After years of watching my aunt make some amazing fondant cakes, my daughter and I thought we’d give it a try. But, instead of store bought fondant, we decided to make our own. It was less expensive, tasty, and easy to make.
This Hocus Pocus Spell Book, is the second fondant cake we’ve ever made. The first was a five-layer Pusheen Cake, that took 9 hours to make, because of so many trials and errors. But that conversation is for another post.
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If you are looking for a super easy Halloween cake, this is the one for you. I’ve made this cake twice over the years and one of the first tips I have to offer is: Make sure you make your edible objects a few days before (or purchase them) and give yourself enough time to put it together. I had to rush to make this cake before our Halloween Bash, and I can see ever flaw – but my guests loved it. I had to put this together in about an hour’s time. I seriously would have liked another half hour to perfect the cauldron walls, smoothing them out. But it worked. Continue reading
There’s always room for Jello! Image of Jello worms courtesy of thecraftpatch.blogspot.com
Half the fun on Halloween is sampling the novel treats that people bring to a party. The eyeball cupcakes, licorice spiders, witch hats...and the list goes on. Yet, the gruesome ones can be the most exhilarating. They push you to see if you have the guts to eat something beyond the regular aesthetics. Almost like a Fear Factor episode.
Here are some ideas for gruesome culinary creations that will help your friends squirm at your next party:
My first attempt at making chocolates will be used for two cauldron cakes at the Halloween Bash. Photo courtesy of Debbie Morrow.
I’ve always been curious on how hard it would be to make those homemade chocolates. Since I decided to make 2 cauldron cakes for my upcoming Halloween Bash, I needed some body parts and gruesome edibles to hang out of the pot.
Since Gummi Bears are pretty tasteless, I chose to try my hand at candy making. They are not perfect, but sticking out of a cauldron surrounded by other scary edibles, I think they’ll work.
Looking for simple directions for chocolates? Sugarcraft has step-by-step instructions that even newbies can follow.
It’s all in the perspective. Do you see Split Pea Soup or do you see Shrek Slime and Gangrene Stew? Photo of German Split Pea Soup courtesy of FlickrCC.
As I was planning my gruesome food ideas for this year’s Halloween Bash, I began to think about all my favorite foods I usually make and what they could be transformed into.
Most wouldn’t even need tweaking in order to become gruesome because it is all in the perspective.
All I would need to do is set a place card in front of the dish suggesting what it is and the mind does the rest.
Here are some of the ideas I came up with:
Pistachio Fluff or Split Pea Soup: They can be called Shrek’s Snot, Exorcist Vomit, etc.
Dump Cake (used with Cherries) can be called Baked Bloody Eye Balls or Scab Casserole
Brownies (roll in balls and put on toothpicks): Doo Doo Balls.
Macaroni Fruit Salad: Frog Egg Salad
Tapioca Pudding: Frog Eggs and Cream
Chili (add Zucchini pieces the size and shape of fingers of toes): Appendage Stew or Green Slug Chili
Peanut Butter Balls, Coconut Balls, or Cake Balls (add a candy eye or M&M): Monster and Zombie Eyes
I’m still brainstorming, but you have the idea.
Planning and executing a party is stressful enough without attempting new recipes. So pull out your regular recipe cards and see what you can transform. You’ll be happier that you did and don’t forget to drop me a line with one of your ideas. Thanks!
These peanut butter eyes taste like the famous peanut butter cups. Photo courtesy of forable from instructables.
These treats are good any time of the year. I get several requests to add them to my Christmas cookie exchange. Instead of making them look like eyeballs, I add snowflakes and sprinkles.
At Easter, they can be made to look like Easter Eggs. If you use your imagination, I’m sure you could come up with a few more ideas on how to make these tasty morsels look.
Ingredients:
1 pound of 10x sugar
2 cups of creamy peanut butter
2/3 a stick of slightly melted butter
1 package of chocolate chips or white chips
White Chocolate Bark or Regular Chocolate Bark (depending upon look and preference)
Directions Continue reading
Zombie cookies, courtesy of Cake Central and Corrie76
This is fabulous! I think I will combine the zombie cookie idea from Cake Central by Corrie Cakes, with the DIY Royal Icing Eyes from Craft Gossip coupled with an idea of my own.
Since edible eyes at the store are pretty pricey (approx. 75 for 5 bucks), I had been thinking about how to make the eyes cheaper.
A few weeks ago, I picked up candy buttons for my daughter. They were on sale for a dollar a package(450 dots). She was munching on them when I got inspired. Why not get some food coloring, use a toothpick or small brush and make them eyes? I could add red veins and more!
Take a toothpick, dip it in a drop of food coloring and paint the candy buttons. So quick and easy! Photo courtesy of Debbie Morrow.
It was an easier alternative to making multiple batches of varying colored dots and it took less than 10 minutes to go from painting the eyes to being able to use them.
Since I make a huge spread of gruesome treats at my Halloween Bash, I’ll now have more than enough eyes at a reasonable price. Thank you my creative friends for inspiring me again!
A brain mold made of cool and refreshing gelatin.
By Debbie Morrow
Honing Your Culinary Artistic Skills Now
If you’re planning on making some new gruesome treats for Halloween, it’s better to practice your skills a few months ahead before the big party.
When the summertime heat rises, there’s nothing more refreshing than Jell-O! Hardly the Jell-O mold your grandma has made, the basic recipe originally came from The Pumpkin Nook, where you can find several recipes of gruesome delight. I tweaked the brain recipe by adding a few ingredients and made it my own.
You’ll Need:
One brain mold
A large platter (to accommodate brain with blood drippings)
Non-stick cooking spray
7 small boxes of peach gelatin
Green food coloring
1 can skim evaporated milk, chilled
3 ½ cups water
One of the following: A can of cherry pie filling or 1 bag of frozen strawberries or frozen raspberries.
3 bowls: one for mold stabilization in the refrigerator, one for mixing and one for water dipping.
A mini cleaver is optional but gives a great visual effect. Continue reading
Why not? This is a good way of practicing your cooking creations beforehand and it gives me a little motivation to get moving on my planning ideas.