Ghostly Marshmallows from the Decorated Cookie

How cute are these spooky marshmallows? I found these over at the Decorated Cookie and was instantly smitten. I can definitely see these guys on one of my halloween dessert displays.

All you need is:
Marshmallows
A black gourmet writer
Skewers or lollipop sticks

Simply skewer the marshmallows and draw your spooky faces! Make sure the marshmallows sit out at room temperature for a few hours to stiffen the outside so it is easy to draw on the marshmallows. Thanks Decorated Cookie!

Stained-Glass Halloween Cookie Recipe

Halloween is just three days away and I thought it would be a good time to share our Halloween stained-glass cookie recipe that we posted about here a few weeks ago.

Here is the recipe...

Cinnamon Sugar Cookie (makes about 50)
2 c sifted all purpose flour
1 t vanilla extract
1 L egg
1/4 t salt
1 c sugar
1/2 t baking powder
1 t cinnamon powder

*for chocolate cookies add 1/4 c of unsweetened cocoa powder

Sift all dry ingredients.
In electric mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter until light and fluffy.
Add sugar and continue for about 4 minutes then add the egg and vanilla and continue until mixed. Add sifted dry ingredients to the butter mixture on low speed just until combined. Wrap dough in plastic wrap in flattened disks and refrigerate until chilled (at least 1 hour).Preheat oven to 325.

Roll chilled dough into 1/2 inch thickness and cut dough with desired shaped cookie cutters. Then transfer chilled dough to parchment lined baking sheets and chill in freezer for 10 minutes. With an exacto knife or these Halloween cutters cut dough into desired Halloween shapes. Chill dough again until firm (about 15 minutes.) Bake in oven for 7-10 minutes or until light golden color but not browned. Cool cookies on racks. Repeat this for all of the dough.

Candy Filling
1/2 c corn syrup
1 c granulated sugar
Gel Food coloring (you can find this at New York Cake & Baking Dist.

In small saucepan stir sugar and corn syrup and put over medium heat until sugar reaches hard candy point (300 degrees on candy thermometer). Stir in desired gel food coloring and pour into the center of the baked cookie. Repeat this in various colors to achieve the same effect as our cookies.

Halloween Whoopie Pies

With Halloween just five days away, it is time to start getting ready for some Halloween entertaining! If you don't have time to make our Halloween treats here and here, then you can always call on my friend and whoopie pie connoisseur Marisa Angebranndt of WannaHavaCookie to whip up some Halloween whoopie pies for you. I often call on Marisa for her amazing whoopie pies and believe me, her whoopie pies are some of the best around. There is a reason why the New York Times said earlier this year that whoopie pies are having their moment again. Order some now!

"Boo!"-tiful Cupcake Wrappers by Bella Cupcake Couture

When Carrie from Bella Cupcake Couture sent me her latest Halloween cupcake wrappers, I just knew I had to share these with you. Known for dressing up any plain 'ole cupcake, Bella Cupcake Couture makes fashionable wrappers so that the frosting is not the only star on this fave dessert. Their new boo-tiful cupcake wrappers are perfect for dressing up Halloween cupcakes. Check out Bella Cupcake Couture's great selection of cupcake wrappers here!

Witch Hat Recipe

In my earlier post, I mentioned that I would share the recipe and the DIY steps for the witch hat recipe that we created. The recipe consists of just cake, pudding, an ice cream cone and sprinkles - how easy is that for a Halloween recipe? The steps are below. Enjoy!

Ingredients
Square or horizontal cake - it can be any flavor and can be store-bought or homemade, cut in 1/2 horizontally
1 box of pistachio Jello pudding mix, make according to box instructions
1 cup of royal icing or frosting
1 cup of chocolate sprinkles
8 cookies for the rim of the hat (can be a chocolate disk or sugar cookie), but make sure that it is 2 inches wider than the top of the cone
8 cones (chocolate or sugar) - We used both in this illustration. If you can't find chocolate cones, then you can paint sugar cones with melted chocolate
Makes 8 witch hats


Using the base of the cones as a template, cut around the cones to make 4 cake circles.




Here is a picture of what your cake circles should look like.



Using a serrated knife, cut the cake circles horizontally to make 8 cake circles. Set the circles aside. Using leftover cake, put small bite sized pieces of cake in the bottom of the cones. This is so the pudding doesn't leak through the bottom of the cone.



Place your pistachio pudding in a pastry bag and fill up the cone until it almost reaches the top of the cone. Leave about 1/2 inch of room so that you can put your cake circle on top.



Now place your cake circle on top of the pistachio pudding to seal the cone.



Put your royal icing into a pastry bag and pipe it around the edge of the cookie. You can use any colored icing because the icing will be covered with sprinkles.



Using an offset spatula, spread the icing on to the base of the cookie. This will allow the sprinkles to adhere to the cookie.



Gently pat the chocolate sprinkles on top of the royal icing.



Take your sealed pudding cone and place it on top of sprinkled cookie witch hat rim.



Here is our finished witch hat!

Witch Hat Dessert Project

In preparation for Halloween, we've been testing some easy and fun Halloween recipes at Amy Atlas Events. This recipe is a chocolate cone filled with chocolate cake and pistachio pudding. It is super easy to make and is the perfect spooky treat for Halloween entertaining. Check back later for the recipe so you can diy at home!