25 Best Halloween Cake Ideas from Simple to Spectacular

This gorgeous Halloween sheet cake has us channeling our inner Linus! Bake it up and then watch the classic It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, with your kids this year.

Get the recipe for Halloween Pumpkin Patch Cake.

This stunning cake is actually pretty easy to make, with chocolate "ears" and whiskers made of licorice. But it's the dark chocolate buttercream frosting that'll guarantee people coming back for a second slice.

Get the recipe for Black Cat Cake.

Forget frosting—a smart stencil and some powdered sugar is all this super flavorful cake needs for decoration.

Get the recipe for Spiced Pumpkin-Molasses Cake.

Up for a real-deal Halloween baking challenge? We've got one for you right here—and it's just as rewarding as it looks. This creepy construction is built using not one, but two cakes...and it's decorated with the works.

Get the recipe for Towering Haunted House Cake.

This sheet cake, complete with sifted cocoa powder tracks, is perfect for a murder-mystery Halloween party.

Get the recipe for Follow-the-Footprints Malted Sheet Cake.

The eye-catching "Help Me!" cake is simply a store-bought white cake with a few dark twists. (Talk about hands-off!)Start with a store-bought frosted layer cake. Cut out a pair of arms and hands in black craft paper and tape to skewers to help them stand upright. Pile on a mound of "dirt"— crumbled chocolate cookies—to give it that "buried alive" vibe. Top vanilla-frosted cupcakes with edible fondant raven feathers. For an extra hair-raising element, add plastic critters around the cake.

Get the recipe for buttercream.

Give a round cake real bite with our snake template and black nonpareils. You can use a store-bought cake or make your own cake and buttercream, using the recipes below. Then just print the template; place your printout beneath a sheet of parchment and trace the snake design. Cut parchment as indicated on the template to create a stencil, and fill in the stencil with nonpareiles!

Download the snake template.

Get the recipe for buttercream.

Get the recipe for vanilla cake.

Weave a tangled web—from melted marshmallows—for this elegantly eerie dessert.

Get the recipe for Cobweb-Covered Spider Cake.

The key to these little sandwich cakes: cookie cutters!

Get the recipe for Trick-or-Treat Cake Sandwiches.

Channeling this professional-looking sheet cake is much simpler than it appears.

Get the recipe for Ouija Board Cake.

A simple chocolate cake gets added snack appeal from bat-shaped sugar cookies.

Get the recipe for Moon Cake.

All you need to create this dazzling cake is boxed cake mix, store-bought frosting, and black sanding sugar.

Get the recipe for Spider Cake.

Making this simple Halloween graveyard cake is so easy it doesn't even need a recipe!

Get the recipe for Grave Intentions Cake.

This little labyrinth takes the cake when it comes to speedy assembly time.

Get the recipe for Labyrinth Halloween Cake.

No bones about it, this scene's painless to produce. The essential tool? A box of white fondant.

Get the recipe for X-Ray Cake.

A touch of pumpkin gives this bewitching cake a look and taste that reflects the season.

Get the recipe for chocolate Pumpkin Cake.

All you need is a toothpick and about 30 seconds to turn this classic chocolate cake into a Halloween treat.

Get the recipe for Chocolate Cake with Frosting Web.

Even the most superstitious guest will enjoy crossing paths with this black cat, crafted from sparkling sugar.

To assemble the stenciled layer cake, fill and frost two 8-inch-round layers with your favorite icing, leaving a smooth surface. Roll out black fondant, into a 1/8-inch-thick sheet, and with a ruler as a guide, cut three strips long enough to wrap around the cake's circumference; adhere, using extra dabs of icing, if needed.

Re-create this black cat silhouette by downloading our super-simple stencil. Chill the cake, then immediately before serving, center the stencil on top. Fill in the stencil with black sanding sugar, leaving the edges a little messy for a spooky effect. Add a candy-coated sunflower seed (find a variety at sunflowerfoodcompany.com) or half a yellow M&M for the cat's eye.

Get the black cat stencil.

This towering pumpkin patch begins as three cakes in graduated sizes, with three generous layers of buttercream that escape temptingly toward the tiers' edges.

Get the recipe for Pumpkin Spice Pecan Cake with Honey Spice Buttercream.

This cake is sure to equally delight and spook your Halloween party guests! With a red ganache and bats made of chocolate, it's fun for the whole family.

Get the recipe for Vampire Bat Cake at Cookies and Cups.