Try This Halloween Cake That’s As Sweet As It Is Cute

Whenever we host a party, we’re torn between our drive to make it beautifully on-theme and — frankly — our sheer laziness. This adorable kitten cake builds off a hassle-free boxed cake, so all you have to do is decorate with goodies like Nestlé BUTTERFINGER® Fun-Size Bars. Itching for an Insta-worthy Halloween dessert that will make your party the talk of the meown? Well this. is. it.

Ingredients
For the cake:
1 15.25-oz cake mix and required ingredients

For the decorations:
8–9 Nestlé BUTTERFINGER® Fun-Size Bars
2 pastry bags or sandwich bags
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted
1/2 cup peanut-butter chips, melted
6 pretzel sticks

For the buttercream:
1 can chocolate fudge frosting
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 oz semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
2 tbsp heavy cream or milk
2–3 tbsp black gel paste food color

Instructions
For the cake:
1. Prepare boxed cake according to package instructions, creating three layers. Let cool.

For the decorations:
1. Carefully scrape the chocolate off Nestlé BUTTERFINGER® Fun-Size Bars. Discard/eat the chocolate and crush the Butterfingers in a food processor.

2. On a large piece of parchment paper, use a pencil to draw two triangles for the cat ears and one smaller triangle for the nose.

3. Fill a pastry bag with melted semisweet chocolate, and cut the very tip off the bag. Flip the parchment paper over, and trace the outline of the two ears with the chocolate; go around twice to ensure a thick outline. Let the chocolate harden before proceeding.

4. Fill a pastry bag with melted peanut-butter chips, and again cut the tip off the bag. Fill in both cat ears with a thin layer of the peanut butter. Immediately sprinkle crushed Butterfingers on top.

5. Trace and fill the cat nose using the melted peanut butter, and immediately sprinkle with more crushed Butterfingers.

6. Dip each of 4 pretzel sticks into the bag filled with melted peanut-butter chips, coating 3/4 of the length. Sprinkle with crushed Butterfingers to make whiskers. Place whiskers alongside the cat ears and nose.

7. Chill the cat ears, nose, and whiskers in the refrigerator until completely hardened, about 2 hours.

8. Once the decorations are hardened, flip the cat ears over to reveal the backside. Dip the 2 undecorated pretzel sticks in leftover melted peanut-butter chips or chocolate, and hold in place against the backs of the cat ears for a good 5 seconds to set. Place all cat parts back in the refrigerator to chill and set completely.

For the buttercream:
1. Add fudge frosting to the bowl of a stand mixer. Cream on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 1–2 minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar 1/2 cup at a time on low speed, gradually increasing to high speed to fully incorporate.

2. Pour melted, cooled chocolate into the bowl; mix on medium speed until combined. Then add heavy cream, and continue mixing until combined.

3. Add food color to achieve desired darkness. Mix to combine on medium-low speed until your preferred buttercream consistency is reached.

Assembly:
1. Place bottom cake layer on a cake turntable, if you have one. Using an offset spatula, spread no more than 1/4 of the buttercream on top. Smooth the buttercream to the edges, and place the second cake layer on top. Repeat with additional buttercream and the third cake layer.

2. Spread the remaining buttercream onto the sides of the cake. No need to smooth it perfectly — any imperfections will mimic cat fur!

3. Get the cat ears, nose, and whiskers from the refrigerator. Stick the cat ears in the top of the cake. Then dot a little of the melted peanut butter onto the back side of the cat nose, and carefully center it on the front of the cake; hold in place for a good 5 seconds.

4. Finally, firmly insert the whiskers into the cake next to the nose, angled upward.

5. Document your creation thoroughly. And enjoy!