I can’t believe that October has come … and is almost gone! All the other holidays will be here before we know it. Time sure does fly when you are having fun! I certainly have had fun sharing my ideas with you … and there are more to come 🙂
Here is a quick summary of Halloween …
The Bride of Frankenstein Pops
Black bottom cupcakes with spider webs
And for fall … this is what I have made so far …
Peanut butter & chocolate acorns
Now I am off to the kitchen …
Black bottom cupcakes have been around forever. They truly are oldies but goodies. The best of two worlds … cake and cheesecake all rolled into one … yum!
I usually don’t make colored filling for these cupcakes … but it is Halloween after all! And the spider webs could be used on any cupcake or by themselves.
I will give you the recipe and directions for making the spider webs. So let’s get started …
Make the filling. Mix the cream cheese, sugar and egg until smooth …
Stir in the chocolate chips …
Stir in the orange food coloring (I use Americolor about 3 drops) …
Now make the chocolate cake. Whisk together the dry ingredients … flour, sugar, cocoa, salt and baking soda …
Add the wet ingredients … water, oil, vinegar and vanilla … stir until smooth …
Fill lined cupcake pans (1/3 full) …
Add the filling … (you could sprinkle some chopped nuts on top at this point) and bake …
While the cupcakes are baking, we can make the spider webs. You will need …
I have a tendency to lose control over the size of things … so I drew 2-1/2″ circles on a sheet of paper as a guideline for the size of my spider webs …
I placed the paper on a cookie sheet and covered it with wax paper …
On top of the wax paper, make a small puddle (about the size of your thumbnail) of melted white chocolate and work the spiral out …
Using the toothpick, drag the white chocolate from the center to the outside rim …
Add a chocolate chip (spider body) to the center of the web …
Pop the webs into the fridge for a few minutes to firm up. Then use the marker to give the spider some legs and lay the webs on to of the cooled cupcakes …
1. In a small bowl, mix cream cheese, egg and 1/3 cup sugar until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt and 1 cup sugar. Stir in water, oil, vinegar and vanilla. Beat until smooth.
3. Fill lined cupcake pans 1/3 full with chocolate mixture. Spoon cheese mixture on top. Sprinkle with nuts if desired.
4. Bake at 350°F 30-35 minutes. Do not overbake. Makes 24 cupcakes.
I do recommend serving these cupcake after they are completely cooled. I like to refrigerate them … but I like cold cheesecake.
Aren’t these the cutest little jack-o-lanterns? Well, they are really tangerines and a face drawn with a Sharpie marker … which is non-toxic. My friend, Gwen, made them … she is so clever!
We just got home from camping … which is where I made these yummy biscuits for breakfast. This was my second attempt … the first try ended up in the bacon syrup mixture being burnt beyond recognition … that is when I found out that my trailer’s 1966 oven had a mind of its own! There was smoke pouring out the windows and door … it looked like a Lucy episode. This time was very successful, here is the proof …
Hot out of the oven!
About 20 minutes later!!!
Let me apologize now for the lack of photos … I got sidetracked … it happens often … I wanted to make sure that nothing got burnt, this time. But, all of us thought that this was so yummy … it needed to be shared. I would describe it as a maple caramel bacon biscuit … wonderful and evil at the same time 🙂
The recipe is from King Arthur Flour … I simplified it by using store-bought biscuits. Here is a quick summary … and then the recipe with full directions.
First, make the maple-bacon syrup mixture and spread it in the bottom of a lightly greased square pan …
I used one tube of Jumbo biscuits and cut them in half (to make it easier) and arrange them in the pan on top of the syrup mixture …
Maple-Bacon Biscuits (adapted from King Arthur Flour)
1/2 pound bacon, cooked until medium-brown (or 6-8 strips of pre-cooked bacon)
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 tube refrigerated biscuits (Jumbo or Grands – 8 count)
Let me introduce you to Mrs. Frankenstein. She is very independent and does not need a sugar daddy … because she is a Sugar Daddy!
Several weeks ago I made Frankenstein pops. Then a comment was made asking about a Mrs. Frankenstein. I had leftover green chocolate and decided to give The Bride of Frankenstein a try. She did get a few “makeovers” in the process. I asked for opinions … she got mixed reviews, she was even compared to Gumby. I Googled “The Bride of Frankenstein” …. and found out that in many images she does not appear to have green skin … but if you Google “Bride of Frankenstein cakes” a green face is very popular!
Here is everything you will need … white & green candy melts, Sugar Daddy pops, candy eyes, edible tiny pastel sprinkles (sequins) and an edible marker
Please notice that there are red hearts sprinkles that were used in the first version, but not used in the final version.
Line a cookie sheet with wax paper or parchment and unwrap the Sugar Daddy pops … they really are a little lumpy and bumpy …
Melt the candy … I mixed dark green and white to get a lighter green … dip the pop, tap off all the excess …
Lay it on the cookie sheet … and pop them in the fridge or freezer to firm up …
Melt the white candy … dip pop half way in the white candy to create the hair. It is important that you do this while the green is still cold because it may start to smear in the melted white candy … tap off the excess and lay the pop back on the cookie sheet …
After the white has firmed up make some “hair lines” using a fork …
A brush may be useful to clean up …
Give her a face … use a dot of melted green candy to “glue” on the eyes and cheeks and make the nose … use the marker to draw eyelashes, hair lines and mouth … (this is the first version with ♥ lips)
I think my bag of Sugar Daddy pops have evolved into Sugar Mama’s 😉
And the winner of the giveaway is … #30 Danya Campbell. Congratulations! Thank you to everyone who entered. Fall/autumn was the favorite season winner … according to our very unscientific poll.
Danya, I will be sending you an email so that I may mail you the doilies.
Can you believe that Halloween is only 13 days away? So, I am back to the kitchen … and still in Halloween mode. Please come back for another treat … no tricks, promise.
This is a quick and easy treat to make for a party or for individually bagged treats. There is a little peanut butter in it, but it isn’t over powering. I believe that the peanut butter cuts the sweetness of the white chocolate and creates a nice creamy texture. The peanuts really give you get that sweet and salty taste. I hope you enjoy it!
I want to remind everyone that the autumn doilies giveaway ends Monday, October 17 … don’t forget to enter!
This is what you will need … white chocolate, dark chocolate, popcorn, Rice Krispies cereal, peanut butter, salted peanuts and candy corn.
Microwave the popcorn and pour it into a large bowl … no unpopped kernels, please … add the Rice Krispies and peanuts … stir it all up! Use your favorite spoon … this is one of mine. Do you remember old Saturday Night Live episodes? This is my “OH, NO MR. BILL!” spoon … maybe I need help … I am now naming my spoons …
Melt the white chocolate and stir in the peanut butter …
Pour the melted chocolate mixture over the popcorn mixture and stir well …
Pour it onto a cookie sheet covered in waxed paper or parchment …
Spread it out …
Drizzle some dark chocolate on top … just use a teaspoon or fork or whatever works for you … it adds some color contrast …
Sprinkle the candy corn on top …
Let it harden up (or pop it in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes to speed up the process) … break it into serving size pieces …
1 bag microwave popcorn (about 3 ounces, any type) or 7 cups popped corn
1-1/2 cups salted peanuts
1/2 cup Rice Krispies cereal
1 pound white chocolate (or candy melts)
2 ounces dark chocolate
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1 cup candy corn
Line a large cookie sheet with waxed paper or parchment. In a large bowl combine popped popcorn, Rice Krispies and peanuts. Melt the white chocolate and stir in the peanut butter. Pour the chocolate mixture over the popcorn mixture and stir to combine. Spread on prepared cookie sheet. Melt dark chocolate and drizzle over popcorn mixture. Sprinkle candy corn on top. Let stand at room temperature to harden or pop in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes. Break into servings.
If I could sing … I would … ding-dong, the witch is dead! (FYI … you should be happy that you can’t hear me!)
This was a first for me … cupcakes served icing side down!
On Sunday, I was looking at the Michael’s ad and saw this idea. I believe that the witch legs were made with fondant. I wanted to make it a little simpler. So this is what I can up with …
Leg ideas … Sour Punch Sticks, pretzel sticks, Pixy Stix, licorice, sugar sticks, stick cookies and tiny chocolate cigarettes …
Shoe ideas … colored Jordan almonds, small jelly beans and Starburst …
Candy melts to attach the shoe to the leg …
This what you will need …
Before we start, I want to explain that my goal was to make this a very quick and easy project. I just loved the idea of the witch under the cupcake! Of course you could spend more time than I did and make it “perfect”.
Here are the items that I chose to use for legs and shoes … I did cut one Starburst and made 2 shoes from it …
Dip the legs in candy melts to create “socks” …
Attach the shoes …
Frost your cupcakes however you want … remember nobody will see the tops! Assemble the legs …
Turn the cupcakes icing side down on top of the legs and place a hat nearby …
I did pull out the edible marker and add some details …
Fall is my favorite time of year. I enjoy cooler weather and the leaves changing color. Today should be a lovely 88° and Thursday is expected to reach 100°! This is October … isn’t it? I am going to ignore the weather and pretend it’s cool. I am in fall mode and the temperature is not going to spoil it!
Today I made acorns since I don’t have an oak tree. These are sweet little acorns … not the kind that fall off trees. But I suppose that’s obvious.
This is what you will need …
Set up an assembly line … unwrap the Kisses. Melt about 1/4 cup of the peanut butter chips in the microwave (20 seconds, stir, 20 seconds, stir). This will be your “glue”. Put a little “glue” on the cookies and place the Kisses on the cookie …
After the “glue”has hardened … “glue” the remaining peanut butter chips on top of the cookies …
Congratulations … you just “grew” acorns!
What is your favorite season? Today … because it’s fall … and I love it! I have a little giveaway for someone to win. Could you use some fall doilies … like the ones I used above? I stocked up back in July and am very happy that I did. I was at the same store two weeks ago and not a package was left. I want to share some with one lucky winner. Wouldn’t they be cute with a cupcake or muffin on top … or maybe used in a craft or scrapbook project? The winner will receive 4 packs of doilies, like the ones below …
To enter … tell me what season is your favorite or just say “Hi”. Leave a comment below … and don’t forget your email address (so that I may contact the winner). The last day to enter is Monday, October 17, 2011, midnight. The winner will be chosen at random and announced Tuesday, October 18, 2011. One entry per person.
Giveaway is now over, sorry 😦
Soo many Halloween ideas … too little time! That is my dilemma right now. I do have ideas for fall also … and will post them shortly.
This little project is a quick and easy one. Great for kids … or adults … to make. The witch hats could be used alone … but I really like them on top of cupcakes … edible decor!
You will need …
Set up a little assembly line to make the witch hats … it takes a while just to unwrap the mint patties and kisses …
Put a dab or dollop (very technical terms) of melted candy on the mint patty. You can use a spoon … but a squeeze bottle would be a great option for kids …
Place the Kiss on the melted candy … a little will ooze out … creating a band. Pop them in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes to firm up the melted candy …
I used my favorite cupcake decorating tip … Wilton #1M … to frost the cupcakes. Start on the outside rim and swirl your way to the center of the cupcake …
Put a hat on the cupcake … and you are done!
Do these fall in the “good for you” category? They have dark chocolate … antioxidants … can we rationalize it? If not, here is my find of the day …
I wish I could take credit for this quote … but I can’t … it came straight off a Denny’s menu!
Please feel free to leave a comment …
I love it when I can use a product for more than one project … guess what I used to get the impressions in this candy.
If you guessed texture tiles that were designed for fondant or icing … you were right! I found these at Michael’s and are from Duff … of course! The two tiles (5-1/2″ x 7-1/2″ each) come in one package and are pretty cheap inexpensive. This is what they look like …
This is what you will need …
Decide which side of the tiles you will use … I almost used the wrong side of the “words” tile … the words would have been backwards! Scoop some melted dark chocolate on the spider webs … and spread it around …
Using a spatula, scrape off excess chocolate (it can be reused). Let the chocolate firm up …
As you can see … it is not scraped perfectly clean …
Now repeat using orange melted candy on the words tile. Then mix some Rice Krispies into the melted white chocolate … you could leave it plain, add nuts or whatever you like. Pour the white chocolate on top of the spider webs and gently spread around …
Pour dark chocolate on the words tile and spread it around … then put the tiles in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes to firm up …
The candy will remove from the tiles very easily. The edges are not smooth … but I think that’s OK … it adds character …
To decorate … I used melted orange chocolate and M&M’s to create spiders …
I used more melted chocolate to “glue” the skull candies …
This is one of those “flexible” projects … change-up the colors … use different decorations … use the whole tile or just a small part … use your imagination!
I like feedback … please leave a comment!!!
SWEET SIMPLE STUFF 