GHOSTS in the GRAVEYARD {Recipe}

Flickr Tags: dessert,pudding,Halloween,Ghosts in the Graveyard,Pepperidge Farm Milano

This is one of my favorite desserts.  It reminds me of my grandma.  I am not sure what it is she used to make, but when I tasted this with vanilla pudding mixed with Cool Whip, it reminded me of something she used to make.  We call this “Out of This World Pudding Delight” but I have come across similar recipes called Éclair Cake.  To me, it tastes nothing like éclairs though.

To decorate this I added graham cracker crumbs to the top for dirt, leaving some of the chocolate glaze underneath uncovered for the path through the graveyard.  I used some of the filling for the ghosts with mini m&m’s for eyes.  The headstones are Pepperidge Farms Milano cookies, written on with icing.  And there are some Oreo crumbs lining the path.  You can decorate this any way you want, adding candy corn pumpkins or anything else you want. 

Out of This World Pudding Delight

Ingredients:

• 2 large boxes instant vanilla pudding (I only use Jell-O brand)
• 4 cups cold milk
• 12 oz. cool whip
• enough graham crackers for two layers of the pan

glaze:

• 1 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. cocoa ( I like the Hershey’s Special Dark or Dutch Processed cocoa)
• ¼ c. evaporated milk
• ¼ c. butter
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Directions: Lay graham crackers in bottom of pan. Cut some so that it covers the bottom. Mix up the pudding mix and milk, then add the cool whip. Pour over the graham crackers and spread evenly. Place another layer of graham crackers on top of the pudding.

Make the glaze: in a small saucepan, mix the first 3 ingredients and bring to a boil. Boil for one minute. Don’t scrape the sides of the pan, but do stir continually. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla. Pour glaze over the top and spread evenly. Chill for half a day.

 

P.S.  Putting the headstones on is a little tricky.  Its easier if the graham crackers have had some time to soften up a bit.  You could also leave some little holes where you don’t put a graham cracker for the Milano's.  I used a dollop of pudding mixture to help them stand up.

TROLL EYEBALLS {Recipe}

These tasty little morsels add a nice amount of gruesome to your Halloween meal.  They are simply Oreo truffles, dipped in melted almond bark.  I “forked” mine to make them even spookier.  Metal forks would look even better.

After dipping them I used some red food coloring on a paint brush to make the veins.  I will say it didn’t stick well or dry so next time I would make a little powdered sugar glaze with red food coloring and use that instead.  Or, you could use one of those food writer pens.

The iris is a smashed skittle, stuck on with some melted white chocolate (or use some vanilla frosting in a pastry bag) and then there is dark chocolate frosting piped into the center For the pupil.

Easy, huh???

Oreo Truffles

(yield: about 50 balls)

Ingredients:

• 16 oz. package of Oreos, finely crushed (use food processor if you have one)
• 8 oz. cream cheese, at room temp
• 16 oz. almond bark or white chocolate, melted

Directions:

Mix cream cheese with finely crushed Oreos.  Roll into eyeball sized balls and place on parchment lined baking sheet.  Place in freezer for 30 minutes.  Remove from freezer and stick a fork in each ball.  Immediately dip in melted white chocolate, shaking off excess.  Place back on baking sheet and allow to harden, which should be almost instant due to cold temp of balls. 

Once cooled and hardened, decorate to look like eyeballs.

I used a bucket of wheat to stand mine up in.  Rice would work as well.

ENJOY!

OREO CUPCAKES {Recipe}

My oldest son turned 17 last week.  Seventeen!!! I am feeling old!  I cannot believe it.  I was 17 when I had him!  He is a senior in high school and is actually going to a special school this year where he takes college classes and gets dual credit for HS and college!  So, he is seeming very grown up and I am having a mid-life crisis, lol!

Anyway, my brilliant mother had the idea to throw him a surprise party for his b-day.  So, we did!  It was great!  He had no idea!  We had a BBQ and pool party.  I didn’t really know how many kids to expect.  We just put the word out there and invited a bunch of his FB friends and told them to invite his other friends.

So, I decided I better make a bunch of cupcakes for dessert!  I made 6 dozen Oreo Cupcakes the morning of the party.  Amazingly, it only took me about 3 hours, including cleaning up!

Now that’s a lot of cupcakes!

They were very yummy.  Here is what I did:

Cupcakes:

Mix up a white cake mix (I used Duncan Hines) according to package directions, except add 1/2 c. Daisy sour cream (Daisy is the best because it doesn’t have any funky ingredients).

Once it is mixed, add 2 cups Oreo cookie pieces.  I bought mine at Smart and Final.  They come already broken up.  Or you can just break up some Oreos in a zipper bag with a rolling pin.  Stir to combine. 

Use a paring knife to separate the two sides of an Oreo, leaving the crème on one side.  Place the Oreo side with the crème with the crème side up in a cupcake liner in your cupcake pan.  Add your batter on top of the Oreo to 2/3 full.  Bake according to cake mix directions.  The key to good cakes and cupcakes is to not over bake so that they aren’t dry.  Cakes are done when they barely spring back when touched lightly with your finger.  It doesn’t have to spring back completely, just half way.

Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Here is the frosting recipe I made.  It is HUGE, for about 80 cupcakes, so divide it if you aren’t making cupcakes for an army.

• 1 pound butter, room temp soft
• 8 oz. cream cheese, room temp soft
• 2 regular jars marshmallow crème (You could make it without this.  I’m not sure it really added anything but it sounded like a good idea)
• 2 tsps. vanilla
• 2 Tbsps. cream
• 4 pounds powdered sugar
• 2 cups superfine Oreo crumbs without the crème.  They need to be small enough to go through a sieve if you are going to pipe your frosting with a star tip.  They can be a little bigger if you are using a round tip and as big as you want if you are putting the frosting on with a knife.  You can use a food processor to make them small, or just a rolling pin and zipper bag.  Just put them through the sieve to make sure they are small enough.

With the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, cream together the butter, cream cheese, and marshmallow crème.  Add the powdered sugar.  Add the cream a little at a time to get to the desired consistency.  If you add too much it will be too thin to pipe and have it hold its shape.  You can test in in the bowl.  Just pull some up into a peak with a knife or the back of a spoon and if it holds its shape pretty well it is thick enough. Add in the Oreo crumbs and mix to combine.

To pipe these ones, I just used my coupler in a pastry bag.  You could also use a large round tip, like 1/2” diameter.  Just hold the bag vertical in the center of the cupcake and start to squeeze.  Move it in small circles to spread it out a bit as you pipe.  You will see.  It is easy.

Garnish with an Oreo, half an Oreo, or mini Oreo.