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How-To Make Halloween Themed Desserts

It is finally that time of year again. October brings in the fall season, which brings in all the best festivities of the year. Around here, here as in Oklahoma, we like to think of October as a combination of cooler weather, football games, state fairs, and of course Halloween.

Halloween is often people’s most cherished holiday but quite honestly, it freaks me out a little bit. What I do enjoy about this special, freaky, weird holiday is the fun festive food. There are so many ways to be creative with food during the Fall season, so I am going to show you how to make two ghostly desserts for your friends and families.

The first desert is a cute little cupcake that looks like a ghost, called “Ghoulishly Glowing Cupcakes.” Below is a list of ingredients you will need in order to make the batter for the cake.

·      2 cups all purpose flour

·      2 cups sugar

·      ½ teaspoons baking powder

·      1 teaspoon salt

·      1 teaspoon baking soda

·      ½ cup shortening

·      ¾ cup milk

·      ¾ cup water

·      2 large eggs

·      1 teaspoon vanilla

·      4 oz melted unsweetened baking chocolate

Before we start mixing it’s important to preheat the over to 350 degrees. Next you want to prepare the pan by placing cupcake paper liners in holders. Do pay attention to whether or not you have aluminum cupcake pan, because with aluminum you will not need liners.

While the oven is warming up, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Next add the milk, water, vanilla, chocolate, and shortening.

Use an electric mixer on medium speed for about one minute, or until there are no lumps. If you do not have an electric mixer, just whisk the batter until smooth.

Next add in the eggs. Again beat or whisk together. Now the batter is ready. Ladle in the batter into the cups, filling them about half full.

These will bake for 20-25 minutes.

After the cupcakes are ready, remove from the oven and let them cool for about 5 minutes. 

Now comes the fun part, the glowing icing. Underneath a black light, these cupcakes will glow! Below is a list of ingredients for the icing.

·      7 cups confectioners’ sugar

·      1 cup vegetable shortening

·      1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract

·      5 tablespoons tonic water

·      1 bag mini chocolate chip morsels

As a side note, one good type of peanut butter cookie you could use is Nutter Butter. With the hourglass shape and ridges, this cookie will surely resemble a perfect ghost after dipped. If you or your family doesn’t like peanut butter, another good substitute is Oreos.  Oreos are also good because of the circular shape.

In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, shortening, vanilla and 3 tablespoons of the tonic water (you can use diet if you prefer).

Use an electric mixer on low speed for about one minute or until no sugar is visible. If not, whisk the mix until smooth and no sugar is visible.

Next, add the remaining two tablespoons of tonic water. This will give the icing a little more of a piping consistency. This time mix at a high speed until it becomes light and fluffy.

Now pipe the icing onto the cooled cupcakes in a circular motion to give the cupcake height. Once the cupcakes are iced, you’re ready to add the mini morsels to the icing to create ghost eyes.

 

     Ta da! You are done! You now have officially made one of the spookiest Halloween desserts.

     Now let’s make some “Ghostly Peanut Butter Cookies.” Below is the list of ingredients you will need.

·      12 oz vanilla-flavored candy coating

·      1 (1 lb.) package peanut butter filled sandwich cookies

·      1 package mini chocolate chip morsels

Before you do anything, it is important to line the cookie sheet with wax paper to prevent the cookies from sticking.

In a small saucepan, melt the candy coating over low heat. It is easiest if you cut the candy into smaller pieces, which will speed up the melting process. Make sure you stir constantly until fully melted and smooth.

Next, use a pair of tongs to dip each cookie into the melted coating. Make sure you dip the cookie entirely into the coating, entire top and side. Make sure you let the excess drip off before putting on cookie sheet. Once excess is dripped off, carefully lay each cookie flat, coated side up, on the wax paper.

Again, in order to make the white blobs look like ghosts, add two mini chocolate chip morsels as eyes. Let the cookies sit and cool for about 10 minutes before removing from the wax paper.

A creative way of serving the ghost cookies are in a festive pumpkin or a circular bowl to let ghosts pop out.

     Both of these desserts are perfect for a Halloween time of year. There are plenty of ways to be creative during October with all of the events that take place, but Halloween is one that food is always a fun way to be creative. Whether it is goblins, ghosts, witches, mummies, zombies or any other frightening concept, Halloween is filled with creativity in all aspects.

     This year for Halloween, my roommates and all of our closest friends are joining me at a Halloween themed dinner before hitting the Halloween party at our local bar. Unfortunately, Halloween falls on a Wednesday night this year but that is not going to stop our festivities in celebrating a good ole Hallmark holiday. Our dinner will be themed from head to toe. From appetizers to music and to the encore to the decorations and finally from the desserts to our costumes, it is bound to be a freaky night filled with friends, fun and always good food.

Decorate your house. Decorate your costume. Decorate your yard. But most importantly, make sure you decorate your food. Make everyone impressed with all of your fun snacks and desserts.

Bon Appétit.