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Shepherd’s Pie Cake

A fun twist on a classic cold weather dish - we're turning shepherd's pie into a CAKE! This red velvet-like cake is topped with cream cheese frosting and it's scooped out just like a traditional shepherd's pie! CHECK OUT MY NEW MERCH: teespring.com/stores/pankobunny
Course: dessert
Cuisine: american
Keyword: pie

Ingredients

Cake base:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cup milk
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup red food coloring liquid, not gel
  • ¾ cup milk chocolate chips melted
  • 1 cup boiling water

Frosting:

  • 250 g cream cheese room temperature
  • 1 ¾ cups unsalted butter room temperature
  • 2 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tbsp cocoa powder
  • ¼ cup green M&Ms
  • 6 orange starburst candies cut into quarters
  • yellow gel food coloring
  • green sugar sprinkles

Instructions

Bake the cake:

  • Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl and mix together.
  • Add the milk, vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla extract, food coloring and mix with an electric mixer until combined. Add the melted chocolate and mix well.
  • Slowly add the boiling water and mix until well combined.
  • Grease a 9-inch round baking pan. This recipe makes enough to fill 2 baking pans, but we only need one pan-worth for this recipe. You can freeze the extra cake or make 12 cupcakes!
  • Fill the pan(s) and bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes in the pan, then turn onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Make the frosting:

  • Beat the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and combine.
  • Add the confectioner’s sugar and beat until light and fluffy.

Assembly:

  • Crumble the cake into a bowl. Beat with an electric mixer to break it up into smaller pieces. Add about ½ cup of frosting and the cocoa powder and mix until well combined.
  • Place a large, open star-shaped piping tip into a piping bag. Paint 3-4 thin stripes of yellow gel food coloring onto the inside of the piping bag with a food-safe paintbrush. Fill the piping bag with the remaining frosting. Set aside.
  • Sprinkle half of the cake mixture into a medium-size, rectangular baking dish (mine was about 9”x5”). Scatter half of the green M&Ms “green peas” and starburst “carrots” on top. Repeat with more cake and candy toppings.
  • Pipe the frosting “mashed potatoes” on top. Garnish with a sprinkle of green sugar sprinkles, to look like parsley!

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