Moon Cake

          
By Good Housekeping

This bewitching dessert entrances with a dazzling dark blue sky and fun fondant characters, which conceal a delicious surprise inside: moist poundcake spread with creamy vanilla frosting.

Level: Easy

Serves: 12

Ingredients

• 1 box poundcake mix (we used Betty Crocker)
• .67 c. water
• ½ stick butter
• 2 large eggs
• 1 can vanilla frosting
• Royal blue and black gel food color
• white decorating sugar
• 1½ c. ready-to-use white rolled fondant
• You’ll also need: latex or vinyl gloves, witch and small bat cookie cutters, toothpicks or skewers

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Directions

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Coat two 9-in. round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray. Line bottoms with wax paper and coat with spray.
2. Combine cake mix, water, butter and eggs in a large bowl (ignore directions on box). Beat at low speed with electric mixer 20 seconds to combine. Increase speed to medium and continue beating for 2 minutes. Divide and spread evenly into prepared pans.
3. Bake 33 to 37 minutes until wooden pick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack 10 minutes; invert cakes onto rack, remove paper and let cool completely.
4. Tint frosting with blue and black food gel until desired color (the color will deepen as it sets). Spread 1⁄2 cup of tinted frosting onto top of one cake layer. Place other cake layer on top.
5. Cut a 2-in.-thick strip off a rounded edge of cake and save; this will support the cake when it stands up. Frost the top and sides of cake, then the cut strip, with remaining frosting. Sprinkle sugar onto cake.
6. Using a large spatula, tilt cake to stand up on cut edge and place trimmed piece of cake cut-side down behind cake, using toothpicks or skewers to secure.
7. Divide fondant in half. (When not using, cover in plastic to keep it from drying out.) Put on gloves. Tint half of fondant black with gel food color: Using your hands, work gel into fondant until evenly colored. Roll out black fondant into a 6-in. circle. Using cookie cutters, cut out a witch and several bats. Cover cutouts with plastic wrap.
8. Roll white fondant out to an 8 x 5-in. rectangle. Using the cake pan as a guide, trace a circle onto a piece of paper or thin cardboard; trim to a 7-in. circle. Cut into a crescent moon shape; use as stencil to cut out white fondant.
9. Starting at top left side of cake, gently press moon onto frosting. Moisten back of witch and gently press onto cake and moon. Gently press bats into cake.
10. To serve: Remove skewers from cake. Place unfrosted back of cake onto a cutting board; cut cake into slices.

See More:

• Pound Cake with Pears
• Lemon Angel Food Cake
• Old-Time Fudge Cake