Eeek, drink & get scary
Brew up a witch’s cauldron of fun this Halloween with special spooky treats. These delicious goodies are frighteningly fun to make, so get your little monsters involved. The Haunted House Cake looks almost too spooky to eat, but this masterpiece will disappear as if by magic. Invite guests to tread through the graveyard of creative chocolatey treats you’ve conjured up with some of your favorite candies.
Send chills down the spine of your favorite ghoul-friends! Check out more spooky Halloween party ideas, a party invitation maker and ghostly goodies for a screaming good time at www.brightideas.com/halloween.
Haunted House Cake
Makes 1 cake
Prep time: 20 minutes
Decorating time: 40 minutes
Orange food coloring
2 (16-ounce) cans vanilla frosting
2 (16-ounce) frozen pound cakes, thawed
1 box thin chocolate wafer cookies
1 (0.68-ounce) tube black decorating gel
1 bag Twix Fun Size Bars
1 bag M&M’S Milk Chocolate Candies Pumpkin Patch Mix
1 bag M&M’S Peanut Chocolate Candies Pumpkin Patch Mix
1. Tint frosting orange and set aside.
2. Spread 1/2 cup orange frosting on bottom of both pound cakes; then press them together. Stand cakes up so that they are vertical on a serving plate.
3. Create pitch of roof by trimming top of one cake on a slight angle. Trim other cake on a steeper angle to make roof look tipsy.
4. Completely cover cake with remaining orange frosting. For roof tiles, break chocolate wafers in half and arrange, overlapping slightly.
5. Pipe black decorating gel for windows. Add Twix bars for door and chimney. Use broken wafer cookies for shutters. Use M&Ms to outline top of roof and sides of house.
6. Grind remaining cookies along with a few Twix bars in food processor. Spread this mixture around base of house for “dirt” and scatter M&Ms on top.
Jack-O-Lantern Cakes
Makes 6 cakes
Prep time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 27 minutes
Refrigerating time: 60 minutes
Decorating time: 30 minutes
1 (18.25-ounce) box yellow cake mix
1 cup pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 bag Snickers Fun Size Bars
2 (16-ounce) cans vanilla frosting
Green and orange food coloring
1 bag M&Ms Milk Chocolate Candies Pumpkin Patch Mix
1 (0.68-ounce) tube black decorating gel
1 bag Twix Fun Size Bars
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 2 mini Bundt pans (each with 6 mini Bundt molds); set aside.
2. Combine cake mix, pumpkin puree, eggs, oil and pumpkin pie spice in large bowl. Beat until thick, about 2 minutes; then divide batter evenly between mini Bundt pans.
3. Chop 1 cup Snickers bars and sprinkle on top of batter. Bake 20 to 27 minutes until golden, or toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven, transfer to wire rack and let cool 10 minutes. Invert, let cool completely and then remove from pan.
4. Meanwhile, tint 1/2 cup of frosting green, spoon into resealable plastic bag and set aside. Tint remaining frosting bright orange.
Spoon 1/4 cup orange frosting into resealable plastic bag and set aside. Stack 2 cakes together (bottom to bottom) resembling a pumpkin shape. If necessary, trim bottoms so they are flat.
5. Place stacked cakes on wire rack set over sheet pan.
6. Heat orange frosting in microwave until thin enough to pour, about 1 minute, stirring well every 10 seconds.
7. Pour frosting evenly over cakes, covering completely. Use small knife or spatula to help frosting cover sides if necessary. Scrape up excess frosting, reheat and reuse if needed.
8. Refrigerate cakes until frosting sets, about 1 hour.
9. Transfer cakes to serving platter. Snip small corner from plastic bags of tinted frosting. Pipe green frosting vines on top of cakes and orange frosting dots to attach M&M’s. Pipe eyes, nose and mouth with black decorating gel. Trim 6 Twix bars and insert at top of cakes for stems.
Tip: If you don’t have mini Bundt cake pans, use jumbo cupcake pans; makes 12 cupcakes.
“Monster Feet Cookies — For this fun and easy recipe go to brightideas.com/monsterfeet.
“Google Eyes Cupcakes — For this eerie recipe go to brightideas.com/googleeyes.
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