How to Make a Red Vine Monster Cake

Whether you are making a monster cake for Halloween or for a monster-themed birthday, this Red Vine Monster Cake is ridiculously cute and easy to make! Sponsored by Red Vines.

Not everything for Halloween has to be freaky, ghoulish or gory. Sometimes cute is what you need. And if you have little kids, cute is definitely what you need.

Whether you are making a monster cake for Halloween or for a monster-themed birthday, it is a very easy cake to assemble and decorate. You just need a few necessities and a bit of patience to make this cake.

Ingredients you need

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• 2 boxes of chocolate cake mix: You can use any cake mix you want, but I used chocolate and dyed it black. You will also need water, vegetable oil and eggs required to make the mix.
• Frosting: You will need 6-7 cups of frosting, homemade or storebought.
• Fondant: You can buy or make white fondant and dye what you need for the eyes and mouth (I did this), or you can buy white, black and blue fondant. If you aren’t a fan of fondant or you don’t want to deal with it, you can frost in the eyes and mouth, or dip small cookies in white chocolate.
• Powdered sugar: When rolling out fondant, you will need some powdered sugar to keep it from sticking to your work surface and rolling pin.
• Food coloring: I used red, black and blue
• Red Vines: I used their red licorice twists for the crazy hair on top.

Special supplies needed

For a large monster like I did, you will need two 9-inch round cake pans and one soccer ball cake pan. If you want a smaller head and taller body for your monster cake, you can use two 6-inch round cake pans and bake the head in a smaller sized glass mixing bowl like this.

I cut my fondant eyes and mouth with a sharp knife, knowing I could hide it’s imperfections with frosting later. If you have small oval cutters, feel free to use them. Just know that you can do it without fancy tools.

You will need a piping bag, coupler and tip #233. It has a bunch of little holes in it and you can use it for hair or grass effects. It is a very forgiving way to decorate your cake.

Step-by-step directions

1. Bake round cakes. Whip up batter from box mix directions and divide evenly between the two cake pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan comes out clean. Remove cakes from pan and let them cool on a cooling rack.
2. Bake dome cake. Pour second cake box batter into a well greased soccer pan. Bake until done a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cake cool completely on cooling rack.
3. Color fondant. Divide white fondant into 4 equal pieces: 1 part remains white, 1 part dye blue, last half dye black.
4. Cut fondant pieces. Roll out white fondant and cut out two large ovals. Roll out blue fondant and cut two smaller ovals. Roll out black fondant and cut two smaller ovals and a large mouth.
5. Assemble eyes. Use your fingers to lightly dampen the white ovals and place the blue smaller ovals over them. Dampen the blue ovals and place the black ovals over them. Gently press down.
6. Assemble the cake. Dye frosting red. Place one cake round on serving plate and frost the top. Place second cake round over the first and frost the top. Place the round cake over the two 9-inch rounds and lightly frost entire cake.
7. Add eyes. Place fondant eyes and mouth onto the semi-frosted cake.
8. Add hair. Press red licorice twists into the top of the cake for the spiky hair. Refrigerate your cake prior to sliding in the Red Vines, to help keep the hair from slouching in a soft cake.
9. Pipe hair. Using a piping bag and grass tip (Wilton #233), pipe the rest of the frosting all over the cake. Start at the base of the cake, squeeze out the frosting, pull up and let go.

Recipe tips and FAQs

Red Vines come in black licorice and purple grape, too. So you can really let your imagination go wild. I chose their original red for this monster cake.

The ooohs and aaaahs I received when I showed off this monster cake made it all worth it. I hope your little monsters like it too!

I have lots of other great halloween desserts like this one. Try my Kitty Litter Cake, Jack Skellington Cake, or my halloween kit kat cake.

If you are enjoying my recipes, please sign up for my newsletter and get my free 28-day meal plan! You can also follow me on Instagram or Facebook.

Red Vine Monster Cake

Laura Bashar | Family Spice

Whether you are making a monster cake for Halloween or for a monster-themed birthday, this Red Vine Monster Cake is ridiculously cute and easy to make!

5 from 2 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Additional Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 4 hours hrs

Course Cakes

Cuisine American

Servings 24 servings

Calories 2450 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 Devil’s Food Boxed Cake Mix
• 1 ⅓ cups water*
• ½ cup vegetable oil*
• 3 eggs*
• 6-7 cups frosting
• 4 oz white fondant
• 1 teaspoon powdered sugar optional
• Red food coloring
• Black food coloring
• Blue food coloring
• 1 5- ounce package of Red Vines Red Licorice Twists

Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350ºF.
• Lightly oil two 9-inch round cake pans and line bottom with parchment paper.
• Lightly oil a soccer ball cake mold.
• Follow directions on your cake mix box and whip up the batter from one box.
• Divide batter evenly between the two cake pans and bake until done or when a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan comes out clean, approximately 30-35 minutes.
• Remove cakes from pan and let them cool on a cooling rack.
• While first cakes are baking in the oven, mix ingredients to make batter from second cake mix box.
• Pour second cake box batter into prepared soccer pan.
• Reduce oven temperature to 325ºF and bake soccer cake until done or when a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan comes out clean, approximately 45-60 minutes.
• Let soccer cake cool completely on cooling rack.
• Divide fondant into 4 equal pieces. Reserve one quarter to remain white. Dye a second quarter blue.
• Combine the remaining two quarters and dye black.
• Using a large cutting board, roll out white fondant to about ¼-inch thick. Use oval cookie cutters to cut two large ovals.
• Roll out blue fondant to about ¼-inch thick. Use oval cookie cutters to cut two smaller ovals.
• Roll out black fondant to about ¼-inch thick. Use oval cookie cutters to cut two smaller ovals. Cut out a large mouth.
• To assemble the eyes, use your fingers to lightly dampen the white ovals and place the blue smaller ovals over them. Dampen the blue ovals and place the black ovals over them. Gently press down.
• Add frosting to a large bowl and add red food coloring. Mix smooth until frosting is thoroughly red.
• Place one 9-inch cake rounds on serving plate and frost the top.
• Place second 9-inch cake round over the first and frost the top.
• Place the round cake over the two 9-inch rounds and lightly frost entire cake.
• Place fondant eyes and mouth onto the semi-frosted cake.
• Using a piping bag and grass tip (Wilton #233), pipe the rest of the frosting all over the cake. Gently squeeze and pull up frosting tip to produce hair like texture.
• Press Red Vine Licorice Twists into the top of the cake and you’re done!

Notes

* Ingredients for cake mix may vary depending on which brand you use.

TO STORE: If your cake is frosted, I suggest storing any leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 5 days. If unfrosted, you can keep it covered on the counter for up to 3 days or refrigerate for longer.

TO FREEZE: You can also freeze leftovers. Wrap in foil, parchment paper or plastic wrap and freeze for up to 4 months.

Nutrition

Serving: 1sliceCalories: 2450kcalCarbohydrates: 390gProtein: 8gFat: 107gSaturated Fat: 33gPolyunsaturated Fat: 69gCholesterol: 23mgSodium: 1238mgFiber: 5gSugar: 348g

Keyword halloween cake, monster cake, red vine cake

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Nutrition Disclaimer

Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.

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Disclosure: I was paid a stipend by Red Vines to share a Halloween recipe using their candies. The opinions I expressed are mine. If I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t blog about it! This post does contain affiliate links.