Halloween Cake

Halloween Cake

by Betty Crocker

Cake:

2 boxes (1 lb 2.25 oz) yellow cake mix with the pudding in the mix

Water, oil, and eggs called for on cake mix boxes

Frosting and Decorations:

2 containers (1 lb each) vanilla creamy ready-to-spread frosting

yellow and red food color

1 pkg pull apart green licorice twists

chewy fruit-flavored snack rolls (any flavor)

edible glitter, if desired

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Spray 2 1/2 qt ovenproof bowl with baking spray with flour. In large bowl, make 1 box cake as directed on bow, using water, oil and eggs. Pour batter into ovenproof bowl.

2. Bake 1 hr and 15 min or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes. Run knife just around top edge of cake. Remove cake from bowl; place rounded side up on cooling rack. Repeat with remaining box cake mix to make second cake. Cool cakes completely, about 1 hr.

3. In medium bowl, tint frosting with 9 drops of yellow and 6 drops of red food color to make orange frosting. Trim both cakes to form flat surfaces. Place 1 cake, round side down, on plate. Spread 2/3 cup of orange frosting over flat side of cake almost to edge. Place second cake, round side up, on frosted cake to make round shape. Frost entire cakes with remaining orange frosting.

4. To make stem, cut twist of licorice crosswise into thirds. Gather pieces together and twist. Use toothpick to make hole in top of cake; insert licorice stem. Pull apart licorice to make vines. Cut leaces from fruit snack rolls. Garnish cake with vines and leaves. Sprinkle with glitter.

Mini Fruit Pizza

Mini Fruit Pizza

by Pillsbury

1 package refridgerated sugar cookies, the roll or the precut (guess which one I use!)

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

2 Tbsp frozen limeade concentrate, thawed

1/2 cup powdered sugar

10 fresh strawberries, quartered

1 kiwifruit, peeled halved lengthwise and cut into 10 slices

1/2 cup fresh blueberries

1/2 cup fresh raspberries

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake cookies as directed by the package. Cool completely, about 10 minutes.

In medium bowl, beat cream cheese, limeade concentrate and powdered sugar until smooth.

Spread each cookie with 1 Tbsp cream cheese mixture. Arrange fruit on top of each. Serve immediately, or cover and refridgerate up to 2 hours.

Taste Rating: 5 (this is one of my favorite cookies, I love fresh fruit! I also like a soft cookie better than a crunchy one so I use the lower cooking time from the directions, and I try to stay away from a dark pan on this one.)

Difficulty Rating: 2 (hardest part is slicing the strawberries and making the fruit look pretty! especially if you use the cookies that are already cut out, however the precut cookies don't spread as much so you end up with a smaller, thicker cookie, but that is okay with me!)