Dia de los Muertos Cake

Dia de los Muertos – the Day of the Dead – from Oct 31 to Nov 2 is a time of festivities in Mexico.

Athough it is celebrated at the same time as Halloween, it is VERY different! The celebration of Dia de los Muertos is to demonstrate love and respect for deceased family members. People in towns and cities throughout Mexico don funky makeup and costumes, hold parades and parties, sing and dance, and make offerings to lost loved ones.

This cake is different from most of the other Halloween bakes that I’ve been seeing all over social media lately. I mean, I love pumpkins and all the other Halloween decor but I needed to make something that would be quick but still cute and a little different, as well.

I also had a neighbor that has never had a chance to partake of my sweet treats. She lives at the other end of the sub-division. Usually when I want to give away the baked goods that are overflowing from my kitchen, I take them to the nearest neighbors (or my husband does, actually!). When this one particular neighbor mentioned her love for chocolate and peanut butter, I decided that my next bake would be for her!

If you haven’t seen the Disney movie, Coco, you should watch it! It is an amazing movie about Dia de los Muertos and some of the traditions that surround it. I’m sure that there was some creative license taken in the story line and characters. It is a great family movie!  I love when there are movies that showcase cultures and people from around the world!

This cake is constructed of a sheet cake and a cake baked in a skull pan that my daughter and son picked up for me at Target. I baked them all up, put the skull-shaped cake on top of the sheet cake (twice) and cut out 2 layers. The cake is my Chocolate Cake to Die For recipe .  The layers were filled with my Peanut Butter Buttercream and then I crumbled a bunch of Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups in between each of the layers.

Honestly, there is nothing better that peanut butter and chocolate. I loved this cake even more when I found out that my neighbors husband doesn’t normally like cake but LOVES PB and CHOCOLATE!!

Winning!!

All of the piping was done with some of the Peanut Butter Buttercream died black with some Wilton Color Gel. Piping is definitely not my forte but practice makes perfect!

There was some homemade marshmallow fondant hanging out in my cabinet, just waiting for a project . Colorful eyes are a must on a Dia de los Muertos design and I planned to keep all the color there. But after I finished the piping and the eyes, I decided that it needed a bit more color. I threw together some super simple orange carnations to bring some color and decor to the sides. That added the perfect touch to finish off this super simple cake!

So what do you think? Have you ever made a cake like this? I would love to see your versions!