This fun and festive Turkey Cake is perfect for Thanksgiving and so adorable. It’s quick and easy and a blast to make.
For years, I have been making fun desserts for Thanksgiving with the kids. This Turkey Cake is a long-standing tradition in our house. Everyone gets involved and it’s something we all look forward to along with Turkey Cupcakes and Oreo Turkey Cookies.
This turkey cake looks quite impressive on the Thanksgiving table but it’s not hard at all. It starts with a box mix and the decorations are easy with step-by-step instructions.
Table of contents
Why We Love This Cake
Not only does it look so festive, but it tastes really great. The cake mix has a few extra ingredients that make it really delicious. Furthermore, we have so much fun making the feathers out of candy melts and they are fun to eat too!
You don’t need fondant for this easy recipe and only candy melts!
Ingredients
Cake
- Dark Chocolate Cake Mix. You can swap for regular chocolate if you prefer.
- Instant Chocolate Pudding Mix. Make sure to buy instant pudding and not the type you cook.
- Large Eggs. Room temperature is best.
- Sour Cream. This makes the cake really moist. Don’t skip it!
Chocolate Frosting
- Unsalted Butter. The frosting will be easier to combine if the butter is softened.
- Confectioners Sugar. I like to sift the powdered sugar before using. This will make sure it is really smooth and without lumps.
- Cocoa Powder. Unsweetened. I like to use Hershey’s.
- Heavy Whipping Cream. Make sure it is cold.
- Salt. Helps to cut down on the sweetness.
For the Decorations
- Candy Coating Disks. You need red, yellow, orange and white. This is for the feathers. I prefer this over melted chocolate and food coloring.
- Black Edible Marker. This is an easy way to draw the eyes on the white candy coating.
Step By Step Instructions
- Step 1. First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare the pans with parchment paper and cooking spray.
Step 2. Secondly, get out a large bowl and combine the cake mix ingredients. We are not following the package instructions but adding a few extra ingredients.
Step 3. Next, pour the batter evenly into the round cake pans.
Step 4. Bake the cakes for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean without crumbs. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes and the move to a wire rack.
Step 5. While the cakes cool, make the frosting. Next, use a hand mixer or stand mixer to beat the butter until smooth and creamy.
Step 6. Once the butter is creamy, add in the confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder, heavy cream, vanilla extract and salt. Mix on low speed for about a minute. Then check the consistency and add more heavy cream if needed to the mixture. Furthermore, you want it to be creamy chocolate frosting.
Step 7. Next, melt the red, yellow and orange candy-coating disks and place in piping bags with a round tip. Line a baking sheet and then create the turkey feathers by piping thick dots of each color. It does not have to be a perfectly straight edge.
Step 8. Then spread it out with a spatula to look like a feather on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat this process so you have red, yellow and orange candy for the feathers. Pipe a small triangle with the yellow candy for the turkey nose and pipe a turkey wattle with the red candy coating. Also, the candy needs to sit at room temperature until set.
Step 9. Finally, it’s time to start decorating the cake with a crumb coat. Put one of the cakes on a serving platter and top with a thin layer of frosting. Place the other cake on top of the bottom cake and cover with another single layer of frosting. However, you can add more frosting if needed to the remaining cake.
Step 10. Right before serving, add the cake decorations. Push the feathers into the edge of this cake. Continuing adding another feather until complete. Then make the face on the turkey. Place the white candy disks, nose and wattle onto the front of the cake.
Step 11. Finally, use the edible marker to add a black dot on the white candy disks to make the eyes of the turkey. Afterwards, serve and enjoy.
Storage
Cover leftovers and refrigerate up to 1 week.
Pro Tips
- Let the cakes cool completely. The cakes need to cool completely before frosting.
- Check the consistency of the frosting. Gradually add more heavy cream if needed. Only add a small amount at a time.
- Allow the feathers to set. They need to be completely set before removing from the baking sheet and adding to the cake.
- Decorate before serving. I recommend adding the candy feathers right before serving for best results.
- Decorating the face. Also, if you don’t have an edible marker, you can use a small dot of melted chocolate for the eyes.
More Fun Thanksgiving Desserts
No bake Dessert
Chocolate Acorns
Thanksgiving Desserts
Thanksgiving Sugar Cookies Recipe
Thanksgiving Desserts
Thanksgiving Cake Pops Recipe
Try this fun and easy Thanksgiving Turkey Cake. It might just become a tradition! Don’t forget to leave a comment and star rating once you try it.
Turkey Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 1 Dark Chocolate Cake Mix
- 1 pkg Instant Chocolate Pudding Mix 3.9 ounces
- 4 Large Eggs
- 1 cup Sour Cream
- 3/4 cup Vegetable Oil
- 3/4 cup Water
For the Chocolate Frosting:
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter softened
- 3 cups Confectioners Sugar
- 1/2 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 3-4 Tablespoons Heavy Whipping Cream
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
For the Decorations:
- 8 ounces Red Candy Coating Disks
- 8 ounces Yellow Candy Coating Disks
- 8 ounces Orange Candy Coating Disks
- 2 White Candy coating Disks
- Black Edible Marker
Instructions
For the Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 2 8 inch round pans with parchment paper and spray the paper with a non stick cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the cake mix ingredients.
- Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes and then carefully transfer them to wire racks to cool completely.
For the Frosting:
- Beat the butter on medium speed with a hand held mixer or stand up mixer until the butter is smooth and creamy (2-3 minutes).
- Add in the confectioner’s sugar, cocoa powder, 3 tablespoons of the heavy cream, vanilla extract and salt. Mix on low speed until fully combined (approximately 1 minute). Check the frosting consistency and add more heavy cream if needed.
- Refrigerate until ready to use.
For the Decorations:
- Melt the red, yellow and orange candy coating disks based on the package instruction and place them in piping bags.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Create the turkey feathers by piping thick dots of each color onto the parchment paper and then spread it out with a spatula to look like a feather.
- Do this with the red, yellow and orange candy to make a variety of feathers.
- Pipe a small triangle onto the parchment paper with the yellow candy for the turkey nose and pipe a turkey wattle with the red candy coating.
- Allow the candy to sit at room temperature until fully set.
To Assemble the Cake:
- Place one of the cakes on a serving platter.
- Top with the frosting.
- Place the other cake on top and top with more frosting and spread frosting onto the sides of the cake.
- Add the cake decorations onto the right before serving. Chill the cake prior to serving.
- Push the feathers into the back on top of the cake.
- Make the face on the turkey by placing the white candy disks, nose and wattle onto the front of the cake.
- Add a black dot onto the white candy disks with the edible marker to make the eyes of the turkey.
- Then the cake is ready to serve and enjoy!
The kids had a blast making this and it tastes great too!