HALLOWEEN CAKE RECIPES

JACK O' LANTERN CAKE
Need a nifty dessert for your Halloween party? How about a cake shaped like a Jack O' Lantern? With a little imagination and some icing, you can make a cake that Betty Croak-er would be proud of. You can purchase a Jack-O-Lantern shaped cake pan at most cake decorating supply or large craft stores. You can also find them in the cake decorating section of mass retailers that have a craft section.

Mix and bake cake according to directions on cake mix box. Let cool. Remove from cake pan and lay on a flat cake board. A little trick is to cover the board with aluminum foil or parchment paper and you can take the slices off easier.

Decorate according to direction that came with the cake pan. Using disposable pastry bags for frosting makes clean-up easier. Using a cake frosting spatula available at craft and cake decorating stores makes applying frosting easier, too. It's shaped for frosting cakes, looks like a small palette knife used for mixing oil paints and comes in a flat or bent model. You can use canned frosting or make a simple frosting like this one, used by professional cake decorators:

Royal Icing:
1 cup of shortening
2 cups of powdered (confectioners) sugar
1 teaspoon meringue powder
1 tablespoon cold water

Using a hand mixer, blend the ingredients together until silky smooth. Separate into bowls and use paste food color to make the needed frosting colors.