Coolest Jack Skellington Cake Ideas and Decorating Tips

Take a look at these cool homemade Jack Skellington cake ideas shared with us by cake decorators from around the world. Along with the birthday cakes here, you’ll also find loads DIY birthday cake-making ideas and how-to tips to inspire your next birthday cake project. Enjoy!

And don’t forget… if you end up with a cool cake, have great tips to share or pictures of awesome birthday cakes you’ve made in the past, share them here and be a part of our coolest birthday cake community.


Latest Jack Skellington Cake Ideas



Featured Cakes

Cake by Brandy S., El Cajon, CA

Coolest Jack Skellington Cake Ideas and Photos

This is a Jack Skellington cake made with a Cherry Chip cake with vanilla frosting. I made two 9″ round cakes, staked them and frosted with the vanilla frosting. To achieve a smooth surface I got my frosting spreader really hot and smoothed over any bumps. For the black areas I used a black frosting that came in a air can. It was very hard to use, I do not have a steady hand but it worked out in the end.

For the stitching on the mouth I piped the black frosting on to a toothpick and then pressed it into the cake for the stitch effect. The cake was yummy and a hit at my son’s 10th birthday!

Cake by Erin P., Springvale, ME

Jack Skellington Cake Photo

I made this Jack Skellington cake for my friend’s Graduation Party. I took two 9″ cakes and stacked them then used buttercream icing to cover both layers.

I dyed fondant black, rolled and cut into strips. I then placed them around the sides of the cake. I waited for the icing to set and piped the eyes on and flattened with my fingertip (dipped in cornstarch) and then piped on the mouth. I finished the cake off with a black outline around the top edge of the cake.

The Cake was a huge hit!

Cake by Rebecca S, Galway, Ireland

Jack Skellington Cake Photo

The Nightmare before Christmas is the best movie ever and Jack makes a damn tasty Jack Skellington cake. Just make a round cake then the decoration is the only important bit!

First cut a circle of greaseproof paper the same size as the circumference of your cake and draw Jack’s face onto it. Then cut out the spaces for his eyes, nose and mouth. Roll out white icing until it is of a suitable thickness to cover the cake (but not too thin or it will rip when you try to move the icing onto the cake!).

Lay the greaseproof Jack onto the centre of the icing and using the point of a knife trace out the shape of his face and details. Lift out the bits that will be spaces (eyes etc) and then brush the cake lightly with apricot jam so the icing will stick. Gently lift the icing onto the cake (Jacks face on top obviously!) and then trim the icing around the sides so it is smooth. Tip: if icing is lumpy dip butter knife in boiling water and use it to smooth out the lumps! Then melt some dark chocolate (the darker the better) and use a tea-spoon to trickle into the holes in Jacks face until the chocolate is level with the icing.

Cake by Connie B., Dana Point, CA

Jack Skellington Cake Photo

My son was obsessed with Nightmare before Christmas so for his 5th birthday he wanted a NBC party (not an easy theme). I made this Jack Skellington cake by (a) making a round cake and frosting it white then (b) making a 13×9 cake and also frosting it white. Basically, it very much looked like a ghost cake.

I used black decorator gel for the eyes, nose and mouth. Then used black sugar for the stripes in his shirt (I made tiny strips of foil then laid them on top of the vanilla frosting then sprinkled the black sugar and gently removed them for the striping effect). Finally instead of using black fondant I used black construction paper for his bat bow tie!