Pull-Apart Graveyard Cupcakes (A Fun Halloween Cake!)

Ready to construct the ultimate edible centerpiece for your next Halloween party? A dessert so spooky, so creative, and so unbelievably fun, it will be the ghost of honor at your haunted gathering? This incredible, show-stopping Pull-Apart Graveyard Cupcake Cake is that perfect recipe! We’re talking a collection of moist, marbled cupcakes, seamlessly frosted together to create a spooky graveyard scene, complete with cookie tombstones, marzipan ghosts, creepy pumpkins, and a licorice fence.

This isn’t just a recipe; it’s a guide to your new favorite Halloween tradition. It has all the “wow” factor of a giant, sculpted cake, but with the brilliant ease of a pull-apart design—no cutting required! We’ll show you how to use a few simple, brilliant tricks to create this stunning, from-scratch-tasting masterpiece that is as fun to decorate as it is to eat.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Recipe Overview: The Ultimate Spooky & Fun Halloween Centerpiece

What makes this Graveyard Cake so spectacularly fun is its brilliant, pull-apart design and its incredible, detailed decorations. This recipe is a masterpiece of festive creativity. The “cake” is actually a collection of individual, from-scratch marbled cupcakes, made with a swirl of vanilla and grape jelly batter. The cupcakes are cleverly arranged and the gaps are filled with marshmallows to create a single, flat canvas. This is then frosted with a delicious, “cookies and cream” style buttercream, which is tinted a spooky grey with crushed chocolate sandwich cookies to look like graveyard dirt. The real magic, however, is in the handcrafted decorations: spooky cookie tombstones, adorable marzipan ghosts draped over lollipops, tiny marzipan pumpkins, and a creepy licorice fence.

Metric	Time / Level
Total Time	3 hours (includes cooling)
Active Prep Time	1 hour
Difficulty Level	Intermediate
Servings	12-16

The Ghoulish Graveyard: The Essential Ingredients & Tools

This iconic party cake uses a handful of high-quality ingredients and a few key techniques to create its signature spooky look.

• The Cupcake “Graveyard”:
  • The Marbled Batter: The cupcakes have a fun, spooky surprise inside! A simple, from-scratch vanilla cupcake batter is divided, and one half is swirled with grape jelly to create a beautiful, purple marble effect.
  • Marshmallow “Mortar”: This is the brilliant secret to a perfect, flat, pull-apart cake surface! By tucking large marshmallows into the gaps between your arranged cupcakes, you are creating a seamless canvas that is easy to frost over as a single cake.
• The “Dirt” Frosting: A classic, fluffy American buttercream is transformed into spooky, speckled “dirt” by beating in a generous amount of finely crushed chocolate sandwich cookies.
• The Spooky Decorations: This is where your inner artist can shine!
  • The Tombstones: A simple, oval-shaped sandwich cookie is the perfect, ready-made canvas for piping on a spooky “RIP.”
  • The Ghosts & Pumpkins: A tube of marzipan is the secret to these easy, sculptural decorations! Marzipan is a sweet, pliable almond paste that is essentially an edible play-doh, perfect for rolling out and shaping.
  • The Fence: Simple strands of black licorice make the perfect, creepy graveyard fence.

Step-by-Step to the Best Pull-Apart Graveyard Cake

This fun and festive project is a joy to prepare.

Part 1: Bake the Marbled Cupcakes and Whip Up the Frosting

Step 1: First, preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners.

Step 2: In a medium bowl, whisk together the 3 cups of all-purpose flour, the 1 tablespoon of baking powder, and the 1 teaspoon of kosher salt.

Step 3: In a large bowl, beat together the 1 cup of granulated sugar and the 4 large, room temperature eggs with an electric mixer until they are light and foamy. While beating, gradually pour in the 12 tablespoons of melted butter and then the 2 tablespoons of vanilla extract.

Step 4: While mixing slowly, add half of your dry ingredients, then all of the 2/3 cup of milk, and then the rest of the dry ingredients. Be careful not to overmix the batter.

Step 5: Remove about 2 cups of the batter and place it in a separate bowl. In a small bowl, warm the 1/2 cup of grape jelly in the microwave for 20 to 30 seconds to loosen it, and then stir it into the 2 cups of batter.

Step 6: Evenly fill your cupcake liners about two-thirds full, alternating spoonfuls of the plain vanilla batter and the purple, grape jelly batter to create a marbled effect. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool completely.

Step 7: To make the frosting, beat the 2 1/2 sticks of room temperature butter and the 1/4 teaspoon of salt in a large bowl until fluffy. Gradually beat in the 3 1/2 cups of confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Beat in the 3 tablespoons of milk, one tablespoon at a time. Finally, add your 10 coarsely crushed chocolate sandwich cookies and beat until the frosting has a speckled, greyish look.

Part 2: The Art of Assembling Your Spooky Graveyard Scene

Step 1: Arrange your cooled cupcakes in 4 rows on a large serving platter or a cutting board. Fit a marshmallow into each of the gaps between the cupcakes to fill in the spaces. Step 2: Use an offset spatula to spread your “dirt” frosting over the entire rectangle of cupcakes and marshmallows, so that it looks like one, seamless cake. Sprinkle the top with the 1/4 cup of finely crushed chocolate sandwich cookies and the black decorating sugar. Step 3: To make the tombstones, use your tube of black decorating icing to write “RIP” on the top half of your 5 oval sandwich cookies. Stick the tombstones into the cupcakes randomly around the graveyard. Step 4: To make the ghosts, roll out two-thirds of your tube of marzipan between two sheets of parchment paper. Use a 4-inch biscuit cutter to cut out 3 rounds. Drape each round over one of your wrapped lollipops and stick the ghosts into the cupcakes. Use your black decorating icing to dot on the eyes and a mouth. Step 5: To make the pumpkins, divide the remaining marzipan into 4 small pieces and roll each one into a ball. Roll the balls in your orange decorating sugar until they are coated, and then place them around the graveyard. Use the black icing to pipe on a small stem. Step 6: Use your tube of green decorating icing to dot bits of green “grass” poking through the “dirt” around the graveyard. Step 7: Use your 6 pieces of black licorice to make a border around the cake. Bend the final piece into an upside-down “U” and stick it into the cupcakes in the front to make an arched gateway.

Print

For more recipe follow my pinterest account

Storage and Make-Ahead Tips

• Make-Ahead: For a super-fast and impressive party day, you can get a head start by preparing all your components in advance. The cupcakes can be baked, the frosting can be made, and all your decorations can be crafted up to 2 days ahead of time. Store everything in separate, airtight containers.
• Storage: Store the finished, decorated cake, loosely covered, at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)