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  • Larry Crowe

    Food Creepy Cupcakes

  • Larry Crowe

    Food Creepy Cupcakes
October 26, 2009

These treats are not very tricky

Sometimes, simple is the best kind of scary

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Associated Press

If you're looking for easy, no-recipe-needed Halloween treats, these creeped out cupcakes, dips and seeds are eerily good choices for school snacks, work treats or party grub. (Eeww! Don't say "grub"!)

The cupcakes, from Matthew Mead's "Monster Book of Halloween" include a traditional frosted cupcake that falls victim to a bat attack. In the other, they take a slimy, almost radioactive, turn.

The dips, from "Martha Stewart Halloween Spirited Celebrations" are dark and swampy.

And, after you've crafted the perfect gruesome or goofy jack-o'-lantern what to do with all the glop you scraped out in the process? Don't even think of tossing it. Pumpkin seeds are a great healthy snack and a delicious addition to salads, granola or trail mix.

Vampire Cupcakes

Bake up a batch of your favorite cupcake recipe or prepare a boxed mix according to package directions. Alternatively, most bakeries (even those in grocers) will sell unfrosted cupcakes if asked in case you want to do only the fun part -- the decorating.

Once the cupcakes have cooled, frost them with white cake frosting.

Use black gel icing (the sort sold in tubes in the baking aisle) to draw a bat on top of each cupcake. If you need help with this, a template can be downloaded from Mead's Web site at http://tinyurl.com/yeboobr. Cut out the template and use it as a stencil.

Use a toothpick to make 2 holes (bite marks) near each bat, then drizzle red gel icing into each.

Get Slimed Cupcakes

Prepare 2 packages of Jell-O Gelatin (any variety, though green and yellow are good) according to the package's directions for Jigglers (2 packages plus 2 cups boiling water). Divide the liquid between 6 flexible silicone baking cups.

Divide the remaining liquid between 6 round-bottomed teacups (this creates a domed top for each cupcake), filling each about 1/2 inch. Refrigerate everything for 4 hours, or until set.

To remove the gelatin from the cups, set the base of each in a bowl of warm water for about 10 seconds. Overturn the cups and gently pry out the cupcakes and dome tops. Invert a dome onto each cupcake, then decorate with gummy worms.

-- Ideas adapted from Matthew Mead's "Monster Book of Halloween," Time Inc., 2009

Guacamole with Black Beans

1 (15-oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed

11/2 t. coarse salt

1/2 large white onion, finely chopped

1 t. minced jalapeno pepper (seeds removed, if desired)

11/2 t. minced chipotle in adobo

1 small clove garlic, minced

2 T. plus 1 t. fresh lime juice (from 1 to 2 limes)

2 avocados, pitted and peeled

1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Blue corn tortilla chips, for serving

In a medium bowl, combine the beans, salt, onion, jalapeno, chipotle, garlic and lime. Mash the avocados, then stir them into bean mixture along with the cilantro. Serve immediately, with chips. Makes 3 cups.

Tomatillo Salsa Verde

1 lb. tomatillos, husks removed, rinsed well and dried

1/2 large white onion, peeled and sliced

1 jalapeno pepper, halved lengthwise (half seeded)

2 garlic cloves (not peeled)

1/2 c. coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

11/4 t. coarse salt

Blue corn tortilla chips, for serving

Heat the broiler.

On a rimmed baking sheet, combine the tomatillos, onion slices, jalapeno and garlic cloves. Broil until blackened, turning occasionally, about 10 minutes. Remove and discard the garlic peels.

Transfer the broiled ingredients to a food processor, and process until smooth and combined. Add the cilantro and salt, then pulse until blended. The salsa can be refrigerated up to 1 day in an airtight container. Serve with tortilla chips. Makes 1 1/2 cups.

-- Recipes from "Martha Stewart Halloween Spirited Celebrations"

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

"I look at pumpkin seeds like popcorn. They can be spiced and seasoned so many different ways," says Lucinda Scala Quinn, executive editorial director of food at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. "And spicy pumpkin seeds are perfect for munching."

But before you can munch, the seeds need to be cleaned.

Traditionally, you separate the seeds from the fibrous strands and clean them with water before roasting. One way is to scoop the whole mess into a colander and run it under cool water. The seeds and fibers will separate if you swish them with your hands.

To toast the seeds, arrange them in an even layer on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 350˚. If not perfectly golden, leave them in the oven and check every minute until done.

"Pay attention," says Quinn. "When cooking any nuts or seeds, you can't walk away or get sidetracked on the telephone."

But Quinn prefers a simpler method for cleaning her seeds. Rather than wash the fibers off the seeds, she toasts everything.

"I throw the whole mess in the oven and once they are dried out, it separates very easily," she says. If you go that route, roast them spread in an even layer on a baking sheet at 375˚ until the fibers dry out and fall away from the seeds.

Once clean, transfer the seeds to a bowl and toss with olive oil, peanut or saffron oil. Then add your spices. Quinn suggests:

Olive oil and salt

Grated Parmesan cheese, black pepper and salt

Cayenne pepper, lime juice, brown sugar and salt

Cinnamon, brown sugar, powdered ginger or cloves, and pinch of salt

If you clean and season your seeds before roasting (the water washing method), be sure never to add sugar. The sugar will burn in the oven and should only be added after. And with any sweet spicing, don't forget to add a pinch of salt, says Quinn.

Pumpkin seeds seasoned with olive oil and salt are great in granola or on top of a salad. They also are great mixed with dried fruit (such as cranberries, cherries and raisins) to make a quick trail mix.

"That salty, sweet and chewy is a great combination," says Quinn.

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