How to Make a Pinata Cake

Photo: Andrew Purcell

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To make this festive dessert, you'll need 2 16-to-18-ounce boxes chocolate cake mix (plus required ingredients), 7 wafer ice cream cones, 2 16-ounce tubs vanilla frosting, 3 7-ounce bags shredded sweetened coconut, gel or neon food coloring and black icing for decorating.

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Photo: Andrew Purcell

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Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Coat two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans with cooking spray; line with parchment, leaving an overhang. Prepare the cake mixes as directed. Fill the pans about two-thirds of the way with batter (you' ll have a little left over).

Photo: Andrew Purcell

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Bake the cakes 45 minutes, then remove 1 cake from the oven and insert the top 1/2 inch of an ice cream cone 1 1/2 inches from an end as shown. Continue baking both cakes 10 to 15 more minutes. Let cool, then lift out of the pans.

Photo: Andrew Purcell

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Use a serrated knife to trim the domed top of the cake without the cone; set trimmed-side down on a work surface. Use frosting to attach 4 ice cream cones to the 4 corners for legs. Transfer to the freezer.

Photo: Andrew Purcell

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Trim the bottoms of the 2 remaining cones with a serrated knife to make pointed ears.

Photo: Andrew Purcell

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Cut the cake with the baked-in cone in half to form the head (you won't need the other half). Set cut-side down. Use frosting to attach the "ears" to the top of the head; transfer to the freezer.

Photo: Andrew Purcell

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Divide the coconut among 5 zip-top bags. Add a few drops of food coloring to each bag, then shake and massage to mix. Add more food coloring as needed until the colors are bright.

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Remove the cake with legs from the freezer. Cover the cones with frosting and press purple coconut around them. Frost half of the body as shown and cover with yellow coconut.

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Invert the cake so it stands on the cone legs. Frost the rest of the body and cover with blue coconut on the sides and orange coconut on the top, leaving a square bare as shown. Return to the freezer.

Photo: Andrew Purcell

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Frost the head, ears and snout; cover with stripes of purple, blue, pink and yellow coconut. Place on top of the body as shown. Use the remaining white frosting and the black icing to make eyes and nostrils.