Sinister Saturday – Halloween (Box)Cake (Nailed it?)

Sinister Saturdays are turning out to be a showcase for my failed baking attempts.

And, this Saturday is no different!😄

Yes, I used box cake. Middle finger to the haters. But the box cake wasn’t the reason why my Red Velvet Tombstone Cakes were a little well done, it’s just my inability to pull pan out of the oven when the box says!

They looked alright, but were dry as a bone and when I flipped them over, the cakes didn’t retain the pan designs.

I did however manage to bake another cake in my my lovely Wiltern pumpkin pan and it turned out kinda nice.

First thing you need for box cake is box mix and I prefer Duncan Hines Perfectly Moist Red Velvet cake mix. This is the easiest cake mix, only 3 other ingredients are needed to bake the cake, 1 cup of water, half cup of oil, and 3 eggs.

Follow the instructions and you’ll get a nice fluffy red velvet cake.

Next, you add 4-5 drops of orange food coloring into buttercream frosting to get that nice classy orange color. If you want it brighter, I suggest using 2-3 more drops of orange and 1 drop of red. Next, spread frosting all over your cake.

Lastly, you add Halloween style sprinkles and viola, Halloween Cake!

It was a bummer the Red Velvet Tombstone Cakes didn’t turn out, but I was happy with the pumpkin cake pan version.

Happy Halloween!

Friday Fright Nightcaps – Blue Ghost Margarita

Happy Friday! Tonight’s Friday Fright Nightcap is a Blue Ghost Margarita.

I love the taste of Blue Curacao and I’m disraught over the demolishment of the people’s house. That’s our White House goddamit! It doesn’t belong to stupid conmen! Haunted. Haunted. Haunted. That is how I describe our great nation as it descends into authoritatian chaos, so yes, this is a fitting cocktail to end the week.

Ingredients

2 oz blanco tequila
1 oz blue curaçao liqueur
1 oz fresh lime juice
½ oz simple syrup
½ oz Grenadine syrup (opt)
ice to chill (opt)

Garnish/Rim:
Course Salt
Lime wedge

Pour ingredients into a glass and mix well.

This is a sweet margarita, so I recommend using course salt to rim the glass as opposed to sugar. Also, using Grenadine is optional. It doesn’t make that much difference.

Whether or not you like your margaritas chilled is also very much a preference. You’ll notice the little pumpkin ice in my pics. I live in SoCal, it’s always hot. We like chilled drinks, but to each their own.

Sorry for venting earlier, obviously I need another drink. Big party weekend. Please don’t drink and drive. Be safe out there.

Happy Halloween!

Sinister Saturday – Frankenilla Cups

After last week’s baking failure, me and my bruised ego are playing it safe with a no bake dessert for this Sinister Saturday, Frankenilla Cups!

It’s a super simple recipe with 4 ingredients:

•vanilla pudding
•graham cracker ready crust cups
•whipped cream
•green food coloring

Decorations (opt):
Candies
Marshmallow Peeps
Sprinkles

Yes, I used Keebler Graham ready crust cups and Jello brand pudding. If you want to do it from scratch, knock yourself out. I got a B52s/Devo concert to get to. For all the rest of my lazy friends and all the working moms out there, here’s how it’s done…

Steps:

◇First mix 2 drops of green food coloring in the vanilla pudding and mix well.
◇Spoon green vanilla pudding into graham cracker ready crust cups.
◇Add 4-6 drops of green food coloring in the whipped cream and mix well.
◇Add green whipped cream on top of vanilla pudding.
◇Pop in fridge or freezer for 60 mins.
◇Decorate with sprinkles or candies or whatever you want.

Okay, 60 mins might not have been enough time to freeze. They still look cute! think the kids are gonna love this one.

Happy Halloween!

Friday Fright Nightcaps – Haunted Lagoon

Happy Friday! Tonight’s Friday Fright Nightcaps is a Haunted Lagoon. It’s like a Blue Lagoon but it’s missing the lemonade. Perfect drink when you have the blues.

Ingredients:
1 oz. Blue Curacao
1.5 oz. vodka
1 oz. cranberry juice
.5 oz. grenadine syrup
.5 oz. sparkling water (opt for fizzy)

Mix ingredients well. Garnish with Maraschino cherries or fresh fruit. Serve chilled.

This electric blue cocktail is a super cool drink for parties, and it’s highly adaptable, only as sweet as you make it. You could even add the lemonade back in. It might turn a little less blue, but still really yummy!

Happy Halloween!

Sinister Saturday – Haunted Manor Pumpkin Bread (cake fail?)

Happy Sinister Saturday! Today, we attempted to bake pumpkin bread using a Nordic Ware Haunted Manor pan.

Nordic Ware pans are amazing. The Haunted Skull cakelet pan is my favorite.

The Haunted Manor pan will set you back $25-30, depending where you buy it and when.

This might be a purchase to save for after Halloween or a Black Friday sale for a nice discount. Highly encourage everyone to buy Skull pan. It’s super useful for a ton of different recipes.

I started with a box of Libby’s Pumpkin Bread.

As I said before, I’m not into baking. I mean, I’d love it if I wasnt so damn bad at it!😅

I’ve been successfully using Libby’s Pumpkin bread for years. The recipe is super easy, four eggs, a cup of water, half cup of oil and mix well.

So fast, so easy, a child could do this. After baking for an hour, it looked like I might pull it off.

30 mins later, reality crushed my weekend dream of making Haunted Manor pumpkin bread. The cake broke into several pieces with the top half not all agreeing to come out of the pan.

But my dreams of great baking are often nightmares.

I eventually gave up and dug it out, resulting in the above picture. It seems a Haunted Manor pan may be too advanced for my baking skills!🤣

While the Haunted Manor cake visual was complete failure, it tasted fantastic! Just like always. That’s why I love this pumpkin bread mix from Libby’s.

I used some leftover batter to make pumpkin muffins instead.

Pumpkin muffins save the day!

Happy Halloween! Be safe out there!

Addendum:

This cake pan is NIGHTMARE to clean!

Friday Fright Nightcaps – Spooky Cosmo

Happy Friday! Tonight’s Friday Fright Nightcaps is the Spooky Cosmo. It’s a Cosmopolitan, but spooky, cuz I said so.🤣

Ingredients:
3 oz. cranberry juice
2 oz. vodka
1 oz. Cointreau
.5 oz lime juice
.5 oz grenadine
1-2 drops of red food coloring

Garnish: Fresh fruit, hibiscus flower, orange rind, tiny umbrellas

Pour ingredients in a glass and mix well. Garnish with fresh fruit or flowers (hibiscus 🌺 would be nice)

Can be served chilled or unchilled.

Cosmos sneak up on you. They taste mild, but remember, vodka! Please don’t drink and drive.

I drank a little too much off the top *hiccup*

Stay safe out there!

Sinister Saturdays – Graveyard Brownies

Every year, I see recipes for decadent desserts for Halloween and it makes me so jealous. One, I can’t bake for beans, and two, apt living means tiny kitchen, but I thought I’d give it another go this year.

I’ll be honest, I’m picking the laziest, no fuss recipes I can find. For me that means box mixes and pre-made shit. This is a judgement free zone when it comes to cooking and baking. If you have time to make from scratch, knock yourself out. I don’t. End of story.

Besides, work smarter, not harder!🎃

For this first Sinister Saturday, I made GRAVEYARD BROWNIES.

Inspired by the recipe for Graveyard Halloween Brownies over at Dish ‘n in the Kitchen, I too used Giarardelli’s Double Chocolate Brownie mix. This box mix is to die for. You only need to mix in an egg, 1/4 cup water and 1/3 oil, and 40 minutes later, so much deliciousness, you’ll think it’s a sin.

After waiting for the Brownies to cool down, I cut them into squares and added my other pre-made ingredients crushed Oreos for Graveyard dirt, and Milano cookies for tombstones. I didn’t have any black icing, so I just used some chocolate syrup and wrote RIP on the Milano cookies.

The results are delicious, even if my pictures don’t pass the smell test. 🤣

Happy Halloween! Be safe out there!

Friday Fright Nightcaps – Frankie’s Martini

Happy Frankenstein Friday! Today’s drink is a tribute to Universal’s classic monster movie Frankenstein, with my version of a melon martini.

Ingredients:

3-4 oz. Midori Liqueur
.05 oz tequila
.05 oz. vanilla vodka
.05 oz. triple sec
1 tsp. lime juice
Splash of cream of coconut

Mix ingredients well. Serve chilled.

Garnish rim with salt and cherries.

You can catch Universal’s Frankenstein on Amazon Prime this month.

Friday Fright Nightcaps – Pumpkin Wrap Martini

Happy Friday! Today’s drink is a tribute Universal’s classic monster movie The Mummy, with my version of a pumpkin pie martini.

Ingredients:

2 oz. Pumpkin Pie Cream Liqueur
2 oz. rum
1 oz. vanilla vodka
Dash of pumpkin pie spice

Garnish rim with cinnamon sugar

Opt garnish: whipped cream

You can catch Universal’s The Mummy on Amazon Prime this month.

Friday Fright Nightcaps – Lagoon de Menthe

Happy Friday! Today’s drink is a tribute Universal’s classic monster movie Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Ingredients:

2.5-3 oz. Bailey’s Vanilla Mint Shake
2-3 oz. vodka
.5 oz. creme de menthe liqueur
2 oz. chilled coffee

Garnish: Garnish with an umbrella or fresh fruit.

Mix ingredients well. Serve chilled.

This is one of those cocktails that can be personalized to preferences without losing taste. If you want a stronger vanilla flavor, add more Bailey’s. If you want more alcohol, add more vodka.