This Is The Only Baking Accessory You’ll Need For An Instagram-Worthy Fall

In high school, I was a cake-baking addict. Our family room TV constantly played re-runs of TLC’s Cake Boss, and I made a trip to Michael’s for fondant at least once a week. I made cakes in the shape of records, wreathes, ham sandwiches — you name it, I did it. But as I got older, I stopped having time for mixing, sifting, and icing, so my weekly cake tally trickled down to zero. (Sigh: the consequences of that adult life.)

But inevitably, when the air gets crisp and leaves start to line the walkways of my city, I always feel the itch to pre-heat the oven and get flour all over the kitchen. The months of October, November, and December are filled with celebrations, and thus, food, so I always dust off my mixing bowls and whip up something sweet. Food is just love personified as delicious, frosting-covered creations, after all.

Luckily for my loved ones, this year I found out about Lékué’s 3D Halloween pumpkin cake mold. Now my Thanksgiving contribution is about to be the best in the family. Sorry, sis. 😉

You can buy the pumpkin cake mold here for $19.99.

To make a pumpkin-shaped cake in the past, I’d have to bake layer after layer, stack those layers, and carve them into the right shape. Was it rewarding? Yes. Was it a lot of work? Uh-huh. So naturally, when I tried out this mold for the first time, and simply had to pour in the batter and bake to get the shape I wanted, I felt like I’d hacked my way into achieving Great British Bake-Off status.

I’m not exaggerating — with this mold, all you have to do is prepare your batter, pour it into the mold from a spouted container, and add 10-20 minutes to your recipe’s bake time. Here’s how the process went for me…

Step 1: Pour

I used a simple recipe similar to this Pumpkin Tube Cake with a few substitutions. Once the batter was ready, I grabbed the silicon molds, snapped them together, and poured the batter inside. There are helpful guides on the side of the mold so you know how full it should be.

Step 2: Bake

My recipe suggested a baking time of 60 minutes, but at the 60-minute mark, the knife I inserted into the cake came out with uncooked batter. I checked every 5 additional minutes until the cake was done at the 75-minute mark.

Step 3: Remove!

After letting the cake sit and the mold cool for 10 minutes, I removed the pieces. Pictured above is the bottom of the cake, with the top of the cake still in the mold. Save for a few minor cracks, the pumpkin shape was perfect, stem and all. To finish, I piped on green cream cheese frosting in the shape of vines and leaves, and filled the inner cavity with candy corn that spilled out when the cake was cut. (If you’re bringing this to a festivity, cake-exploding candy corn will be everyone’s favorite party trick.)

You can buy the pumpkin cake mold here for $19.99.

All in all, my little pumpkin made for the perfect autumnal celebration. And you can bet this mold will make another appearance on my family’s Thanksgiving table come November. 🎃