-Contributed by Luke Merrill
Simple Sprinkles can really change the mood for snacks such as cupcakes.
It’s that time of year when
we collectively celebrate all things ghoulish and frightening. That’s right
campers with the onset of October we begin our countdown to Halloween.
Although it may be a little
early in the month to begin hanging up the skulls, and blaring the super creepy
haunted thrills and chills CD mega mix you use to scare the living bejesus out
of young trick-or-treaters, it is still early enough to get people in the mood
for the holiday by ghouling up some of our snacks and treats, just to remind
people that Halloween is around the corner.
Some easy snacks to give the
Horror treatment to are cakes and cupcakes.
Cakes and Cupcakes are simple enough to make, and can be decorated to Halloween
regardless of whether you make your cake from a box mix or from scratch.
One thing to keep in mind is
cake selection. When making horror cakes it is best to work with a chocolate or
darker cake. Chocolate cakes when baked give an earthen backdrop to your cake.
This will make your cake resemble the dark earth of a cemetery plot or crypt. A
cake like red velvet is dark enough that you can convey a bloody ominous tone
to your cake. Cakes like yellow, white, or lemon tend to show up lighter, and
are harder to convey a wicked backdrop. To work with lighter cakes you will
want to apply a dark frosting over them to conceal their color.
Now so far we just have
normal cupcakes up to this point, but this time of year grocery stores are
stocked up with Halloween supplies to make your treats just a little more
festive. A simple container of Halloween
sprinkles will help put your cakes into a more seasonal spirit. I used a
combination sprinkle kit and was able to make ghost and cat, tombstone and
purple sprinkles, and orange sugar sprinkle cupcakes as shown above.
When adding sprinkles you
can add them on top of the batter before baking like I do, but this may run the
risk of your sprinkles melting into the cupcake. If you are going for maximum
presentation wait 5-7 minutes into baking, right before the cupcake rises so
that the sprinkles stick but don’t melt.
Using Halloween sprinkles to
scare up your cakes and cupcakes is an easy and fun way to get into the festive
spirit of Halloween early on. It doesn’t need to stop with sprinkles either. In
decorating cakes, party favors such as spider rings make an excellent addition
to your FINISHED cakes. That’s right make sure your cake is out of the oven and
cooled before using anything plastic to top your desserts.
Using a few of these tips
you can whip up a batch of scary time treats in no time at all. Not only will
you and loved ones get to enjoy a tasty treat, but you‘ll also be one step
closer to that festival of scares, Halloween night. So I ask you fellow Horror
Campers, what are some of the scariest (and delicious) Horror cakes you’ve had?
Tags: Mess Hall, Halloween,
Sprinkles, Cupcakes, Cake, Snacks.
