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If you are looking for the ultimate show-stopping dessert for your upcoming Halloween party, these ‘Squid Game’ Pink Soldier Mini Cakes are guaranteed to blow your guests away!
If you have seen Netflix’s massive hit show Squid Game, you immediately recognize these eerie, pink-hooded soldiers with the black mesh masks. The square-wearing bosses, the triangle soldiers, and the circle-wearing workers make for the perfect creepy Halloween aesthetic.
The best part about these mini skull cakes? There is absolutely no fondant involved! They are incredibly tasty, soft red velvet cakes filled with a rich cream cheese frosting. The impressive exterior is decorated entirely with a smooth red buttercream and a delicious Oreo-crumb buttercream for the black masks. Your family and friends will be shocked at how good these look—and how amazing they taste!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
100% Buttercream (No Fondant): Most highly decorated cakes rely on stiff, unappetizing fondant. This recipe uses delicious, melt-in-your-mouth buttercream mixed with crushed Oreos to achieve that deep black mask!
Moist Red Velvet: Baked in mini skull pans, the cake itself is a tender, cocoa-kissed red velvet paired with a tangy cream cheese center.
The Perfect Halloween Showstopper: These individual cakes are the ultimate party treat, sure to have everyone reaching for their cameras.
Ingredients You Will Need
Make sure to pull your dairy out a few hours ahead of time! Room-temperature butter and cream cheese are mandatory for smooth frostings.
For the Red Velvet Cake:
The Dry Ingredients: 2 ¼ cups sifted cake flour, 2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, and ¼ teaspoon salt.
The Wet Ingredients: ¼ cup unsalted butter (room temperature), ¾ cup white sugar, 1 large egg (room temperature), ¼ cup vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon cream of tartar (or lemon juice/white vinegar), and 1 cup room-temperature buttermilk.
The Colour: 8 drops of crimson or red liquid food colour.
The Flavour: 2 cups confectioners’ sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and ¼ teaspoon salt.
For the Buttercream Frosting:
The White Base: 4 sticks (2 cups) unsalted butter (room temperature), 4 cups confectioners’ sugar, 3 teaspoons vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¾ cup + 2 Tablespoons whole milk (room temperature).
The Red Hood: 8 drops crimson food colour + 6 drops red food colour.
The Oreo Mask: 1 cup Oreo baking crumbs and 1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder.
For the Zipper Decoration:
¼ cup pure semi-sweet chocolate chips melted with 1 Tablespoon milk.
How to Make Squid Game Mini Cakes
Phase 1: Bake the Mini Skull Cakes
Preheat your oven to 325°F (163°C). Grease your mini skull cake pan generously.
Sift the cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl.
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for 7 minutes. Add the egg and mix until doubled in volume. Mix in the vegetable oil, red food colour, vanilla, and cream of tartar.
Alternate adding a third of the dry ingredients and a third of the buttermilk, mixing until just combined. (Do not overmix!)
Fill each skull cavity with ½ cup of batter. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack for at least 1 hour.
Phase 2: Make the Frostings
Cream Cheese Filling: Mix the softened cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and salt until completely smooth. Refrigerate until needed.
Buttercream Base: Cream the butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and salt on low speed. Slowly pour in the milk. Once incorporated, whip on high until doubled and fluffy.
Divide the Buttercream: Place ¼ cup into a small bowl (for the white symbols). Place 1 ½ cups into a medium bowl (for the black mask). Leave the rest in the mixer bowl (for the red hood).
Colour the Frostings: Mix the red/crimson drops into the mixer bowl. Mix the Oreo crumbs and cocoa powder into the 1 ½ cups of buttercream. Transfer all three frostings into separate piping bags.
Phase 3: Fill and Crumb Coat
Trim the back and sides of your cooled skull cakes to level them (if needed), then carefully slice each cake horizontally in half.
Pipe the cream cheese frosting onto the bottom half, leaving a 1 cm gap around the edges. Place the top half back on.
The Crumb Coat: Pipe a thin layer of red buttercream all over the cake and smooth it out with an angled spatula to lock the crumbs in. Place the cake on a piece of parchment paper and refrigerate for 10 minutes to firm up.
Phase 4: Decorate the Soldiers
The Hood: Pipe red buttercream around the sides of the cake twice, then smooth it completely flat.
The Mask: Pipe the Oreo buttercream over the skull’s face, leaving a 1 cm red gap around the edge. Smooth it flat. Use a clean fork to lightly puncture a grid pattern into the black frosting to create a “mesh” look!
The Details: Pipe a clean red buttercream line around the sides of the cake again, and a red “neck” over the chin area to complete the hood. Use a spatula to smooth any uneven surfaces.
Melt the chocolate chips with the milk, place in a piping bag, and pipe a horizontal line across the mask, two vertical lines on the chin, and a “zipper” down the neck.
The Symbols: Use the plain white buttercream to pipe a square, circle, or triangle onto the center of each mask!
Refrigerate for 30 minutes to firm up.
Pro tip: Gently rub a warm, damp paper towel over the firmed-up red frosting to instantly smooth out any bumps or wrinkles!
💡Pro Tips for Perfect Cakes
Use Liquid Food Colouring: Gel colours can sometimes alter the consistency of your buttercream if you need a lot of it. Wilton’s liquid drops have a built-in dropper for precise measuring and yield vibrant colours without ruining your frosting!
Don’t Over-Colour the Red: Red buttercream darkens significantly as it sits and chills in the fridge! Trust the recommended drops; it will deepen into that perfect soldier-pink/red over time.
The Warm Paper Towel Trick: If your buttercream has streaks from your spatula, chill the cake until the frosting is firm. Then, lightly dampen a smooth paper towel with warm water and gently rub it over the cake. The warmth slightly melts the top layer, giving you a flawless, fondant-like finish!
Complete the Halloween Party Menu
Throwing a spooky, themed get-together? Pair these incredible Squid Game mini cakes with an epic spread of these savoury, grab-and-go party appetizers!
You definitely can! Once the cakes have cooled completely, individually wrap each skull cake tightly in plastic wrap to lock in the moisture. Place them in a large zip-top bag and leave them at room temperature until you are ready to decorate the next day.
How do I serve refrigerated buttercream cakes?
Because butter turns solid in the fridge, your buttercream frosting will be very firm. Always take your decorated cakes out of the refrigerator and let them sit at room temperature for at least 15 to 20 minutes before serving. This allows the cake and the buttercream to soften up perfectly!
Soft red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting covered with a combination of coloured buttercream and buttercream mixed with Oreo cookie crumbs make up these "Squid Game" Pink Soldier mini cakes.
Bake the Red Velvet Cakes: Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C). Grease and flour a mini skull cake pan. Sift cake flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt into a bowl. In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar on medium speed for 7 minutes. Add the egg and mix until doubled in volume. Mix in the oil, red food color, vanilla, and cream of tartar. Decrease the speed to medium-low and alternate adding the dry ingredients and buttermilk in thirds, mixing until just combined. Fill each skull cavity with ½ cup of batter. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.
Make the Fillings & Frostings: Add the ingredients to a clean bowl fitted with the paddle attachment.Cream Cheese: Mix softened cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract, and salt until smooth. Transfer the filling to a piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round piping tip. Refrigerate the filling until you're ready to use it. If you have any leftover filling, store it in a bowl covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator.Buttercream: Cream butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla, and salt on low speed. Scrape the bowl in between mixing. Gradually add milk, then whip on high speed until smooth and doubled. A whisk attachment can help double the volume faster.
Colour the Frostings: Divide the buttercream as follows,– Put 1 ½ cups into a medium bowl. Add Oreo crumbs and cocoa powder and mix to combine; this is the black mask. Transfer this to a piping bag fitted with a large ½-inch round piping tip. – ¼ cup into a small bowl. Keep this plain (for the symbols). Transfer this to a piping bag fitted with a small ¼-inch round piping tip. – Any remaining buttercream should stay in the mixer bowl. Add the crimson red food colouring drops to it and mix; this will create the red hood. Transfer this to a piping bag fitted with a large ½-inch slanted piping tip. Pro-Tip: If you don't have piping tips, you can fill a large zip-top plastic bag with each frosting and snip off a corner with the suggested opening for each frosting.
Fill and Crumb Coat: With a knife, trim to level the backs and sides of the cooled cakes, then slice them horizontally in half. Pipe cream cheese frosting onto the bottom half, leaving a 1 cm gap around the edges, and place the top cake back on the frosting. Pipe a thin layer of red buttercream all over the cake and smooth it with a spatula (crumb coat). Place it on a piece of 7×7-inch parchment paper and refrigerate for 10 minutes to firm up.
Decorate the Mask and Hood: Pipe red buttercream around the sides of the cake twice, then smooth it completely flat.Pipe Oreo buttercream over the face, leaving a 1 cm gap around the edges. Smooth flat with a spatula. Use a clean fork to puncture grid marks into the black mask for a "mesh" look. Pipe a clean red buttercream line around the sides of the cake again, and a red “neck” over the chin area to complete the hood. Use a spatula to smooth any uneven surfaces.
Add Symbols and Details: Melt chocolate chips and 1 Tbsp milk in the microwave (30-second intervals) in a heat-proof bowl and place it in a piping bag with a small opening. Pipe a horizontal line across the middle of the mask and a vertical "zipper" line down the red neck. Use the white buttercream to pipe a square, circle, or triangle on the mask.
Chill and Smooth: Refrigerate cakes uncovered for 30 minutes. To get a perfectly smooth fondant-like finish, lightly dampen a smooth paper towel with warm water and gently rub it over the chilled red buttercream to erase wrinkles. Let cakes sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving!
Don’t Over-Colour the Red: Red buttercream darkens significantly as it sits and chills in the fridge! Trust the recommended drops (dependent on the brand you use); it will deepen into that perfect soldier-pink/red over time.
Can I bake these cakes the night before?You definitely can! Once the cakes have cooled completely, individually wrap each skull cake tightly in plastic wrap to lock in the moisture. Place them in a large zip-top bag and leave them at room temperature until you are ready to decorate the next day.How do I serve refrigerated buttercream cakes?Because butter turns solid in the fridge, your buttercream frosting will be very firm. Always take your decorated cakes out of the refrigerator and let them sit at room temperature for at least 15 to 20 minutes before serving. This allows the cake and the buttercream to soften up perfectly!
Can I bake these cakes the night before?
You definitely can! Once the cakes have cooled completely, individually wrap each skull cake tightly in plastic wrap to lock in the moisture. Place them in a large zip-top bag and leave them at room temperature until you are ready to decorate the next day.
How do I serve refrigerated buttercream cakes?
Because butter turns solid in the fridge, your buttercream frosting will be very firm. Always take your decorated cakes out of the refrigerator and let them sit at room temperature for at least 15 to 20 minutes before serving. This allows the cake and the buttercream to soften up perfectly!
