Halloween Pumpkin Cake

Betty's Easy Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C for fan assisted ovens)/Gas Mark 4. Grease and line the base of a 1.5 litre ovenproof Pyrex glass bowl.
2. Make up 1 box of cake mix using the oil, water and eggs called for on the pack instructions. Pour the cake mixture into the bowl and level the top.
3. Bake in the centre of the oven for 1 hour 5 minutes-1 hour 10 minutes or until a round bladed knife inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn the bowl over onto the wire rack and leave the cake to fall out of the bowl naturally. Remove the bowl and leave the cake to cool fully. Peel off the baking paper.
4. Grease and line the cooled bowl again. Make up the second box of cake mix with the remaining vegetable oil, water and eggs according to the pack instructions, and bake as before in the bowl using the instructions above.
5. Carefully trim the top of each cake, to create a level surface for them to stick together. Also trim 1 cake on the smaller end so it has a larger base to sit on the cake board. Place this cake onto the cake board with the trimmed smaller end cut-side down.
6. In a small bowl, colour 100g of the icing with enough green food colouring to give a bright green colour and set aside. In a medium bowl, colour the remaining icing with the orange food colouring until it is bright orange.

Betty's Tips

• Flavour the cake mix with orange zest for a citrus hit!
• As food colouring gels and pastes can vary in strength, use as much as you need to get the bright, strong colours required for the orange pumpkin cake and green leaves and tendrils.