creamy.
- Add the Vanilla, and Heavy Cream, and mix on low until blended.
- Add the Powdered Sugar about a cup at a time, blending between additions, and scraping down the mixing bowl as needed, until all the Powdered Sugar has been added, and the Frosting is thick and creamy. (The Frosting should be able to be held upside down on a spoon, and not fall).
- If the Frosting needs to be a little thicker, add another cup of Powdered Sugar
- When Cake is completely cool, remove the cakes from the pans, place a teaspoon size dollop of the Frosting on the Cake Plate, or Cake Stand you are going to serve this Cake on.
- Place the Purple layer on the dollop of Frosting (this will help to keep the cake from sliding, or moving).
- Frost generously on top of the Purple layer (see photo) and gently place the Orange layer on top of the Frosting.
- Frost the sides, and top of both Layers, until you have a good smooth coat of the Frosting on the Cake.
- Place the Cake in the refrigerator.
- Add several drops of the Neon Lime Green Food Coloring to the remaining Frosting, and stir well to blend.
- Remove the Cake from the refrigerator, and Frost the entire cake with the Green Frosting.
- Gently press the Chocolate Sprinkles around the bottom of the Cake. See photo.
- Place the Cake back in the refrigerator.
- Wash/rinse the Apple, and dry with paper towels, set aside.
- In a Microwave safe bowl, place the Chocolate chips, and Microwave for 1 minute, stopping every 15 seconds to stir the Chocolate Chips.
- If Chips are not completely melted, add another 15 seconds, and stir.
- Add the Heavy Cream to the Chocolate Chips, and stir well – this may take a bit of stirring to mix the Cream into the Chocolate, until it’s smooth and glossy, but just keep stirring until you have a smooth, glossy texture to the melted Chocolate.
- Add more Cream if needed, a few drops at a time, until you have melted chocolate that looks like glass, and is pour-able.
- Allow the Chocolate to cool completely, before pouring over the cake.
- Chocolate Ganache will thicken a little as it cools, that’s okay, you can add a few drops of Cream if needed, but you want it a little thick to stay on the Cake.
- Remove the Cake from the refrigerator, and place the Apple in the center of the Cake.
- Pour, or spoon the Ganache over the Apple, and allow the run down onto the Cake.
- Add a few Chocolate Sprinkles on top of Cake.
- Place the Cake back in the refrigerator until time to serve.
- When ready to serve, cut in two inch pieces, Serve, and Enjoy!
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