Have You Seen, Halloween Desserts That'll Thrill Everyone At Your Holiday Party

Halloween comes once every year. This year in 2020, Halloween will be unique as the pandemic will restrict Trick or Treating going door to door around the city and restrict large gatherings of people for parties. As it might seem to be a Halloween from home situation I have a few great tips to kick up the fear of your Halloween dessert spread with mummies, black cats, bats, and more. From ghost s'mores to Jack Skellington-themed pies, there's a scare level and dessert preference for everyone to enjoy Halloween.

Ghost Cake

Looking for a way to decorate your cake for Halloween. This easy ghost cake is so cute and the ghost meringues are make for the sweetest topping. The meringues are piped and then baked at a low temperature until hardened and set just like a meringue cookie. Use melted chocolate or dye a little buttercream black to make spooky ghost faces! We opted for a chocolate cake, but a red velvet cake would really amp up the Halloween vibes. Go ahead and serve some ghost cookies along with the cake!

INGREDIENTS FOR THE CAKE

Cooking spray

2 c. all-purpose flour

3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. kosher salt

1 c. hot coffee

1 c. granulated sugar

1/2 c. packed brown sugar

3/4 c. vegetable oil

1/2 c. sour cream, room temperature

FOR THE GHOST MERINGUES

1/4 c. granulated sugar

1/4 c. powdered sugar

4 large egg whites

1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM

1 c. (2 sticks) butter, softened

4 c. powdered sugar

Pinch kosher salt

1/4 c. heavy cream

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Black food coloring

FOR THE GANACHE

1 c. chocolate chips

1/2 c. heavy cream

DIRECTIONS

1. Make cake: Preheat oven to 350°. Line two 8” cake pans with parchment and grease with cooking spray. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

2. In another large bowl, whisk hot coffee and sugar together. Add oil and sour cream and whisk to combine. Pour into dry ingredients and whisk until just combined.

3. Divide batter between prepared pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes, then invert onto a wire cooling rack and let cool completely.

4. Make meringues: Preheat oven to 225°. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In a small bowl combine sugars. In a large bowl using a hand mixer (or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted using the whisk attachment) beat egg whites and cream of tartar on low speed until whites are broken up and cream of tartar is mostly mixed in. Increase speed to medium and continue beating. When egg whites are frothy, slowly pour in sugars a little at a time. Increase speed to high and continue beating until medium peaks. Slowly add vanilla and keep beating until egg whites are stiff peaks. Transfer egg whites to a piping bag with a large round tip.

5. Pipe ghosts onto prepared baking sheet by piping a large circle, lifting slightly and piping a slightly smaller circle, then lifting slightly again and piping another slightly smaller circle. Bake meringues until outsides are hard, 1 hour and 20 minutes. Let cool completely.

6. Make buttercream: Wrap cooled cake layers in plastic wrap and freeze for 20 minutes. In a large bowl using a hand mixer (or in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment), beat butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar and a pinch of salt and beat until no lumps remain. Add heavy cream and vanilla and beat until combined. Add more heavy cream, 1 tablespoon at a time, if needed until desired consistency is reached. Frosting should hold its shape, but be easily spreadable. Scoop out about ¼ cup of frosting and reserve for later.

7. Unwrap cake layers and using a serrated knife, level tops of cakes if needed. Place one layer on a serving platter and spread about half of the frosting on top with an offset spatula. Place second layer on top and frost tops and sides with remaining frosting. Use a bench scraper to smooth sides and top.

8. Dye the reserved buttercream black and place into a pastry bag with a small round tip. Pipe eyes and mouths onto cooled ghost meringues.

9. Make ganache: Place chocolate chips into a heat safe bowl. In a small pot over medium heat, heat heavy cream until bubbles form around the edges of pan. Pour hot heavy cream over chocolate chips and let sit 1 minute. Whisk ganache until smooth and completely combined.

10. Pour about half of the ganache onto the top of the cake and use an offset spatula to smooth ganache. Gently push ganache to the edges of the cake and help guide the chocolate to drip down the side. Add more ganache as needed. Arrange ghost meringues on top of cake.

Ghost S'mores Dip

INGREDIENTS

4 packages of ghost Peeps

2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 c. heavy cream, warmed

Graham crackers, for serving

mini chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 450°. In the bottom of a square baking dish, spread out chocolate chips and pour cream on top. Cover completely with a single layer of ghost Peeps. Place mini chocolate chips over eyes and mouth. (The already-drawn faces will fade in the oven.)

2. Bake until the chocolate has melted and the ghosts are golden, 8 to 10 minutes.

3. Serve warm with graham crackers for dipping.

Dracula Dentures

INGREDIENTS

1 tube chocolate chip cookie dough

1 can vanilla frosting

red food coloring

mini marshmallows

slivered almonds

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll cookie dough into 1 ½” balls and place on baking sheets. Bake until golden, about 12 minutes. Let cool completely then cut in half.

2. Add a few drops of red food coloring into vanilla frosting and stir until smooth. Spread a thin layer of red frosting onto each cookie half.

3. Place mini marshmallows around the round edges of half of the halves. Place the remaining halves on top, then stick a slivered almond on each side to create fangs.

So why not try out these three recopies for this year’s Halloween to celebrate the day with a feast of flavour. I recommend kids and family to participate in cooking each recipes to make this year’s Halloween memorable and rememberable for a lifetime. If we are stuck at home, lets make the best out of our time as I see our times valuable and need to be spent well than wasted.

Happy Halloween everyone and wishing you a spook-tacular Halloween in 2020!