Halloween Cake

My BFF had a big birthday awhile back and I wanted a yummy pumpkin cake since pumpkin is her favorite.  I found one here:  https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2017/10/11/best-pumpkin-cake/

She loved it, as did everyone at the party.  I used melted yellow chocolate melts for the moon.  The witches are made of fondant I cut with a new exacto knife from a stencil I made on the computer.  The frosting was just my regular buttercream.

What you'll need

4 Eggs
1 C Brown Sugar
1/2 C Sugar
1 C Oil
15 oz Pumpkin

Mix together and then add
2 C Flour
1 t Baking Soda
2 t Baking Powder
1/2 t Ginger
2 t Cinnamon
1/2 t Nutmeg
1/2 t Salt
1/2 t Cloves

Pour into greased cake pan. Bake at 350 for (check your pan directions, this orange one baked for 50 minutes, the black one was about 35) or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Happy Halloween!!

This was Dylan's creation this year.  LOVED it.  As you know I love all things Halloween.  All things except the ridiculous question, "how much candy do you allow your children to eat"?  Every time I see that question, it drives me a little crazier.  I followed my parent's philosphy, eat whatever you want, whenever you want.  We always had candy left at Christmas which is true for my kids as well so I'm thinking that idea works;).

I realize that there are children who will eat themselves sick.  My guess is that they won't do it more than once so why not let them get it over with?  The children who will eat their entire bag of candy in two days regardless of consequence?  Take them to less houses.  I think the whole approach of "restricting" leads to anxiety but that's just me.

Anyway....Have a safe and happy Halloween!!  And, don't forget to eat LOTS of candy:)

Party Pumpkin

I have NO idea why this posted sideways?!?  At any rate, you get the idea.  This a fun center piece to your Halloween party buffet table. 

 

Give your pumpkin a good wash.  Let the kids decorate a face and give the pumpkin some hair with salami and cheese stuck with fancy toothpicks.  You could get all healthy and do vegetables or something else but that's not how we roll around these parts on Halloween!

 

Cake Pops

You need:

1 cake mix prepared according to directions and cooked in a 13x9 pan. I used a white cake mix and colored it Orange with food coloring
1 can of Cream Cheese frosting..yes, I said CAN
2 14 oz bags of Chocolate melts ~ we preferred the colored white chocolate variety over the milk chocolate
Extra frosting or chocolate or sprinkles to decorate but honestly, they are good with just the first dipping

Cut your cake in 1/4s and crumble a 1/4 at a time. Make sure you don't have any big lumps

Add 3/4 of the can of frosting. Pioneer woman suggested that instead of the whole can and I have to agree, 3/4 can made them moist enough.

Doesn't look to appetizing but they are YUMMY. Start making your balls. You'll have to wash your hands off about every 10 because you get sticky. I made these about the size of walnuts. One of those mini cookie scoops would be perfect but I couldn't find mine.<



Makes about 70 balls I would guess..I didn't count. Put them in the freezer for one hour to harden
I used the double boiler method because I wanted to follow directions. I later figured out what I already knew, 1 minute in my microwave does the trick.
Melted and ready for business
Take your cake balls out of the freezer and start dipping. Roll them around like fondue and kind of bang the stick on the side of the pan to get off excess chocolate. Use another skewer to push the ball off, add a bit of chocolate to cover your hole.
The second time I made them I simply used a fork. I put the ball in the chocolate and moved it around with a spoon. I kind of scooped it out with the fork, banging the fork on the side of the bowl. The tines on the fork allow for the excess chocolate to easily come off. Much easier.
The chocolate hardens pretty quick because the balls are frozen

My ugly but tasty pumpkins
But I used sucker sticks, white melts and made Spooky pops.  Those are cuter in my opinion.  I also use an upside down colander to dry.  Just dip, stick and move on to the next one.

 

 

Put them in a pot with a styrofoam ball and TADA..fun Halloween treat!

 

Carving Pumpkins

It's a my FAVORITE month!! I wanted to get you excited to carve your pumpkins!!
I put this tip on a couple of years ago but wanted to do it again because it makes life SO much easier!! Cut the bottom out of the pumpkin. Scoop out seeds with a big spoon, a scoop or your hands. Lots of room to move around now. Put candle under on surface. Put pumpkin on top.

Trick or Treat

It's the day we've all been waiting for!! Ok, that "our" household has been waiting for. Sauces are in the crock pot cooking, apple cider and foam cups bought and ready for trick or treating and the witches cauldron is full of candy bars. And, the costumes are PERFECT!


From our house to yours, we wish you a very Happy HALLOWEEN!

Mummy Dogs

We used to call them pigs in a blanket when I was a kid but they weren't as cute as these. Claire thought this was just the best idea EVER, Max ate his fries and skipped the Mummy Dog. Oh well, can't please everyone.

What you'll need

Can of Crescent rolls
8 Hot Dogs (I used the skin on because those are the only ones I can eat)

Spread out the crescent rolls and press two triangles together along the perforated edge. After the edges have been sealed, take your pizza cutter and cut strips. Starting at bottom of hot dog, wrap strips (you're kind of pulling and stretching the dough as you go) around the hot dog. Make sure to leave a space for his eyes.

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. Give the Mummy two dots of mustard for eyes or if you're like our house, we leave the Mummy without eyes because mustard is NOT welcome on our plates:)

Roll out crescent rolls and seal two triangles together, cut strips with pizza cutter
Stretch and pull the dough around the dogs
The NO eyed Mummy

Carving Pumpkins

I have a little tip for you. Can't "show" you because we don't carve pumpkins until October 30.

Instead of cutting the top of the pumpkin off around the stem, cut a big hole in the bottom.

It's great because:

* you can cut a bigger hole making it easier to get the seeds out.
* if you purchased a pumpkin that is a little tipsy, you can fix that by cutting the bottom off
* you won't run the risk of breaking the stem off when you try to take the top off after you've cut.
* You won't have to worry about the top falling inside your pumpkin.
* Easier to light the candle because you can light it and then place the pumpkin over the top of it.

Did I convince you??

Frankenstein Cupcakes

I saw these in a magazine and thought I would give them a try. I wanted to post before Halloween so you could make them for your kids. So my daughters dance class were the lucky ones, they thought they were LOTS of fun.

What you'll need:

Cake Mix made according to directions for cupcakes
24 Large Marshmallows
1 Bag of Green Chocolate Melts from Michael's
48 Green Tic Tacs
Can of Chocolate Frosting

Melt your chocolate melts in the microwave for 1 minute. Stir, stir and stir some more. Typically it will look like it's going to be lumpy but if you keep stirring the melts will in fact melt. If they are still chunky, try another 15 seconds. The thing with chocolate melts is you don't want to over cook, or it will dry up and you won't be able to dip. The "safest" way to melt the chocolate melts in a double boiler. I am not a fan of that process because it takes a LOT longer. But if you want to be "safe", try that route.

So, you've got your chocolate melted. I used a wooden skewer and poked the marshmallow and then dipped it like fondue and tap, tap, tap the stick against the side of the pan to get the extra choocolate off. Then gently pushed the marshmallow off onto wax paper, push from the top because you'll be covering that up with frosting. Sorry about not having photos of that process but my trusty assistant wasn't feeling well. Immediately push a tic tac into each side of the head and allow to cool. If you want to use a spoon, you can do that instead. Decorate the face of Frank.

When the heads are dry, frost your cupcakes. Push a Frank head into each cupcake and pipe some hair on. I used a leaf tip, but you can use any tip you want.

In hind sight, I would put them so they are standing up to dry so Frank doesn't get a flat back of his head.
Make the scary face!

Pipe on the hair...All done and ready for fun!

Trick or Treat

The decorating at my house is almost done. I forgot to pick up spider webs and tacks to hang a few things, but the majority is finished.

Here's an easy and fun thing to do with those trick or treat pumpkins. Put your cooking utensils in it!!