Sweets & Goodies Recipes: Jack-O'-Lantern Cake Serves: 36 2 (10-inch) Bundt cakes Buttercream Frosting (recipe) Orange, green and brown paste food colorings Base Frosting (recipe follows, optional) Candy corn 2 (10-inch) round cake boards, stacked and covered, or large plate 1 (6-ounce) paper cup or ice cream wafer cone Pastry bag and medium writing tip Prepare 2 recipes Buttercream Frosting. Tint 4-1/2 cups frosting orange, 1/2 cup dark green and 1/4 cup dark brown. To tint frosting, add small amount of desired paste coloring with toothpick; stir well. Slowly add more coloring until frosting is desired shade. Trim flat sides of cakes. Place one cake on prepared cake board, flat-side up. Frost top of cake with some of the orange frosting. Place second cake, flat-side down, over frosting. Frost entire cake with Base Frosting to seal in crumbs. Frost again with orange frosting. Hold cup over fingers of one hand. Using other hand, frost cup with green frosting. Place upside-down in center of cake to form stem. Touch up frosting, if necessary. Using writing tip and brown frosting, pipe eyes and mouth. Arrange candy corn for teeth as shown in photo. Before serving, remove stem. Slice and serve top cake first, then bottom.
Indian Corn Serves: 10 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine 1 package (10.5 ounces) mini marshmallows Yellow food coloring 8 cups peanut butter and chocolate puffed corn cereal 1 cup candy-coated chocolate pieces, divided 10 lollipop sticks Tan and green raffia Line large baking sheet with waxed paper; set aside. Melt butter in large heavy saucepan over low heat. Add marshmallows; stir until melted and smooth. Tint with food coloring until desired shade is reached. Add cereal and 1/2 cup chocolate pieces; stir until evenly coated. Remove from heat. With lightly greased hands, quickly divide mixture into 10 oblong pieces. Push lollipop stick halfway into each piece; shape like ear of corn. Place on prepared baking sheet. Press remaining 1/2 cup chocolate pieces into each "ear." Let treats stand until set. Tie or tape raffia to lollipop sticks to resemble corn husks.
Pumpkin Palooza Cake Serves: 20 Carrot-Walnut Cream Cheese Cakes or cakes of your choice baked in 10-inch Bundt pans, 2 cooled completely Cream Cheese Frosting or 1 container (16 ounces) vanilla frosting 1 piece green fruit leather or licorice Candy spearmint leaves, green gumdrops or green frosting in tube Prepare Carrot-Walnut Cream Cheese Cakes. While cakes are cooling, prepare Cream Cheese Frosting. Assemble cake as follows: Turn both cakes over, rounded sides down. Slice off tops of cakes so that they are level; save crumbs. Place one cake, rounded side down, on serving platter. Frost with about 1 cup Cream Cheese Frosting. Top with second cake, flat side down. Insert crumbs into center of cake to cover the tube hole. Generously frost cake using vertical strokes and refrigerate 2 hours or until frosting is firm. Using butter knife, create vertical ridges to resemble a pumpkin, following the fluted pattern of the cake. Insert rolled-up fruit leather in center of cake for stem. Cut spearmint leaves in half to make them thinner. Or, if using gumdrops, roll out gumdrops with rolling pin and use cookie cutters in leaf shapes to make leaves. Create stems for leaves using green frosting or cut rolled-out gumdrops into strips and roll them to make stems. Arrange leaves and stems so that they trail down pumpkin. Chill until ready to serve.
Candy Corn Cookies Serves: 24 Who doesn't love candy corn? Here are some fun easy ways to decorate cookies for Halloween. Butter Cookie Dough Cookie Glaze Yellow and orange food colorings Prepare Butter Cookie Dough. Preheat oven to 350 F. Roll dough on floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut out 3- inch candy corn shapes from dough. Place cutouts on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. Prepare Cookie Glaze. Place racks over waxed-paper-lined baking sheets. Divide Cookie Glaze into thirds; place in separate small bowls. Tint 1/3 glaze with yellow food coloring and 1/3 with orange food coloring. Leave remaining glaze white. Spoon glazes over cookies to resemble candy corn as shown in photo. Let stand until glaze is set. Cookie Glaze Combine 4 cups powdered sugar and 4 tablespoons milk in small bowl. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons more milk as needed to make medium-thick, pourable glaze.
Sweet Spider Cookies Serves: 20 1 package (18 ounces) refrigerated sugar cookie dough 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 3 to 4 tablespoons seedless red raspberry or cherry preserves* Chocolate licorice Decors, cinnamon candies, assorted icings, sprinkles and mini chocolate chips *If there are large pieces of fruit in preserves, purée in food processor until smooth. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease cookie sheets; set aside. Remove dough from wrapper according to package directions. Combine dough and cocoa powder in large bowl; mix until well blended. Evenly divide dough into 20 pieces. Shape each piece into 2 (1-inch) balls and 1 (1/2- inch) ball. For each spider body, flatten 1 (1-inch) ball into 2-inch circle on prepared cookie sheet. Place 1/2 teaspoon preserves in center of circle. Flatten remaining 1-inch ball into 2-inch circle and place over preserves, sealing dough edges. Cut licorice into 1-1/2-inch pieces; cut pieces in half lengthwise. Press licorice into spider body for legs. For each spider head, slightly flatten 1/2-inch ball and lightly press into spider body. Press decors or cinnamon candies into head for eyes. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until dough is set. Cool on cookie sheets 10 minutes; transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Decorate as desired with assorted icings, decors, sprinkles and mini chocolate chips.
Blue Goo Cupcakes Serves: 24 1 package (18-1/4 ounces) white cake mix, plus ingredients to prepare mix Blue food coloring 1 package (6 ounces) blue gelatin Blue decorator icing Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 24 standard (2-1/2-inch) muffin pan cups with paper liners. Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Add 6 drops blue food coloring to batter; adjust color as desired. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling 2/3 full. Bake according to package directions. Cool cupcakes in pans on wire racks 5 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Meanwhile, combine gelatin and 1-1/3 cups boiling water in small bowl. Stir mixture 3 minutes or until gelatin is completely dissolved. Freeze mixture 40 minutes, stirring often, or until partially set. Pipe ring of blue icing around edge of each cupcake. Spoon 1 rounded tablespoon gelatin mixture onto each cupcake.
Candy Snakes Serves: 8 1/2 cup(s) heavy cream 1 cup(s) bittersweet chocolate chips (6 oz) 6 small firm-ripe bananas (about 6 in. long) 1 package(s) peanut butter chocolate candies (such as Reese s Pieces) 1 piece(s) red fruit leather (such as Fruit Roll-Ups) Crushed chocolate wafer cookies, for serving Place the heavy cream in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high until simmering, about 1 minute. Add the chocolate chips and let stand for 2 minutes, then stir until melted and smooth. Working with 3 bananas at a time, peel, then slice a 1-in. piece off both ends of 1 banana and only one end of the remaining 2. Arrange the bananas on a platter, matching up the cut ends to form the snake's body. Spread chocolate mixture evenly over the bananas so they are completely covered. Repeat with the remaining 3 bananas to make a second snake. If the chocolate mixture seems very soft, refrigerate until just slightly firm, about 10 minutes (and no more than 15). Arrange the candies on the bananas, pressing them in gently to create scales, leaving 2 in. of the chocolate from one end uncovered to form the snake heads (shown, below). Cut 2 tongues from the fruit leather and place at the bottom of the head ends. Cut 2 candies in half and place on the top of the heads for the eyes. Spoon the crushed cookies around the snakes, if desired.
No Bake Blobs Serves: 9 8 ounce(s) bittersweet chocolate (such as Hershey s), finely chopped 1 can(s) (5 oz) thin chow mein noodles (we used La Choy) 1/2 cup(s) vanilla frosting 18 green jelly beans 18 small purple or blue sugar ball candies or jumbo nonpareils Line a large baking sheet with nonstick foil. Place chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and melt on high in microwave 1 to 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Scrape chocolate into a large bowl; add noodles and gently toss with a rubber spatula until all the noodles are evenly covered in chocolate. Drop heaping 1 4-cupfuls of noodle mixture into 9 haystacks on prepared cookie sheet. Let dry 1 hour at room temperature (or speed it up by refrigerating them 30 minutes until hard). Put frosting into a small ziptop bag; snip off a tiny corner of the bag and pipe 2 dabs onto each creature and attach 2 jelly bean eyes. Pipe a dot in center of each eye and attach a candy ball in center. Let dry 1 2 hour.