First, prepare the cakes. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray three 6" cake pans with baking spray, and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, oil, brown sugar, and milk until combined.

Add in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, pumpkin spice mix, and vanilla (plus pumpkin spice extract if using). Mix until the cake batter comes together.

Divide batter evenly between the three cake pans, and bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool slightly in the pans, then remove and transfer to a rack to finish cooling off. Cakes must be completely cooled before they can be frosted. I recommend wrapping them in plastic wrap and letting them rest in the fridge overnight for easier frosting and stacking!

When ready to assemble, make the frosting. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, beat together the shortening and vegan butter until smooth and creamy. Add in the vanilla.

Mix in the powdered sugar ½ cup at a time until a thick frosting forms. It is normal to have to add 2-3 tablespoon of milk to get the frosting to the right consistency. You want it to be soft but still hold its shape.

Set aside a few spoonfuls of frosting into separate bowls to make some green frosting (for the stem) and black (for the face). Add orange food coloring to the rest for the cake.

To assemble, first level the cakes if needed so they are all flat and even. Using a 3" circular cookie cutter (or any similar round object), cut out the center of TWO of the cakes.

Spread a small bit of frosting on your cake board or plate, and place one of the cakes with a hole on it. Spread more frosting along the top of this cake, and set the second cake with the hole on top.

Fill the resulting cavity with your desired candy. Finally, spoon or pipe frosting on top of the cake and place the remaining (whole) cake on top. Cover the entire cake generously with orange frosting.

To make the striped effect, I used an extra large spatula and gently dragged it upwards on the sides of the cake.

To make the stem on top, take some of the cake scraps you cut from the middle and cut it into a smaller cylinder (about 1.5 inches). Gently frost the stem using the green frosting you set aside, and set it atop the cake.

Finally, to make the face. I drew and cut out the shapes on a piece of paper, and stuck them to my cake using a toothpick. Using a knife, gently trace around your shapes to make an indentation in the frosting. Remove the paper guides, and now you can fill your drawn shapes with the black frosting. I used a Wilton #5 round tip for this part.

That's it! Refrigerate cake until you are ready to eat. Do note that sugar-covered candies (like sour patch kids, skittles, M&M's) will start to stick to each other due to the condensation melting the sugar a little.