Happy Halloween Pumpkin Cake

Happy Halloween Everyone! Trick or Treat?  Well, no tricks here, just a whole lot of treats.  I am so excited to show you how to make this fun and festive pumpkin shaped cake.  If you have been to my blog before, you know I'm still working on getting comfortable with the world of baking.  Now I'm also exploring the beauty of cake decorating.  Anyone can make this fun cake because I did it!  I used a box cake mixed, but I followed a tip baking guru Paula Deen gave on a cooking show.  I love her tips because it takes an ordinary box cake mix and turns it into super rich and moist cake.  Now if Paula Deen uses a box cake mix occasionally, I'm sure going to feel less baking challenged when I do too. : )   I hope you all have a very sweet and safe Halloween.   



Ingredients:
2 boxes of any flavor cake mix.  I used classic yellow.
(See notes fpr Paula Deens tips to enhance box cake mix)
2-3 tubs of frosting or your favorite white frosting
sprinkles (optional)
Yellow, Red and Green food coloring (see note)
1 ice cream cone

Notes on Box Cake Mix:  Paula Deen advised that you can turn a regular box cake mix to a richer cake mix by doing the following:   
1. Add an extra egg to to the box cake mix (for example if the box calls for 3 eggs, use 4)  
2. Add butter in place of the vegetable oil  that is called for on the cake box.
3.  Add milk in place of the water that is called for on the cake box.

Notes on Frosting:  You can get some help from the store and buy orange and green cake frosting.  That's actually what I did. 

Notes on the baking pan:  You will need a bundt cake pan for this cake so you can get the right shape.  You will either use two bundts pans to bake the cakes or have to bake one cake at a time using the same bundt pan.  That's what I did.


Directions:
Bake the two cakes per the box baking instructions until done.  Allow cakes to cool completely on two separate plates.



Then frost the dome part of one bundt well.  Next, take your cake plate (the plate that will hold your final pumpkin cake) and invert it over the frosted cake. Then flip the frosted cake over so the frosted side is now the bottom half of the pumpkin and the flat side of the bundt is facing up.

Now frost the flat side of the bundt cake well. This will become the center layer of frosting between the two bundt cakes.  Next, place the second bundt cake on top of the bottom cake by placing the flat sides together.  The dome of the 2nd bundt should be the top of the pumpkin now.



  Frost the top bundt cake as well. Use the back of a spoon and give it some texture up and down the cake to make the ridges of the pumpkin.








Next take a flat bottom ice cream cone and frost it will with the green frosting.  Place the frosted ice cream cone in the bundt cake hole so it looks like the stem of the pumpkin. 










Voila you have just created yourself a pumpkin shaped cake.  Now you can decorate with sprinkles and novelty plastic spiders to give it a real fun finish.  Slice and enjoy.  Serves a party.

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Happy Halloween Pumpkin Cake

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Chocolate and Peanut Butter Dipped Apple Bites

Who doesn't love dipped apples in candy, caramel or chocolate?  My kids have been asking me to make them dipped apples since the beginning of Fall.  But I had a few hesitations to make them these fun Fall treats.  The problem is their little mouths have a hard time eating a whole apple that is dipped and most of the apple is left behind once the coating is eaten off.  I didn't want to hold back the fun so I decided to make it more child friendly by slicing the apples into wedges.  The dipped apple bites were a big hit because there was more coating to go around each slice of apple and they were so much easier to eat.  I tripled dipped these in peanut butter then chocolate and then crushed peanut.  They were fun to make and totally fun to eat.  Now this is a great way to have an apple a day and keep the doctor away. : )


Ingredients:


4-5 medium granny smith apples cored and sliced into wedges
1 cup chocolate chips (milk or semi-sweet chocolate)
1 cup peanut butter chips
4 Tbs of milk
1/2 cup of crushed roasted peanuts

toothpicks
parchment paper


Directions:


Cut your apples into wedges.  An apple corer/slicer is a handy here. Then poke toothpicks in each wedge.







In a bowl add 1 cup of peanut butter chips and 2 Tbs of milk.  Heat in the microwave for 30 seconds or more to melt.  Stir the mixture until fully melted and creamy.  Dip each apple in the peanut butter mixture.  Place on the parchment paper for 15-20 minutes until the peanut butter hardens around the apple.



In a bowl add 1 cup of chocolate and 2 Tbs of milk.  Heat in the microwave for 30 seconds or more to melt.  Stir the mixture until fully melted and creamy.  Dip each apple in the chocolate mixture then into a bowl of crushed peanuts. Place on the parchment paper for 15-20 minutes until the chocolate hardens around the apple.








Makes about 25-30 dipped apple bites.  Enjoy.  You can also use this method with candy apple sauce, caramel sauce etc..

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Chocolate and Peanut Butter Dipped Apple Bites

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Halloween Witch's Hat Cookies

Bubble, Bubble Toil and Trouble....Witches are such an iconic symbol of Halloween and things that go bump in the night.  Now that Halloween is soon approaching, my kids and I are getting more and more excited.  So I was browsing the web in search of Halloween goodie ideas when I saw these cute witch's hat cookies.   I knew immediately they would be a fun recipe project to do with the kids.  Actually it's really not a recipe, but more of a gathering of ingredients and assembling them together.  The kids had so much fun making them... I think they also enjoyed taste-testing the Hershey's Kisses.  When we put them out on the cookie plate, they were the disappearing like Casper the ghost.  If you have kids or you are just a big kid at heart, have some fun this Halloween and make these cute cookies.



Ingredients:
1 package of Keebler Fudge Strip Cookies 
1 package of Hershey's Kisses (milk chocolate)
1 can of frosting.  
Note: Since it's Halloween orange colored frosting is available.  If you can't find orange, then buy white frosting and add food coloring (yellow and red) to to make your own orange frosting.


Sprinkles (optional)   They came with the can of frosting so I used them.

Directions:


Turn you fudge strip cookie upside down so the chocolate coated side is facing up.  Then put a dollop of orange frosting in the center.








Then top with your Hershey's Kiss on the top and sprinkles.  Allow to set for a while and Enjoy.



Makes 25-30 Witches Hat Cookies.

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Halloween Witch's Hat Cookies

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Gummy Worm Halloween Cupcakes

I'm more than a month early, but I'm getting into the Halloween spirit already.  The leaves are changing color and Fall is definitely in the air.  I decided to make these fun gummy worm cupcakes with my kids and we had a lot of fun.  This is not so much a recipe than a method of decorating cupcakes for a "ghoulish" good time.



Ingredients:
1 box yellow, white or chocolate cake mix
1 can of chocolate frosting
1 bag of gummy worms
10-12 Oreo cookies




Directions:



Prepare the cupcakes per package instructions.   Allow to cool well before proceeding to the decorating steps.







In a food processor crumb your Oreo cookies well. The Oreo cookies will represent the dirt. Pour crumbs into a bowl so you can dip your cupcake.








Frost your cupcake well then dip into the bowl of "dirt" Oreo crumbs and cover the top completely.








Place a gummy work on top of each cupcake and Enjoy.










Makes about 24 cup cakes.  Enjoy.

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Gummy Worm Halloween Cupcakes

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