"Cooking With The Kitchen Diva!"

With halloween right around the corner, so the halloween party invitations start flying your way! If you are like me, mention of bringing something spooky and scary for the halloween goodie table has always sent me running the opposite direction for lack of anything creative to bring. Coming up with that spooky stuff has always been a daunting task because I just haven't had the time to sit down and look all over the place for something special to bring. Maybe I can help this year because I have a few nifty halloween treats up my sleeve that I can share with you... aiding in your quest for that spooky something to deliver to your upcoming halloween party!

In my opinion, the "Witchy Fingers"... are about as creepy as anything can get... seriously... they are too close for comfort. They look real and expired! LOL!

I hope you enjoy these recipes! If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to leave a comment on this blog... Happy Halloweening to all and be safe. Remember the children are out and about!

Dark and Spooky Halloween Cocktail!

INGREDIENTS:

• Black decorating sugar, for the glass
• Juice of 1 lime, plus 1 lime wedge
• 1/4 cup dark rum
• 1/4 cup ginger beer or all-natural ginger ale
• 1 black gummy spider (available at Party City or other party supply stores)

DIRECTIONS:

Spread out the black sugar on a small plate. Rub the lime wedge around the rim of a rocks glass; dip the glass in the black sugar, then fill with ice.

Combine the rum and lime juice in a cocktail shaker. Fill with ice and shake well. Carefully strain into the glass, minding the sugar on the rim. Top the drink with ginger beer and add the gummy spider.

Totally Wicked Halloween Cake

INGREDIENTS:

• One box of white cake mix (and oil, water and eggs to make according to box)
• One box of chocolate cake mix (and oil, water and eggs to make according to box)
• Orange, Black and Purple gel icing colors (these gel colors give the batter the vibrant colors you see without having to add much and you can find them at most craft stores in the wedding section)  
• One tub of chocolate pre-made frosting
• Wiltons Candy Melts in purple (and orange too if you want!)

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Make both cake mixes according to packages.
• Divide the white cake batter into two bowls, equally.
• Add black coloring to the chocolate cake to darken it.
• Add purple to 1/2 of the white batter and orange to the other half.
• Pour about 1/3 of the chocolate batter into the bottom of a well-greased bundt pan.
• Pour all of the purple batter over the chocolate
• Pour all of the orange batter over the purple
• Pour another 1/3 of the chocolate batter over the colors.  You can use more than 1/3, but you want to give the cake room to rise- so leave a bit of room.  You can discard the remaining chocolate batter or make a couple of cupcakes with it.
• Bake at 325 degrees for about 45-55 minutes (until the center is set and a cake tester inserted comes out clean).
• Tip over on a cake rack and cool completely
• To finish, melt the tub of frosting in the microwave (about 15-30 seconds) and stir well.
• Place frosting in a zip-top bag, clip a corner and drizzle over entire top of cake.
• Melt candy melts in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between until smooth and pipe these colors over the top as well.  I think both purple and orange would be fun, but I only had purple in my cabinet!

Witchy Fingers

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sliced almonds
2 tablespoons icing glue

ICING GLUE
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon water

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until smooth and creamy.
Add the sugar, egg, and vanilla and mix well. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and beat until completely mixed.

Cover the dough and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Heat the oven to 325F.

With your hands, roll a heaping tablespoon of dough into a finger shape for each cookie. If the dough gets sticky and hard to work with, put it back in the refrigerator for a little while. Place fingers on an ungreased cookie sheet about 3 inches apart.

Use a butter knife to make knuckle marks on the finger cookies, Slightly flatten the front of the finger to create a nail.

Bake 20 minutes until slightly golden. Let cool on the cookie sheet, then remove to a rack.

Mix the icing glue ingredients together until the consistency of thin paste. Attach almond slice fingernails to tips of cookies. Dust joints with cocoa powder and Q-Tip to accentuate the knuckles. Enjoy!

Candy Corn Cake in A Jar!

INGREDIENTS:

Orange food paste

Yellow food paste

3 one-pint canning jars

1 can vanilla frosting

Candy corn

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix the cake mix according to directions and divided into three bowls. Use the orange food paste to make one of the bowls of batter bright orange. Make the second bright yellow. Leave the third bowl white.

2. Spray the inside of each jar with cooking spray. Layer the orange, yellow, and white cake mix in the jars as you would like, dividing the batter evenly amongst all three jars. Each jar should be a little more than half full.

3. Preheat the oven to 350F. Place the jars in a baking dish filled with enough water so that it goes 1-inch up the side of the jars. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the top of the cake springs back when touched. Allow to cool completely.

4. Dollop each jar with buttercream and add candy corn on top!

Chocolate Spider Clusters

Ingredients

• 1 (6-ounce) package semisweet chocolate chips (1 cup)
• 2 cups chow mein noodles
• 1/4 cup Red Hots or red mini M&Ms

Creepy, Crawly Cake

Ingredients:

• For the Cake
  • Vegetable-oil cooking spray
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
  • 1 cup cake flour (not self-rising)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • Salt
  • 1 stick plus 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 1/3 cups sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
  • 5 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
• For the Ganache
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
  • 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1 1/2 cups chocolate malt balls, coarsely chopped
  • Rubber cockroaches, for garnish (available at Party City or any party supply store)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the cake: Coat two 9-inch cake pans with cooking spray. Line bottoms with parchment, and coat with spray. Dust with all-purpose flour, tapping out excess. Whisk together flours, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt.

2. Beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour. Beat in melted chocolate. Divide batter between pans, and smooth tops using an offset spatula.

Cook's Note

Decorated cake can be refrigerated for up to 3 days, but the ganache will not be as shiny. Bring to room temperature before serving.