Find your favorite sugar
cookie recipe and make the dough as directed.
2.
Roll out the dough with a
rolling pin.
3.
Cut out cookies with
Halloween cookie cutters: pumpkins, witches, ghosts, bats,
broomsticks and so forth. If you do not have Halloween cookie
cutters, use a basic round cutter to make cookies that can be
decorated as pumpkins or faces. (Image
1)
4.
Bake the cookies as
directed and let cool.
5.
Decorate the cookies
using colored frosting, candy corn (great for a
jack-o'-lantern face), thin licorice strings, jelly beans,
shredded coconut or an assortment of cake-decorating candies.
Tips:
Buy
refrigerated sugar cookie dough instead of making it from
scratch.
Instead of
sugar cookies, use Rice Krispies treats molded into balls and
decorated, or decorate popcorn balls.
Pop 2 qts. popcorn -
air-popped is best - and put in a large pan. Keep popcorn warm
by placing it in a warm (about 200 degrees F) oven.
2.
Put sugar, corn syrup,
butter, 1/3 c. water and salt in a medium saucepan.
3.
Place pan over medium heat
and stir constantly until mixture comes to a boil.
4.
Stop stirring and let
syrup cook until it reaches 270 degrees F on a candy
thermometer.
5.
Remove pan from heat and
stir in vanilla.
6.
Take popcorn out of oven
and pour hot syrup over popcorn a little at a time, stirring
constantly, until all popcorn is coated.
7.
Let popcorn cool slightly,
until you can handle it easily.
8.
Grease your hands with
butter and form popcorn into balls.
Tips:
If you don't
have a candy thermometer, test syrup for readiness by dropping
a spoonful into a glass of cold water - the syrup is done if
it separates into hardened threads.
Before the
popcorn balls cool, decorate them with candy pieces.
For Jell-O
popcorn balls, melt 1/4 c. butter and 10 oz. miniature
marshmallows in microwave, then stir in a small package of
Jell-O. Pour over 3 qts. popped popcorn.
Line the bottoms of two
9-inch diameter cake pans with waxed paper. Spray the sides of
the pans with cooking spray.
3.
Put flour, baking powder,
cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt and cloves in a medium
bowl. Stir with a fork and sift through a sifter.
4.
Put currants in a small
bowl, add 1 tbsp. of the flour and toss to coat. Add walnuts
and toss again.
5.
Beat 1/2 c. of the butter
in a large bowl with an electric mixer until it's nice and
fluffy.
6.
With mixer still on,
slowly add light brown sugar to butter.
7.
Add eggs to butter mixture
one at a time.
8.
Beat 1/3 of the sifted
flour mixture into the butter mixture. Beat in half the milk.
9.
Add another 1/3 of the
flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat it in. Follow
with the other half of the milk and beat in.
10.
Beat the final 1/3 of the
flour mixture into the butter mixture.
11.
Beat in the pumpkin.
12.
Fold in the currants and
walnuts, dredged in flour.
13.
Pour the batter in equal
portions into the prepared cake pans.
14.
Bake about 25 minutes, or
until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes
out clean. While cakes bake, prepare frosting.
15.
When cakes are done, cool
for 10 minutes with the cakes still in the pans. Turn the
cakes out onto a wire rack, remove wax paper and cool
completely (about two hours).
Making the
Frosting and Assembling the Cake
Steps:
1.
Beat the rest of the
butter, dark brown sugar, molasses, vanilla and orange peel in
a bowl until it's nice and fluffy.
2.
Beat in cream cheese.
3.
Sift powdered sugar, then
beat in and blend well.
4.
Take one completely cooled
cake layer and put it on a platter, bottom side up.
5.
Spread layer with about 1
1/2 c. frosting.
6.
Put the second layer on
top of the first, with the bottom side down.
7.
Spread the rest of the
frosting over the top and sides of the cake.
Pour the cider into a
non-reactive saucepan and turn the heat to low.
2.
Cut the zest from the
orange with a sharp paring knife or a vegetable peeler. Try to
get only the orange part. If any of the bitter white pith
comes with the zest, cut this off and discard it.
3.
Lightly pound the zest to
release the aromatic oils, and place the zest in the cider.
4.
Place all remaining
ingredients in the cider and continue to steep over low heat,
stirring occasionally.
5.
When cider is very hot and
has begun to steam, it's ready to serve. Taste it at this
point to make sure it's sweet enough and that there are enough
seasonings. Add more if necessary.
6.
Shut off the heat and
ladle the cider into mugs.
Tips:
Apple juice
can be substituted for apple cider.
You can also use these seasonings to make mulled cranberry
juice.
Always use a
stainless steel, heatproof glass, ceramic or nonstick pot to
make the mulled cider. An aluminum pot will react with the
acids in the cider and give it a metallic taste.
Honey is good
in mulled cider, but you can also use Turbinado (raw) sugar or
light brown sugar, or a combination.
