NO bake easy Halloween cake with pudding that is layered with orange and black and an Oreo cookie crust. Colorful and cheap holiday treat served as a fun dessert for a potluck or party.
This is our favorite easy Halloween recipe you can make for other holidays too. Using different food colors layered one on top of the other you can change them to red and green for Christmas time too. (affiliate links present)
Halloween Cake in 9×13 Pan
Yes you can make a really intricate ghost cake for the season of course with several layers with frosting in between and fondant. I don’t have time for that and not talented enough to do so which is why I came up with this festive idea instead….that guests just love!
AND this is a no bake cake which is great because it takes far less time to make and just has to be chilled for a few hours to set. You can use any sort of cookie crust on the bottom but typically chocolate is a favorite so Oreos it is. Nilla wafers work too though. Later in the year you could use gingerbread too!
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Layered Pudding Cake Recipe
There are in fact 5 layers to this one. You could skip the Cool whip on the top if you wanted to highlight the green under that but the white will really make the sprinkles stand out and make it extra pretty. You will want a separate bowl for each color though so they stay nice and bold.
Ingredients
- Oreos using just the cookie, with cream removed, crushed into crumbs
- Melted butter
- 1 block cream cheese 3.4 oz. softened
- Some powdered sugar
- Cool Whip whipped topping
- Food coloring of your choice
- Instant pudding vanilla and pistachio used
- Cold milk or you could use lactose free varieties
You can buy cookie or graham cracker crumbs already crushed in a box some places too. Using a spatula will help spread each layer without digging into the one below so they don’t mix. You want to do this gently. Plastic wrap or cling is handy to use on top during chilling in the fridge.
If throwing a large Halloween party you can make several different variations with this same idea in mind. One could be a Fall theme with pumpkin pudding, vanilla and your cream cheese whipped topping layers. Different colors of sprinkles will continue to differentiate each one. OR separate into individual dishes to make ramekin cake.
How to Make an Orange Dessert
Like I said you can make this lush dessert in any color you would like. Using a bit of gel or liquid food coloring it is easy to make this cake as bright or subtle as you want. If you don’t want to add coloring, the pumpkin pudding flavor is as orange as you would get otherwise.
- In a medium bowl, combine chocolate cookie crumbs and melted butter.
- Press the mixture into the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking dish. Chill in the refrigerator while preparing the other layers.
- In a large bowl, beat the softened cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth. Fold in the whipped topping.
- Add orange food coloring and mix until evenly colored. Spread the orange layer over the chilled crust.
- In another bowl, whisk together the vanilla pudding mix and cold milk until thickened.
- Add purple coloring and mix until evenly colored. Spread the purple layer over the orange layer.
- In a third bowl, whisk together the pistachio pudding mix and milk until thickened.
- Add green food coloring and mix until evenly colored.
Do you have to keep a no bake cake in the refrigerator?
Almost always the answer is yes because some sort of dairy product is used. If using something that is going to spoil like fruit, milk, pudding, etc. you will need to refrigerate it after you are done. Cover the top with a lid or plastic wrap so it doesn’t dry out. Enjoy again within the next 3 days for the best results.
You will want to use a very light touch to smooth one layer on top of the other. They need to be thick as well so no leaking occurs. In this layered pudding cake one is made with cream cheese which is thicker and firmer allowing the bottom and top layers from mixing together.
Food coloring is the easiest but gel has a richer color and you need less of it. If you don’t want to add any additional color the only option is to use pumpkin pudding that is already a light orange color when made.
If you create a crushed cookie crust with some melted butter and press into your pan you can then fill with a cold filling like pudding with a Cool Whip topping and sprinkles. Ice cream can be added on top of the crust too which is fun but would need to be kept in the freezer vs. the fridge of course.
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Easy Halloween Cake
Ingredients
Oreo Cookie Crust
- 1.5 c Oreos using just the cookie, with cream removed, crushed into crumbs
- 1/4 c butter melted
Orange Cream Cheese
- 1 block cream cheese 3.4 oz. softened
- 1 c powdered sugar
- 1 c Cool Whip
- food coloring orange
Purple Pudding
- 1 box instant pudding vanilla used
- 1 3/4 c milk cold
- food coloring purple
Green Pudding
- 1 box instant pudding pistachio flavor, 3.4 oz.
- 1 3/4 c milk cold
- food coloring green
- 1 c Cool Whip for the very top
- Sprinkles
Instructions
- For the Crust: In a medium bowl, combine chocolate cookie crumbs and melted butter. Press the mixture into the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking dish. Chill in the refrigerator while preparing the other layers.
- For the Orange Layer: In a large bowl, beat the softened cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth. Fold in the whipped topping. Add orange food coloring and mix until evenly colored. Spread the orange layer over the chilled crust.
- For the Purple Layer: In a medium bowl, whisk together the vanilla pudding mix and cold milk until thickened. Add purple food coloring and mix until evenly colored. Spread the purple layer over the orange layer.
- For the Green Layer: In another medium bowl, whisk together the pistachio pudding mix and cold milk until thickened. Add green food coloring and mix until evenly colored. Spread the green layer over the purple layer.
- For the Topping: Spread the remaining whipped topping over the green layer. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving to allow the layers to set. Just prior to serving, decorate the top with Halloween-themed sprinkles. Cut into squares and serve chilled.
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