Halloween Week!! : Pumpkin Cakes!!

            

I adore Halloween, it is my most favorite seasonal holiday! Therefore, this week, you see a whole week-long of posts dedicated to everything Halloween, as we count down to the big day it’s self!! Lets kick off this week-long celebration with some Halloween facts!

1. The first Jack O’Lanterns were actually made from turnips.

2. Halloween is the second highest grossing commercial holiday after Christmas.

3. The word “witch” comes from the Old English wicce, meaning “wise woman.” In fact, wiccan were highly respected people at one time. According to popular belief, witches held one of their two main meetings, or sabbats, on Halloween night.

4. An intense and persistent fear of Halloween is called Samhnainophobia.

5. The owl is a popular Halloween image. In Medieval Europe, owls were thought to be witches, and to hear an owl’s call meant someone was about to die.

6. Trick-or-treating evolved from the ancient Celtic tradition of putting out treats and food to placate spirits who roamed the streets at Samhain, a sacred festival that marked the end of the Celtic calendar year.

7. “Halloween” is short for “Hallows’ Eve” or “Hallows’ Evening,” which was the evening before All Hallows’ (sanctified or holy) Day or Hallowmas on November 1. In an effort to convert pagans, the Christian church decided that Hallowmas or All Saints’ Day (November 1) and All Souls’ Day (November 2) should assimilate sacred pagan holidays that fell on or around October 31.

8. Black and orange are typically associated with Halloween. Orange is a symbol of strength and endurance and, along with brown and gold, stands for the harvest and autumn. Black is typically a symbol of death and darkness and acts as a reminder that Halloween once was a festival that marked the boundaries between life and death.

9. Halloween originated in Ireland over 2,000 years ago Ireland is typically believed to be the birthplace of Halloween.

10. According to tradition, if a person wears his or her clothes inside out and then walks backwards on Halloween, he or she will see a witch at midnight.

Here’s a quick Spooky Cupcake Recipe to tickle your taste buds too! – Taken from recipesnobs.com

Ghoulish Glowing Cupcakes

• 1 black light

• 24 prepared and cooled cupcakes

White Glow In The Dark Frosting

• 7 cups confectioners’ sugar

• 1 cup vegetable shortening

• 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract

• 5 tablespoons tonic water {diet tonic water works too}

• mini chocolate chips morsels

Extras Needed for Green Glowing Frosting

• Neon Food Color

• 0.3 ounce package of either Lime or Orange Gelatin

• 1 cup boiling water

• 1 cup chilled tonic water

Prepare desired cupcakes and allow to cool. Begin frosting by adding confectioners’ sugar, shortening, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons tonic water into a large bowl. Beat on low speed until no loss sugar is visible. Add remaining two tablespoons as needed to bring frosting to piping consistency. Mix at high speed for about a minute to allow frosting to become light and fluffy. Place half of white frosting into a separate bowl and set aside. Add neon food coloring to frosting until it reaches desired color {orange for orange gelatin, green for lime gelatin}.

Pipe colored frosting onto cooled cupcakes and place in the freezer for at least an hour. Meanwhile pipe white frosting on half of the cupcakes using a large round frosting tip. Add two mini chocolate chip morsels for the ghost’s eyes to finish ghost cupcakes.

After lettering colored cupcakes freeze, prepare the gelatin by adding gelatin mix to 1 cup boiling water. Stir for about 2 minutes then add 1 cup chilled tonic water. Transfer to a container that will let you easily dip frosting into and place into an ice bath to cool. Keep gelatin in ice bath stirring occasionally until gelatin is cool but not yet set {about 5 to 10 minutes}.

When gelatin is cool to the touch take cupcakes out of the freezer a couple at a time. Dip into gelatin upside down, submerging the frosting but not the cake {it is ok for the gelatin to drip onto cupcake, just don’t submerge it completely}. Rotate cupcakes dipping and then returning to the freezer for about a minutes to set gelatin, then re-dip. Dip 4 to 6 times for best results.

Refrigerate until a couple minutes before serving to keep gelatin set. Then place cupcakes under a black light and watch then glow.

{Make enough frosting for about 24 cupcakes}

Thanks for checking out the blog!! Check Back soon for more spooky posts!

Love Rosa Xx