Colorful and flavorful, this Autumn Candy Cake is sure to make any occasion a special one! I’m honored to be part of  the McCormick Everyday Bakers. Today I’m sharing a fun, flavorful and colorful recipe in honor of McCormick’s 125th birthday!

I have an autumn birthday and ever since I can remember, as soon as the weather turns cooler I get excited! Not only is it alway fun to celebrate a birthday, but the colors in nature all around us are so exciting as they change. Well, just a few days ago we finally got a taste of fall here in Charleston, SC. It’s been glorious!

Actually, as I write this post, I have the windows opened to let the cooler air into our new house and I have one of my favorite fall-scented candles burning, all while my family is still snuggled up in their beds. I’m an early bird, what can I say?

I digress. Let’s get back to where I was getting with this.

You see, not only is autumn a beautiful season, it’s also home to the month of September, the month with the most birthdays! So a GIANT Happy Birthday to all of you September babies!

Another September birthday we’re celebrating today is McCormick’s 125th birthday! Can you believe it!?! What an amazing company and a huge Happy Birthday McCormick!

Since McCormick is all about the colorful and flavorful, I knew this cake would be perfect! It’s great because you can change up the colors of the candies and cake inside to make it extra special for the birthday recipient in your life! And if you ask me, it’d make a great ‘Happy Autumn’ or Halloween cake!

It’s also probably the easiest cakes I’ve ever decorated. And just to clarify, I certainly did not come up with this method of decorating a cake with candies. There are loads of different versions of this cake out there and I wish I knew who was the original creator and thank them, because it’s genius (and delicious)!

Not only is this cake full of color, both inside and out, but it’s also full of flavor. It’s made with McCormick’s newest extract: McCormick Extra Rich Pure Vanilla Extract. It was just released in honor of their birthday year and it’s 25% richer than the classic McCormick Vanilla Extract. It can be used in a 1:1 ration with the classic and that’s a beautiful thing.

Cheers to a company who has been making vanilla since the turn of the century! So impressive…and delicious!

So cheers to you with autumn birthdays! I hope you have a colorful and flavorful day.

More colorful and flavorful cakes from McCormick and friends:

• Mix ‘n Match Naked Birthday Cake
• Square Pastel Layer Cake from Baked By Rachel
• Polka Dot Cut-Out Cake
• Tie Dye Cake
• Logo Surprise Inside Cake by I am Baker
• Orange Ombre Cake

Autumn Birthday Cake

adapted from McCormick

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup salted butter, melted
• 6 egg whites
• 1 tablespoon McCormick Extra Rich Vanilla Extract
• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• McCormick Yellow and Red Food Coloring
• 1 tub chocolate frosting
• 10 packages full-sized Kit Kat Bars
• 9.9 ounce bag of candy corn M&M’s

How-To

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the bottoms of two 8 inch round cake pans with parchment paper and spray with baking spray.
2. Beat the sugar, greek yogurt, butter, egg whites, vanilla, flours and baking powder together for about 2 minutes until combined and fluffy.
3. Separate the batter into three large bowls, the first bowl having more batter than the second and the second bowl having more batter than the third.
4. In the first bowl (most batter), stir in 50 drops of yellow food coloring.
5. In the second bowl (a little less batter), stir in 50 drops of yellow food coloring and 5 drops of red food coloring.
6. Pour the yellow batter evenly in the bottom of the cake pans. Pour the orange batter on top of the yellow batter, but allow the yellow batter to peak through around the edges. Pour the white batter on top of the orange batter, allowing the orange batter to still peak through.
7. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool for 10 minutes in their pans before flipping out onto a cooling rack.
8. Lay one cake layer out on a plate and spread frosting on top. Layer the second cake on top and cover the entire cake with frosting.
9. Using a sharp knife, cut the Kit Kat bars along the perforation and line upright around the cake. Sprinkle the M&M’s on top of the cake.
10. (Optional) Gently tie a ribbon around the cake.

This post has been sponsored by McCormick. I received compensation for this post. All opinions are my own. Please read my disclosure policy for further information.