READ THE FULL INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE BEGINNING! THANK YOU!

1. Jack Skellington Vegan Cake Topper: I recommend making the vegan Jack Skellington cake topper a day or two before and storing the pieces in the freezer/fridge to harden. I used vegan white chocolate and corn syrup to make a vegan modeling white chocolate. I then used a screenshot from the movie to make Jack Skellington. However, there are several fantastic YouTube videos to show you how to make a mold, which I’ll link here. There is a dowel that runs up his standing leg to make sure he stands correctly. To make black, I just used my black and white acrylic paints. So Jack Skellington isn’t “edible,” but he’s not really meant to be a part of the cake that you’ll eat- you can save him for decorations next year! I also used the modeling chocolate to make the hill and grave stones.
2. Prepare the vegan chocolate cake according to instructions. Once the cake layers are completely cooled, you can begin to prepare the frosting.
3. For the green and orange frosting that will be in between the layers: cream 1 cup vegan butter until smooth in a large bowl (using a hand mixer or stand mixer). Add in 4 cups of sifted powdered sugar and 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract, and continue to mix everything together until you get a creamy vegan buttercream. You can add in 2-3 tbsp dairy free milk here to achieve the smooth texture. Divide the buttercream into two bowls and color one orange (using red and yellow) and one green (using blue and yellow). Once the colors are mixed, spoon the frosting into a large piping bag with a large round tip, and use half of the frosting to frost the first layer. Use an offset spatula to smooth the frosting to the edges of the cake (see video). Then place the second layer on top and repeat. Place the third layer on top and then place the cake into the fridge to chill while you prepare the outside frosting.
4. To make the outside buttercream decorations: begin to make the vegan buttercream exactly the same as in Step 3. Once the vegan buttercream is smooth and creamy, divide it into three bowls: one for purple, one for orange, and one for green. You will need more green than the rest of the colors. I recommend doing half of the batch green (blue and yellow), 1/3 of the batch purple (red and blue), and the remainder orange (red and yellow) for the pumpkins. Once the colors are made, remove the cake from the fridge to frost.
5. Assembling the cake: start by frosting the top of the cake with half of the green frosting batch. Smooth the frosting until the edges. Then take the purple frosting and frost the top half of the sides of the cake, going completely around the cake. Use the remaining green frosting and frost the bottom half of the sides of the cake. Use a bench scraper to smooth the sides and even the top. Then fill a piping bag with a large round piping tip with the orange frosting. To pipe pumpkins:  start by frosting a small line (about 1″) and then two almost semi-circle lines on either side to imply a pumpkin. Repeat all around the cake to decorate. Use any remaining green frosting to make the stems.
6. Stick the doweled Jack Skellington into the cake, and arrange the pieces on top.
7. Serve and enjoy!