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Buttercream board with Mickey-shaped pumpkins in different shades of orange in a chocolate buttercream pumpkin patch with assorted snacks for dipping.

Disney-Inspired Autumn Pumpkin Patch Buttercream Board

This whimsical buttercream board will add the perfect Disney-inspired magical touch to your Halloween party, Autumn get-together, or movie night! It is pretty easy to make and it is sure to be the hit of the party that everyone will be talking about! I can almost guarantee that you will be the person that gets asked to bring the buttercream board to every party from here on out.
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Course: Dessert
Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients
  

Chocolate Buttercream
  • 1 cup butter softened to room temp
  • 4 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 4-5 tbsp milk
Vanilla Buttercream
  • 1 cup butter softened to room temp
  • 3½ cups powdered sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 4-5 tbsp milk
  • red, yellow, and green food coloring
Dippers
  • assorted items for dipping into buttercream I used vanilla wafers, Teddy Grahams, and pretzel rods, but pretty much anything goes here!

Equipment

  • parchment paper
  • Stand mixer
  • large serving board or platter (I used the same board that I used for charcuterie last week!)
  • piping bags with round tip (Plastic bags with the corner cut off can be used if you don't have an actual piping bag. You'll want a round tip that is a bit bigger so that it won't take forever to fill in areas. Don't use a fine round tip - those are for small details and intricate piping.)
  • small offset spatula or butter knife
  • small bowls for mixing color into buttercream
  • spatula (for scraping down the bowl(s))
  • mesh sieve

Method
 

Prepare the Board
  1. Cut a piece of parchment paper a bit smaller than your board or platter so that there is a little bit of an edge around it.
  2. Sketch the design on the parchment paper. (Make sure it is dark enough to see the design when you flip over the parchment paper.)
  3. Place the parchment paper with the design side DOWN on the board/platter. Set this aside for the moment.
Make the Chocolate Buttercream
  1. In a stand mixer, whip 1 cup of butter until fluffy.
  2. Add the vanilla extract and mix until combined.
  3. Add the cocoa powder to the butter mixture through a mesh sieve (this prevents lumps and you will thank me later!) Mix until combined.
  4. Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing between each addition.
  5. Start adding the milk one tablespoon at a time until it reaches medium consistency. (Dip a spatula into the buttercream. When lifted up, the peak should keep it's shape and maybe curl over a bit. If it is extremely stiff, just add more milk. If it is too soft, add a bit more powdered sugar.)
Make the Vanilla Buttercream
  1. In a stand mixer, whip 1 cup of butter until fluffy.
  2. Add the vanilla extract and mix until combined.
  3. Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing between each addition.
  4. Start adding the milk one tablespoon at a time until it reaches medium consistency. (Dip a spatula into the buttercream. When lifted up, the peak should keep it's shape and maybe curl over a bit. If it is extremely stiff, just add more milk. If it is too soft, add a bit more powdered sugar.)
  5. Divide the vanilla buttercream into 4 separate bowls.
  6. Tint one bowl green, and the other three varying shades of orange.
Pipe the Design
  1. Place the chocolate buttercream in a piping bag. Pipe the outlines of the Mickey-shaped pumpkins and fill in the area on the OUTSIDE of the pumpkins. You can pipe the buttercream kind of willy nilly in the empty space then use an offset spatula or butterknife to fill in all of the areas and make it smoother.
  2. Place one of the orange shades of buttercream in a piping bag and fill in one of the pumpkin shapes. (I used a spiral motion for each ear as well as the body of the pumpkin.) Add a second layer of piping to the body for a 3D effect.
  3. Repeat with the other two shades of orange to fill in the other two pumpkins.
  4. Place the green buttercream in a piping bag and pipe a stem for each pumpkin and vine tendrils around the board.
  5. Using the remaining shades of orange buttercream, add dots among the pumpkins and vines just to add more color and whimsy to the board.
  6. With the remaining chocolate buttercream, pipe a border (just dots!) around the perimeter of the parchment paper. This just makes it look a bit "cleaner".
Serve and enjoy!
  1. Serve with a variety of dippers. (I used vanilla wafers, Teddy Grahams, and pretzel rods but anything goes here! Think fruit, cookies, salty snacks - the options are endless!