Pizza Cake

This pizza cake may look like a cheesy pepperoni pie at first glance, but it slices up into a sweet dessert. This creative recipe, sent in by Taste of Home reader Caroline Simzisko of Cordova, Tennessee, makes a perfect April Fool’s food prank or birthday party centerpiece. Plus, it’s a fun baking project for kids and pizza lovers of all ages!

Start with a boxed cake mix for convenience, then decorate each fluffy cake layer with red-tinted frosting to mimic pizza sauce, grated white chocolate for cheese and fruit leathers cut to resemble pepperoni slices. There are plenty of ways to get creative with candy toppings, or you can set out a candy buffet and let everyone have fun decorating their own slices.

Pizza Cake Ingredients

• Cake mix: Yellow cake mix delivers a classic pizza crust look, but chocolate, Funfetti or white cake mixes all work—just plan to frost the entire cake to make it look like a pizza. If you want more of a baking project, start with a homemade yellow cake recipe and bake it in two 9-inch round pans.
• Frosting: Frosting stands in for pizza sauce, helps hold the candy toppings in place and adds sweetness to tie the whole cake together. A homemade vanilla buttercream is a perfect choice, although you can use canned frosting in a pinch.
• Food dye: A few drops of red food dye transform the frosting into a convincing red sauce. Gel food coloring tends to deliver more vibrant color than liquid food dye.
• White baking chocolate: Grated white chocolate mimics shredded mozzarella for a realistic finish. To grate it easily, chill the chocolate bar first, then use a vegetable peeler to make shreds.
• Fruit leathers: Strawberry fruit leathers, like Fruit Roll-Ups, make perfect pepperoni slices, thanks to their red color and flexible texture. Use a small round cookie cutter or the rim of a shot glass to punch out neat circles.

Directions

Step 1: Bake the cake layers

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans. Prepare the cake mix according to the package directions, then evenly divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Editor’s Tip: For uniform layers, use a liquid measuring cup to portion the batter into each pan.

Step 2: Cool the cakes completely

Cool the cakes in the pans for 10 minutes. Then, carefully remove them from the pans and transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Editor’s Tip: Make sure the cakes are completely cool before frosting—if they’re warm, the frosting will melt. If you’re short on time, pop the cakes in the fridge or freezer for about 30 minutes after removing them from the pans.

Step 3: Frost the cakes

Place each cake on a 10-inch serving platter. Tint the frosting with red food coloring until it resembles pizza sauce.

Then, spread it over the top of each cake, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edges to look like pizza crust.

Editor’s Tip: An offset spatula is the perfect tool for spreading frosting smoothly and evenly.

Step 4: Decorate like a pizza

Sprinkle the grated white chocolate evenly over the frosting for a cheesy look.

Unroll the Fruit Roll-Ups and use a 1-1/2-inch round cookie or biscuit cutter to cut circles.

Arrange the rounds on top of the chocolate to look like pepperoni.

Editor’s Tip: For extra fun, add other candy toppings like green gumdrops for peppers or licorice strings for olives.

Pizza Cake Variations

• Switch up the cake flavor: Start with any cake mix you like—chocolate, Funfetti, strawberry or red velvet can all work if you plan to frost the whole cake (see next point).
• Frost the whole cake: Use more frosting, tint it with yellow or brown food coloring, and spread it over the entire cake to look like a golden crust. Add the red frosting on top for the sauce.
• Change the “sauce”: Replace some or all the red-tinted frosting with strawberry jam to create a fruity, glossy “pizza sauce.” Warming the jam first will help it spread easily.
• Go wild with candy toppings: Treat the cake like a candy drawer clean-out. Black licorice laces or black jelly beans make convincing olives; sour green gummies or gumdrops look like bell peppers; Milk Duds or Whoppers double as sausage or mini meatballs; green sprinkles or sanding sugar look like dried herbs scattered over pizza.
• Swap out the chocolate: Sprinkle shredded coconut over the frosting to look like mozzarella instead of grated white chocolate.
• Serve it like a real pizza: Commit to the prank and place the cake on a pizza pan or slide it into a clean pizza box from a local pizzeria for extra surprise when you lift the lid.

How to Store Pizza Cake

Store the finished pizza cake covered or under a cake dome at room temperature. Plan to eat the leftovers within three to four days. For longer storage, cover the cake and refrigerate it for up to one week. Let slices sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes before serving to allow the frosting and candy toppings to soften.

Can you make this pizza cake ahead of time?

Yes! If you need a head start, you can bake the cake layers up to one day in advance so you don’t have to wait for them to cool before frosting and decorating. Let them cool completely, then wrap each layer tightly in storage wrap, and store at room temperature or in the refrigerator.

You can also freeze unfrosted cakes for up to two months, then partially thaw them in the refrigerator before decorating. For the freshest results, frost and decorate the cake the day you plan to serve it.

Pizza Cake Tips

How do you make a cake mix taste homemade?

To make boxed cake taste more homemade, swap in milk or buttermilk for the water, use melted butter instead of oil, and add a teaspoon of vanilla extract to make the cake taste richer and more flavorful.

Can you use a different flavor cake mix?

Absolutely! While a yellow cake looks most like a pizza crust, you can swap in chocolate, Funfetti, strawberry or red velvet cake mix. To keep the pizza illusion, frost the outside of the cake with yellow or lightly tinted brown frosting so it still resembles a golden crust.

Should I use store-bought or homemade frosting for my pizza cake?

You can use either store-bought or homemade frosting for this pizza cake recipe. Store-bought frosting is a convenient shortcut when you’re short on time, but homemade frosting gives you the best flavor and texture. A simple vanilla buttercream comes together easily with just softened butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract and a splash of milk.

What other toppings can you put on pizza cake?

When it comes to pizza cake toppings, almost anything from your candy stash is fair game! Use fruit snacks, jelly beans, M&M’s, chocolate chips, gummies, licorice or sprinkles to re-create the look of your favorite pizza toppings.

In addition to the grated white chocolate “cheese” and Fruit Roll-Ups “pepperoni,” try chopping green Sour Punch straws into short pieces to resemble green peppers, shaping brown fondant into mushroom shapes or cutting black jelly beans in half to look like black olives. For a Hawaiian-style twist, add bits of candied pineapple. You can also mix chocolate cake crumbs with a little frosting—just as when making cake pops—and crumble the mixture on top to mimic sausage.

Watch How to Make Pizza Cake

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