23:48 Oct 21 2012
Times Read: 540
Pull Apart Graveyard Cupcakes
Total Time:
2 hr 35 min
Prep
1 hr 0 min
Inactive
1 hr 10 min
Cook
25 min
Yield:
24 cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup grape jelly
1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
12 ounces (3 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup milk
Frosting:
10 ounces (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, spooned and leveled
3 tablespoons milk
10 chocolate sandwich cookies, coarsely crushed
Decorations:
15 large white marshmallows
1/4 cup finely crushed chocolate sandwich cookies (about 3 cookies)
1 tablespoon black or dark green decorating sugar
One 6.4-ounce tube black decorating icing, with tips
5 oval-shaped vanilla and chocolate sandwich cookies
One 7-ounce tube marzipan
3 round lollipops, wrapped
1/4 cup orange decorating sugar
One 6.4-ounce tube green decorating icing, with tips
Seven 8-inch pieces black licorice
Directions:
For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two 12-cup standard muffin tins with paper cupcake liners.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Warm the grape jelly in the microwave until loosened, 20 to 30 seconds, and whisk until smooth. Set aside.
Beat together the sugar and eggs in another medium bowl with an electric mixer until light and foamy, about 2 minutes. While beating, gradually pour in the butter and then the vanilla.
While mixing slowly, add half the dry ingredients and then all of the milk. Follow with the rest of the dry ingredients, taking care not to over mix the batter.
Remove 2 cups of the batter and stir in the grape jelly. Evenly fill the liners about two-thirds full, alternating with yellow and grape batter.
Bake until a tester inserted in the centre of the cupcakes comes out clean and the tops spring back lightly to the touch, 20 to 22 minutes. Place the pan on a rack to cool for 10 minutes, and then remove the cupcakes to the rack to cool completely, about 1 hour.
For the frosting: Beat the butter and salt in a large bowl until fluffy and combined. Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar until smooth and fluffy. Beat in the milk one tablespoon at a time until the frosting has a nice spreadable consistency. Add the crushed cookies and continue to beat until any large chunks are crushed to smaller bits and the frosting has a speckled, greyish look.
For the decorations: Arrange the cupcakes in 4 rows on a large serving plate or cutting board. Fit a marshmallow between each cupcake, 5 marshmallows per row, to fill in the gaps between the cupcakes. Spread the frosting over the whole rectangle so it looks like one cake. Sprinkle with the cookie crumbs and black decorating sugar.
To make the tombstones: Use the black decorating icing and a small round tip to write "RIP" or other one-word epitaphs on the top half of the oval sandwich cookies and stick into the cupcakes randomly around the graveyard.
To make the ghosts: Remove two-thirds of the tube of marzipan and place between 2 sheets of wax paper or parchment. Roll about 1/8-inch thick and cut into 3 rounds using a 4-inch biscuit cutter. You may need to gather and re-roll the scraps for all 3 rounds. Drape over the wrapped lollipops and stick into the cupcakes around the tombstone. Using the black decorating icing and the same round tip, dot eyes and a mouth on the ghosts.
To make the pumpkins and leaves: Divide the remaining marzipan into 4 small pieces and roll each into a ball. Roll in the orange sugar until coated and place around the graveyard. Use the black icing to pipe a small stem. Fit the tube of green decorating icing with a leaf or ribbon tip to dot bits of green grass poking through the dirt around the graveyard and pumpkins.
To make a border: Use 6 pieces of the licorice, trimming to fit, to make a border around the cake, leaving the middle of the front side open. Bend the seventh piece into an upside down "U" and stick into 2 cupcakes in the front to make an arched gateway.
Cook's Note: If your decorating icing does not come with tips, you can squeeze some icing into a small plastic bag or piping bag fitted with a small round metal tip or a small metal leaf or ribbon tip.
Ghostinis with Bloody Murder Sundried Tomato Tapenade
Total Time:
35 min
Prep
15 min
Inactive
5 min
Cook
15 min
Yield:
8 to 10 servings
Ingredients
1 loaf sour dough bread (about 1 1/4 pounds)
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives
1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes in oil, plus 1 tablespoon flavoured oil from the jar
2 tablespoons drained capers in brine
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Grissini and/or seeded flat bread crackers, for serving
Special Equipment: one 2 1/2- to 3-inch metal ghost-shaped cookie cutter.
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Trim the hard crusts from both ends of the loaf of bread. Slice the remaining loaf into 1/2- to 3/4-inch slices; you will have between 14 and 16 slices. Using the cookie cutter, cut 1 to 2 ghosts from each slice of bread, depending on the size. Reserve the scraps for making fresh breadcrumbs, stuffing or bread pudding.
Lay the ghosts on a rimmed baking sheet and lightly brush with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Season all the slices with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Bake in the oven until toasted, flipping halfway, 10 to 12 minutes. Set aside to cool.
While the bread toasts, put the olives, parsley, sundried tomatoes, flavoured oil, capers, remaining 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 tablespoons water and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until chunky and then process until mostly smooth. Add the lemon juice and pulse a few times to incorporate.
Serve with the Ghostinis on the side plus additional Grissini bread-sticks and/or flat bread crackers.
Caramel Apple Monster Munch
Total Time:
25 min
Prep
10 min
Cook
15 min
Yield:
10 to 12 servings (8 1/2 cups)
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/3 cup popcorn kernels
Non-stick cooking spray, for spraying the bowl and spatula
1 cup salted cocktail peanuts
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) unsalted butter
1/4 cup light corn syrup
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups lightly crushed red and/or green apple chips.
Directions:
Heat the oil in a large heavy-bottom pot over medium heat until very hot and shimmering. Add the popcorn and immediately cover with a lid. Shake the pot constantly, holding the lid on with a heatproof holder, until the popping starts, about 1 minute. Reduce the heat to medium and continue to shake the pot until the popping slows to just a few per 5 seconds, 1 to 2 minutes more. Remove from the heat and let stand for another minute to allow any last kernels to pop.
Spray a very large bowl with non-stick cooking spray. Put the popcorn in the bowl and remove any unpopped kernels. Add the peanuts. Spray a rubber heatproof spatula with the cooking spray and place next to the bowl.
Combine the brown sugar, butter, corn syrup and salt in a medium saucepan and set over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until melted and the edges of the mixture begin to bubble. Clip a candy thermometer to the pan so the bottom of the thermometer is resting in the sugar syrup but not touching the bottom of the pan. Boil, stirring, until the thermometer registers 300 degrees F (the hard-crack stage), about 8 minutes.
Turn off the burner and add the vanilla. Stir briefly--about 5 seconds--being careful not to burn yourself as the mixture bubbles up.
Immediately pour the caramel evenly over the popcorn and quickly stir with the prepared rubber spatula until the pieces are mostly separated, about 3 minutes. Pull apart any larger clumps, being careful because the caramel will still be hot in spots. Stir in the apple chips.
Cook's Note: Lightly spraying the measuring cup with cooking spray before measuring helps prevent the corn syrup from sticking.
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