How to Make a Campfire Cake

Tell friends to gather round the campfire for dessert: These burning logs are actually pound cake! We covered store-bought cakes with chocolate frosting to look like wood and arranged them in a fire pit of cookie crumbs. To light the fire, we made flames out of melted red and yellow candies — no kindling required. Read on for the how-to.

Photographs by Levi Brown

Pulse the cookies in a food processor to make coarse crumbs. Transfer all but 1/2 cup crumbs to a bowl. Pulse the remaining crumbs until fine; add the 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar and pulse. Transfer the fine crumbs to a separate bowl.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Sprinkle the red and butterscotch candies into a 7-by-10-inch rectangle, alternating colors as shown.

Bake the candies until completely melted, 10 to 15 minutes. Immediately run a knife through the yellow candy to swirl it into the red (be careful — the candy will be very hot). Let cool completely on the baking sheet.