1Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Grease 2 x 21cm springform cake tins or 2 x 2L Pyrex bowls and line with baking paper.
2Beat the Best for Baking Cakes with an electric whisk until fluffy and pale. Whisk in the caster sugar. Beat in the eggs and milk a little at a time until combined.
3Sift the flour and baking powder into another bowl. Slowly mix in half the eggs with a wooden spoon until combined. Stir in the rest.
4Divide the cake mixture between the 2 tins and level the tops. Bake in the middle of the oven for 35-40 mins until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
5Cool the cakes in the tins for 10 mins. Transfer to a wire rack, remove the paper and cool completely. Chill for 2 hrs in an airtight container in the fridge.
6Place the first sponge on a cake board, spread the top with frosting, and put the second sponge on top.
7Trim the stacked cakes as necessary to get a pumpkin shape (see Briony Says… on p76). Spread all over with frosting and smooth with a palette knife. Chill in the fridge for 30 mins.
8Reserve 200g of the white icing. Knead the rest to soften, then add the orange gel colour. Knead until you get a uniform colour. Dust with cornflour and roll out into a 5mm-thick circle large enough to cover the cake.
9Gently lift the icing ‘pancake’ using your rolling pin – or your hands – and drape it very carefully over the top of your cake.
10Use your fingers to smooth the icing over the top of the cake and down the sides. Push out any creases or bubbles and work gently into the carved wedges.
11When covered, trim off the excess icing with a knife. Don’t cut too close to the cake – leave about 1cm to push underneath the base for a neat finish.
12Once covered with the icing, gently press the base of a glass into the top of the cake to create a small well.
13 For the ganache goo, put the white chocolate chips and cream in a small glass bowl. Microwave in 30-sec bursts, stirring well each time, until melted and smoothly combined.
14Add 1tsp of the green gel colour and mix to a uniform green shade. Pour into the well on top of the cake and use a teaspoon to drip more goo down the sides.
15Halve the choc sticks and use to create the ‘firewood’ around the base.
16Knead the remaining icing with 3 drops of the violet gel colour. Reserve a little, then divide the rest into 2 pieces and roll into tentacle shapes. Roll the reserved icing into tiny balls, stick on the tentacles with a dab of water then press the blunt end of a wooden skewer into the centres to create suckers.
17Decorate the cake with the tentacles, teeth and eyeball sweets, and edible eyes. Finish with the mallow pumpkins at the base.
