At Janet's recipe request:
Candy Corn Popcorn Balls
Sweet and Gooey, Not to Sweet, and amazingly festive.
Ingredients:
1/2 stick of butter
4 cups mini marshmallows, or 40 big ones
12 cups popped popcorn (which is about 1/2 cup kernels)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cups Candy Corn
Directions:
1. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Place the popped popcorn and the candy corn in a large mixing bowl and set aside -- and I don't mean big, I mean large. Like, my stock pot was perfect.
3. Melt the butter in the microwave for 30 seconds. Add the marshmallows, and microwave for an additional 90 seconds to melt them. The marshmallows might not look melted at the end of this time, but once you stir them, they should liquefy. Stir to blend the butter and marshmallows, then add the vanilla and salt and stir until smooth.
4. Pour the marshmallow mixture over the popcorn and candy corn, and stir until they are thoroughly combined. Allow the mixture to sit for a minute, to cool down the hot marshmallow.
5. Spray your hands with nonstick cooking spray, and scoop up a handful of popcorn. Press it firmly between your hands, forming a ball shape. Make sure that the balls are compact; loosely formed popcorn balls easily fall apart. If the balls don’t form at first, allow the mixture to sit for another minute, this seems to help them hold together.
6. Place the popcorn balls on the prepared baking sheet and allow them to firm up at room temperature. Store the popcorn balls in an airtight container in a cool, dry room.
And at Keli's request:
Orange Spider Cupcakes
Freakish Looking, but Freakishly Delicious!
To Make Cupcakes:
1 yellow cake mix
1 3 oz orange jello mix
3/4 C water
3/4 C oil
4 eggs
2 scoops sour cream (about 1/3 cup)
Mix and beat all together for 4 minutes. Then pour into prepared cupcake tins and cook for 20 minutes at 350.
For Frosting:
Make a buttercream frosting, using orange extract for flavor and orange food coloring for the decor (17 yellow drops to 5 red ones). I doubled my frosting recipe to have plenty of frosting to decorate all 24 cupcakes, and I used 1/2 tsp orange extract and 1 tsp vanilla. Yes, the orange flavor was perfect. If you need a great frosting recipe, see
this post and scroll to the end.
The Spider Webs:
Buy Betty Crocker's Black Gel (1 tube does 5 cupcakes). Make 4 cocentric circles on top , then pull a toothpick from the center of the cupcake to the edge, all the way around the cupcake to make the web.
For the Spiders: (beware, after putting these on, you may be too freaked to eat the cupcakes, so leave some spider-free for folks like me! The spiders looked TOO real for comfort!)
Ok, you need Black or Purple Spice Drops, with the sugar on them. First, roll one drop in your hands to make soften it. Next, cut it in half, and stick the top round part in the middle of the web. Behold, the body. Then, slice the remainder of the spice drop into slices, and in half again, to make the legs.
And on tomorrow's menu:
Ghost Banana Pops
1. Place a popsicle stick through the half of a ripe banana, then cover with plastic wrap and freeze until firm (3 hours)
2. Melt some white chocolate in the microwave.
3. With a butter knife, spread the white chocolate over banana halves (after you've removed the plastic, of course!) Place on a dish covered in wax paper so you can get them off easily.
4. Decorate with mini chocolate chips for the eyes and an upside down regular sized chip for the mouth and pop in freezer to set again until ready to serve.
Or, for an easier I-Want-It-NOW version, omit the frozen pop part, and just stick the eyes and mouth into a fresh banana half and serve!
And what's cuter to serve those with than these:
Chocolate Covered Strawberry Ghosts
Dip strawberries in melted white chocolate (8 ounces baking chocolate, with 1 tsp butter and 1/8 tsp almond extract). Decorate with mini chocolate chips for eyes, then melt some chocolate and use a toothpick to draw the mouth.
