Desserts for Fall: Crepe Ghost Cupcakes (No Fondant!!) and my Top 5 Halloween Cakes & Treats . . .

Now, I just love the look of those sweet little fondant ghost cupcakes, but I honestly am not a huge fan of the taste or texture of fondant!  So the amazing Stef over at  Cupcake Project worked it all out for us and created these darling Pumpkin Pie Ghost Cakes made from CREPES!

What's more, crepes are even easier to make than pancakes, so you get to have a little fun in the simplest kind of way.  And they end up super delicious too, which is the whole point, right?

Here's how it's done . . .

Pumpkin Pie Crepes


Ingredients:
~ 5 eggs
~ 3 tbsp sugar
~ 1 tsp vanilla
~ 2 C flour
~ 1 1/2 C milk (I typically use 2%, but whatever you have on hand will work)
~ 1 C water (I've used extra milk instead of the water and it just makes them a bit richer)
~ Several tablespoons of butter for the skillet

1.) In a large mixing bowl, mix all ingredients except butter until there are no lumps.
Heat a skillet on medium (the size of your skillet for the perfect ghost cupcakes is 6 and 1/2 inches-you can find our favorite one HERE)

2.) When the skillet is warm, melt enough butter in it to coat the skillet.
Pour a ladle full of batter onto the buttered skillet and swirl the pan to spread the batter evenly over the entire skillet.

3.) Cook untouched until bubbles form in the crepe (about 1 minute).  Flip the crepe and cook for another minute.  Turn out onto a plate.

4.) Repeat steps 3-7 until all of your batter is used.  To speed things up, you can work two skillets at once.  It's not as hard as it sounds.


Now don't forget, you're going to need some tasty cupcakes underneath those crepes, with a delicious frosting to make these little guys as yummy as can be.  You can use your favorite cupcake & frosting recipe or you can use the one Stef likes (her Apple Cobbler Cupcakes with Pumpkin Pie Frosting)

Pressed for time?  Go ahead and use a box of cake mix and a store bought frosting.  I'll never tell!  Just make your cupcakes, let them cool, give them a frost and lay your crepe right over the top, pressing down carefully to make them stick.  Then add two chocolate chip eyes and you are all set!

And as a weekend round-up, here is a little bonus of my favorite Halloween cakes & treats of the season . . .

The inspiration for our ghost cupcakes (these are made with fondant!)

Or stand them up!

Boo-tiful Ghost Cake; you can find out how to make this here: I Am Baker

Get the lowdown on how to do this spider cake HERE.

Love these little witches with chocolate ice cream cone hats?  Whip up a batch of these cupcakes by visiting HERE.

Ahh, now you just have to think of something you'll need cute desserts for, no?  Happy Haunting!

Desserts for Fall: Candy Corn Pretzel Rods . .

Well, here we are, another Friday again, and Halloween is fast approaching!  These darling little Candy Corn pretzel rods via Baked Perfection are just adorable, right?  You are going to love how easy they are to put together, not to mention what crowd-pleasers they are!

And when you taste how the sweetness of the pretzel melts in your mouth into complete salty goodness, you are going to swoon, the perfect ode to those yummy tri-colored bites of candy corn that we all know and most of us love . . .

CANDY CORN PRETZEL RODS


Ingredients:
~ 1 bag of pretzel rods
~ 3 bags of Wilton Candy Melts in orange, white, & yellow (found at Jo-anne's or Michael's, or your local baking supply store-if they happen to be out of the color you need, you can use an orange or yellow sprinkle to substitute!)

Directions:

1.) Lay your pretzel rods out on a wax paper lined baking sheet and melt your white candy melts first.  Remember not to overheat but use a defrost microwave setting in 20-30 second increments, stirring frequently.  Use a wide, microwave-safe bowl (see the picture below) for these treats, because you want to be sure to cover as much of the pretzel as you need to.

(If you accidently overdo it, just add a few drops of vegetable oil or shortening to thin the melted candy back out again).  If this is your first time working with candy melts, you can read over the cake pop candy melting process HERE, and that will help you with any troubles you may run into)

2.) Dip each pretzel rod into the melted candy, coating it thoroughly (you can twist it around in there for a few seconds) about 3/4 of the way up the pretzel.  Continue until all of your pretzels have the white coating.  

3.) Lay them out to dry on your wax paper or prop them in a heavy glass if you want to keep them perfectly round.  Let the candy coating dry completely (this shouldn't take more than about 10-15 minutes-it will harden completely)

4.) Repeat steps one & two with the orange and yellow candy melts, using the orange first and going about 1/2 up the pretzel rod and then the yellow covering about 1/4 of the top of the pretzel.  Make sure your melted candy is thoroughly dry in between the two coatings.  

And that's it!  That is all there is to it!  

And just in case you want to have some more fun in the kitchen, why don't you use up some of those extra marshmallows you had laying around for your s'mores?  Or you could make a few of your own (find our recipe HERE).  Just repeat the steps above, but use a stick!

Or forget the orange & yellow and turn your rods into GHOSTS!  

The ghost rods above got their stunning, sharp black features from an edible marker (found at your local craft/baking supply store).  And these little guys below have mini-chocolate chips for eyes & mouths, whatever you prefer!

Or perhaps you are a mummy's girl instead . . .

Mummy Sticks: Coat half of a large pretzel rod with melted chocolate and before the chocolate sets entirely, add two mini M&M's for the mummy's eyes.  Place vanilla frosting in a baggie and snip the corner approximately 1/4" wide.  Twirl the pretzel while adding loose wraps of frosting and allow to dry. (Courtesy of Gourmet Cookie Bouquets)

There is nothing better than that sweet & salty deliciousness of a chocolate-covered pretzel, and what makes them even better is making them fun & festive too!  This dessert is so simple to make and is PERFECT for the kids to take to school or to throw into your next Halloween display.  You can even wrap them with mini-cello bags and give them out as favors!  Endless options?!  Sign me up!