Learn how to make an easy bat cake for Halloween with black paper plates and frozen chocolate store-bought cake. It's so easy, the cake will be ready in 10 minutes. It's a fun and festive dessert idea for any party or classroom treat! This post may contain affiliate links.

This DIY bat cake is a fun and simple Halloween recipe kids can even help with.

Today I'm going to show you how to make a cute Halloween themed dessert that is really simple but will score some serious points as the Halloween party dessert.

HALLOWEEN BAT CAKE TUTORIAL

This bat cake might just be the easiest treat you have ever made. We're using a chocolate cake from the freezer section at your local grocer and just adding a few things to transform it into a bat.

small chocolate bat themed cake with a square slice cut out of it

If you like to bake, you can always just prepare a small chocolate cake either square or round and follow these same steps to turn it into a Halloween bat cake, too.

This cake proves that you don't have to go batty to serve up something special.

HALLOWEEN BAT CAKE INGREDIENTS

It's time to source your ingredients and items to make your spooky little dessert. You literally only need a few things, you are going to love this.

STORE-BOUGHT CHOCOLATE CAKE - This simple not-so-spooky cake idea starts with a cake from the freezer section of most stores. For this exact idea, I used the Pepperidge Farm Frozen Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake. It's a favorite of mine because it's under $5 and delicious. For more ideas, see a list below.

halloween party table with black lace runner, purple plastic forks, pepperidge farm's chocolate fudge cake, icing and container of candy eyes.

BLACK PAPER PLATES - To make our bat wings and ears, we're using cut outs from small black paper plates. Make sure to have your scissors handy for this task, too.

CANDY EYES - For this cute bat cake, jumbo sized candy eyes like these on Amazon are just perfect. You could use the smaller candy eyes if that is all you have on hand, as well.

WHITE ICING - The cutest little bat mouth with fangs is made easy with the help of some white icing. There are many brands and products that make it easy to draw on icing such as decorating gel on Amazon.

HOW TO MAKE HALLOWEEN BAT CAKE

Don't blink. The directions to make this bat cake so simple that they may not need much explaining - which I love. I'm not trying to spend all day brainstorming in the kitchen. Here are the few steps to take to make this.

bat wings craft cut out of a small black paper plate. each wing is being held by a woman's hands

Make sure your cake is ready-to-eat. If you choose a store-bought frozen cake like I used, you will need some time to thaw it before hand. Set it on the cake plate or cake stand you will serve it on.

Cut two bat wings out of small black paper plates. I suggest using a pencil to trace a line that looks like waves with points. Then, cut a straight edge on the inner corner of each for easy insertion into your cake.

Next up, cut two small triangle shapes for the "bat ears".

Tuck each wing under two sides of the cake using the straight side that we cut. Then, tuck the ears into the top of the cake.

placing a craft bag wing onto a bat themed cake

Press the candy eyes onto the top half of the cake. Place them close together for a cute and funny look.

Draw a mouth and fangs onto the lower half top of the cake using your icing.

Voila. That's it. You now have a super cute bat cake.

WHAT CAN I DO WITH STORE-BOUGHT CAKE?

At Cutefetti, you will often find cake hacks using store-bought cakes like this one. You can add your own DIY decorations or buy a cake kit like I did with this bear cake to easily decorate. I love adding embellishments with store-bought frosting like with this star-themed cake.

square chocolate cake transformed into a bat cake with paper plate bat wings and ears and large candy eyes and icing fangs.

STORE-BOUGHT CHOCOLATE CAKES

There a few chocolate cakes widely available in-stores that could work for this Halloween cake hack. You will likely find more chocolate cake options not on this list if you look at your local grocer's bakery section.

Here they are:

Pepperidge Farm Frozen Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake (Used here)
Pepperidge Farm Frozen Fudge Stripe Cake
Entenmann's Chocolate Fudge Iced Cake
Entenmann's Golden Fudge Iced Cake
Freshness Guaranteed 7" Chocolate Cake with Fudge Icing - Walmart
Freshness Guaranteed Classic Yellow Cake with Fudge Icing - Walmart
Freshness Guaranteed Double Layer Chocolate Cake - Walmart
Member's Mark 10' Chocolate Dessert Cake - Sam's Club

EASY HALLOWEEN CAKES

Love the idea of serving cake for Halloween, but don't want to actually make one from scratch? These simple cake hacks are just what you need.

Halloween Trick or Treat Bag Ghost Cake

Trick or Treat Yo Self with a Spider Ice Cream Cake

Halloween Candy Cheesecake

Easy Halloween Bat Cake

Yield: One Easy Halloween Bat Cake

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Difficulty: Beginner

Learn how to make an easy diy bat cake for halloween with black paper plates and frozen chocolate store-bought cake in just a few short steps.

Materials

1 Store-Bought Chocolate Cake )Pepperidge Farm Frozen Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake)
2 Small Black Paper or Plastic Plates
2 Large Candy Eyes
1 White Icing Tube

Tools

Scissors
Pencil

Instructions

Set the thawed cake on your cake plate or cake stand you will serve it on.
Use a pencil to draw a line on the back of each plate that looks like a line that come to a point. Then, use scissors to cut the plates, making two wings.
Cut off the inner corner of each wing to make a straight line.
Using the leftover plate scraps, cut two small triangle shapes for the "bat ears".
Carefully tuck the straigh side of each wing under the right and left side of the cake.
Tuck the small triangle “ears” into the top of the cake.
Place the candy eyes onto the top half of the cake and gently press into frosting so they stay put.
Use your icing to draw a mouth and fangs onto the lower half top of the cake.