Spooky Graveyard Layer Cake

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Line the bottoms of three 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper. Spray the parchment and sides of the pans with nonstick spray; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream together the softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
4. Stir in the vanilla yogurt until combined; set aside.
5. In another large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
6. Add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until just combined.
7. Pour in the milk and mix gently until well combined.
8. Add the remaining flour mixture and mix until smooth.
9. Remove 2 cups of the batter to a separate bowl.
10. To the bowl with 2 cups of batter, add the vanilla extract and black food coloring; mix until the color is uniform.
11. To the remaining batter, add the cherry extract and red food coloring; mix well.
12. Pour the black batter into one prepared pan. Divide the red batter evenly between the other two pans.
13. Bake for 30–35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
14. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edges and turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
15. While the cakes cool, make the frosting: In a large bowl, beat the softened butter until smooth.
16. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, beating well after each addition, until all sugar is incorporated.
17. Mix in the milk and vanilla extract until the frosting is smooth and creamy.
18. Remove 1/4 cup of frosting and tint it yellow with yellow food coloring. Tint the remaining frosting a medium to dark gray using black food coloring.
19. To assemble, place one red cake layer on a cake round. Spread 1/2 cup of gray frosting on top. Place the black layer on top, then spread another 1/2 cup of frosting. Top with the remaining red layer.
20. Cover the entire cake with the gray frosting, smoothing the sides and top.
21. Pour the Monster Mash sprinkles into a bowl. Gently scoop them onto the bottom 1/2 to 1 inch of the cake all around the base.
22. Decorate the sides: Arrange tombstones and candy ghosts around the cake. Use the black gel to pipe a few spooky trees. Pipe yellow frosting circles for full moons. Place pairs of candy eyeballs around the tombstones.
23. On top of the cake, you can place the gingerbread coffin (if using) and then add a few eyeball pairs and ghosts.
24. If not using the coffin, pipe a large tree in the center of the cake with black gel. Place a tombstone on each side of the tree and lay candy bones below them. Add a few ghosts and eyeball pairs on top. Pipe a yellow full moon if desired.