--- title: How to Make a Brain Cake for Halloween description: The cake was inspired by 'The Walking Dead' canonical: https://time.com/4071647/make-brain-cake-halloween/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-13T16:11:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:25:57.126Z og:title: How to Make a Brain Cake for Halloween og:description: The cake was inspired by 'The Walking Dead' og:url: https://time.com/4071647/make-brain-cake-halloween/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e27dfe7ccd6570e/6988680cab6d7730b36a6a74/brain-cake-walking-dead.png?branch=production&width=768&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 768 og:image:height: 432 og:image:alt: brain-cake-walking-dead og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How to Make a Brain Cake for Halloween twitter:description: The cake was inspired by 'The Walking Dead' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e27dfe7ccd6570e/6988680cab6d7730b36a6a74/brain-cake-walking-dead.png?branch=production&width=768&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How to Make a Brain Cake for Halloween > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME The Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition The Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors. The Brief brings TIME's perspective to the day's most important stories, helping readers understand not just what is happening, but why it matters. It combines original reporting and analysis with the best of TIME, spanning politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=fd05e245-e4dc-473e-b7ad-eda368aea4b3&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) by [FWx](https://time.com/author/food-wine-2/) ## FWx Oct 13, 2015 4:11 PM UTC  How To Cake It by [FWx](https://time.com/author/food-wine-2/) ## FWx Oct 13, 2015 4:11 PM UTC Think there were some cool Halloween-themed snacks at your party last year? We bet they weren’t quite as impressive as this brain cake. Baker, cake designer and zombie enthusiast Yolanda Gampp, who runs the YouTube channel [How to Cake It](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvM1hVcRJmVWDtATYarC0KA), originally designed her hyper-realistic brain cake for the recent premiere of _The Walking Dead_. But it will work just as well for grossing out your guests on Halloween. In her video, she gives a recipe and step-by-step instructions on how to make your own oozing, red velvet masterpiece. The trick is to start by baking the cake in a bowl instead of a pan—it will save you some carving time later. Assembling the cake is a complicated process (like most cake art, it requires some involved fondant work), but hey, you’ve got plenty of time between now and October 31 to practice. And if it doesn’t work, you can always just mash it up and say it’s supposed to look like a brain after the zombies got ahold of it. _This_ [_article_](http://www.foodandwine.com/fwx/food/how-make-your-own-brain-cake-halloween) _originally appeared on_ [_FWx_](http://www.foodandwine.com/fwx/)_._ _More from FWx:_ * [Cakeageddon Presents Horrifying Cakes for Halloween](http://www.foodandwine.com/fwx/food/cakeageddon-presents-horrifying-cakes-halloween) * [7 Wines to Pair with Your Favorite Halloween Candy](http://www.foodandwine.com/fwx/drink/7-wines-pair-your-favorite-halloween-candy) * [4 Easy Halloween Party Foods](http://www.foodandwine.com/fwx/food/4-easy-halloween-party-foods-kitchy-kitchen) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4071647/make-brain-cake-halloween/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4071647/make-brain-cake-halloween/"},"headline":"How to Make a Brain Cake for Halloween","datePublished":"2015-10-13T16:11:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:25:57.126Z","description":"The cake was inspired by The Walking Dead","url":"https://time.com/4071647/make-brain-cake-halloween/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Living","Food & Drink","The Walking Dead","cake","halloween"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e27dfe7ccd6570e/6988680cab6d7730b36a6a74/brain-cake-walking-dead.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"FWx"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e27dfe7ccd6570e/6988680cab6d7730b36a6a74/brain-cake-walking-dead.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"brain-cake-walking-dead","caption":"","creditText":"How To Cake It","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4071647/make-brain-cake-halloween/","name":"How to Make a Brain Cake for Halloween"}}]}] ```