Ghoulish Treats

Candied Apples

This is a take on the traditional candy apples enjoyed around the fall of each year. They can be jazzed up using different candy oils (I use Loranns), and food colors. These pictured are orange flavored with orange food coloring.

2 Cups of granulated sugar
1 Cup of corn syrup
1 ½ Cups of water
About 10 small to medium apples
Craft sticks

1. Wash and dry the apples.
2. Lightly grease cookie sheets. Insert craft sticks into whole, stemmed apples.
3. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine sugar, corn syrup and water.
4. Heat oven to 300° F, or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms hard, brittle threads. (Candy coating is easier to eat when baked at 300° F.)
5. Remove from heat and stir in food coloring. Do not stir once mixture comes to a boil. Holding apple by its stick, dip in syrup and remove and turn to coat evenly. Place on prepared sheets to harden.

Bleeding Heart Cupcakes

Strawberry filling
Rolled Fondant tinted silver and black
3 Cups granulated sugar
1 Cup butter
6 Eggs, separated
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 Cup sour cream
3 Cups all-purpose flour, sift before measuring
1/4 Teaspoon baking soda
1/2 Teaspoon salt
Butter cream frosting (see Black Cat recipe)

1. Cream together sugar and butter, add the eggs one at time; beat well after each addition. Blend in vanilla.
2. Into a separate bowl, sift flour, salt, and soda. Add sifted dry ingredients to batter, alternating with the sour cream, beginning and ending with the flour.
3. Line two 12-count cupcake pans with paper liners and scoop batter using ice cream scoop. Fill about 2/3 full.
4. Bake at 350° F for about 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool, then frost with white icing.
5. Make the knives about 2 days ahead.
6. Place the fondant knives in the cupcakes and pipe strawberry filling around knives and slightly down the side of cupcakes.

Making the Knives:
1. Use silver tinted fondant to make a thin, slightly oval shape and cut in half.
2. Use black fondant and make a rectangle. Attach together with one half of the oval to make the knife. Let dry.

Fall Cupcakes

Cupcake batter mix (see Cupcakes recipe)
Butter cream frosting (see Black Cat recipe)

1. Ice cupcakes with butter cream frosting tinted any color you prefer.
2. Decorate with fall leaves and pumpkins.
TIP: Use candy marshmallow pumpkins, and using a small leaf-shape cookie cutter, roll out fondant in different colors.

Tim Burton Cake

For Sour Cream Pound Cake:
6 Cups granulated sugar
2 Cups butter
12 Eggs, separated
2 Tablespoons vanilla extract
2 Cups sour cream
6 Cups all-purpose flour, sift before measuring
1/2 Teaspoon baking soda
1 Teaspoon salt

1. Cream together sugar and butter, add the eggs one at time; beat well after each addition. Blend in vanilla.
2. Into a separate bowl, sift flour, salt, and soda. Add sifted dry ingredients to batter, alternating with the sour cream, beginning and ending with the flour.
3. Bake the cake layers for 25-30 min at 350° F in three size pans: 12" round, 8" inch round, and 6" inch round. Let cool after removing from oven.

For Butter Cream Frosting:
4 Packages (16-ounce) confectioners’ sugar
2 Cups butter softened
2 Tablespoons vanilla extract
16 Tablespoons milk or half and half (or more, as needed)

1. Beat ingredients until light and fluffy.
2. Tint the butter cream frosting purple (use gel paste color).
3. Ice all three tiers on separate cardboard rounds and stack. Use wooden dowels for support.

To Make Figurines
1 Small box of Wilton rolled fondant, tinted orange, green and gray

Jack: Roll white fondant into a ball shape and use an edible marker to make the eyes and mouth and place on a wooden skewer for support. Use another piece of white fondant and shape into a rectangle with the end narrowed (kind of an upside down triangle). This will be the body. Place the head with the skewer into the wider part of the body. Use black fondant and roll into thin logs for the arms and the legs. Shape pieces for the suit.

Bride: Tint the fondant with a hint of gray. Roll fondant into ball and shape nose for lady. Use edible marker for the eyes and lips. Use burgundy red color fondant for the hair, and orange color for dress. Use edible marker for details on dress. 

Pumpkins: Use orange tinted fondant and shape into a circle and flatten slightly. Mark the lines of the pumpkin using a toothpick. Use the green tinted fondant to make a thin teardrop shape for the stems.

Tombstones: Roll gray tinted fondant to about ¼ inch thick and cut to resemble tombstone. Use the toothpicks to make markings and writing on the tombstones.

Ghost: Roll a ball of fondant and cover it with a thinner piece of fondant to make ghosts shapes.

The Black Cat Cake

For Sour Cream Pound Cake:
3 Cups granulated sugar
1 Cup butter
6 Eggs, separated
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 Cup sour cream
3 Cups all-purpose flour, sift before measuring
1/4 Teaspoon baking soda
1/2 Teaspoon salt

1. Cream together sugar and butter, add the eggs one at time; beat well after each addition. Blend in vanilla.
2. Into a separate bowl, sift flour, salt, and soda. Add sifted dry ingredients to batter, alternating with the sour cream, beginning and ending with the flour.
3. Bake the cake layers for 25-30 min at 350° F in three 9-inch rounds. Let cool after removing from oven.

For Butter Cream Frosting:
2 Packages (16-ounce) confectioners’ sugar
1 Cup butter softened
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
8 Tablespoons milk or half and half (or more, as needed)

1. Purchase a cat image stencil.
2. Beat ingredients until light and fluffy.
3. Tint about 3-4 cups of butter cream frosting orange, and about 1/2 cup of butter cream frosting black.
4. Ice the cake layers in the orange tinted butter cream. Let the icing dry for about 5 min then lay the stencil on top. Take about ¼ of the black icing and thin out with about 1 tablespoon of water. Using a butter knife, spread icing over the stencil. Gently lift off cake.
5. Decorate the sides as you like with the remaining black icing.