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Halloween Candy Bundt Cake

Leftover Halloween Candy Bundt Cake

Halloween candy is a funny thing. Unlike other times of the year, around October we’re all likely to buy candy in bulk and fill up our homes – relative to most the average day, at least – with snack sized candies and chocolates. If you have kids at home, the few weeks following Halloween are also going to find you loaded with candy. The candy supply will always diminish over time as you reach for a piece here and there to satisfy a chocolate craving, but there is so much more that can be done with it.

One of the easiest ways to work through chocolate candy is to chop it up and use it in place of chocolate chips in other baked goods. They’ll work in cookies, but because so many snack-sized chocolates are filled with soft caramel or nougat, I think the best way to showcase them is in a cake. The candy will melt into the cake a bit as it bakes, too, which not only gives the cake a unique flavor, but makes the cake turn out slightly different every time depending on which candies you choose to incorporate into it.

The cake itself is a simple brown sugar bundt cake. It is not too sweet on its own and actually uses a bit less sugar than many similarly sized cakes, an allowance made for the sweetness of the candy additions. It is moist and tender, but not dense. The cake is actually excellent on its own, but because its flavors are subtle, it makes a good background for the flavors of the candies.

Be sure to grease and flour your bundt pan, as some of the candies may try to stick to the pan when you go to turn out the cake. Chocolate candies will work best, and don’t be afraid to try adding different flavors of Halloween candy. Some add nuts and caramel (snickers), some add a toasty sweetness from nougat (milky way) and others add peanut butter (peanut butter cups). Candies that have cookie centers (Twix or similar chocolates) also work well because they can add a nice bit of crunch to the cake


Leftover Halloween Candy Bundt Cake
3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 cups chopped chocolate Halloween Candy
(use snickers, twix, milky way, etc.)

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease and flour a 12-cup bundt pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking power and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars until light. Beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract. Working in two or three additions, alternate adding the flour mixture and the buttermilk to the butter mixture, ending with an addition of flour. Stir in chopped Halloween candies.
Bake for 55-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Let cake cool in pan for 15-20 minutes, then turn cake out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Serves 16.

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12 Comments
  • Leslie
    October 22, 2008

    Ohmy goodness..this cake looks worldly!!

  • raidar
    October 22, 2008

    OMG..what a brilliant idea for using candy. I’m not a big sweets person, but there is always extra at work that I could take home and turn into this. Delicious!

  • snooky doodle
    October 22, 2008

    Great idea to use hallowen sweets in baking. This cake looks so delicious.

  • Meredith
    October 23, 2008

    Do you think it might work with candy corn?

  • Clara
    October 23, 2008

    Clever way to use up all the leftover candy!

  • Linda
    October 26, 2008

    I’m baking one right now. I realize I’m making it prior to having leftover candy but then I chopped some baking weight Butterfingers bars that probably would be a bit big for the kids to carry in their sack. 🙂 I’ll let you know how it is received at work tomorrow! Thanks for another great recipe. I’ve yet to make one from your site or the best of blogs sites that hasn’t been a success and enjoyed by all.

  • Linda
    October 27, 2008

    Cake was a great success. I added one more level of flavor. My cake pan is pumpkin-shaped. I put the cake on a black plate and made a quick ganache of peanut-butter chips and cream and glazed the top. The PB ganache was a big hit as was the cake. Great recipe. Thanks for sharing!

  • Rebecca
    November 4, 2009

    I made this with our leftover candy and it was really fun. Thanks for the idea!

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