Sunday, September 29, 2013

Tales from the Mess Hall: Don’t Skip the Sprinkles


-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.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Camp Announcements -- A Message From the Head Counselor

-Contributed by Luke Merrill

Welcome fellow campers to Horror Camp, a celebration of the macabre in our day to day life.  From the ridiculously hokey to the truly terrifying Horror has touched our lives in the movies we watch, books we read, and stories we tell around the campfire.

The personal triumph we experience as we encounter these tales is how we empathize with the heroes, or more likely heroines, of these stories.  As a spectator you can place yourself in these impossible circumstances and to a lesser degree overcome your own terror to conquer whatever ancient evil may lurk in the shadows that are out to get you.

At Horror Camp we want our campers to take full advantage of the facilities and range of activities that the camp will have to offer. Some of which include recipes from the Mess Hall, Recreation Time, to tales around the campfire.

Horror Camp aims to provide you with reviews on upcoming events along with reviews of horror in movies and day to day life. We want to enjoy the new thrillers in the theaters, the nostalgic one we love and grew up with, and the directors and creators who make continuing advances in the genre.



I have a personal affection for all things horror, because it’s fun being scared and terrified. And I hope to share this with all my fellow campers while we celebrate a genre that has been making us scared of the dark since we were young enough to demand nightlights in our bedrooms.

Tags: Camp Announcements, Horror Camp,