24/7 MOMS: Halloween Desserts and WIN Duncan Hines

Decadent Decorating This Halloween

This Halloween you can make devilishly creative Halloween recipes that can double as party decorations. Whether you create your own or use ours, Duncan Hines provides YOU with the coolest cakes and cupcake inspirations on the block. The real man, Duncan Hines, spent years discovering new trends in food and sharing them with his extensive following of "foodies." Now you can get in on the fun and bake like the pros. The chefs at Duncan Hines and best-selling authors Karen Tack and Alan Richardson of Hello, Cupcake and What's New, Cupcake share their original ideas for to make you a Halloween superstar! The only trick in these treats is that the kids will never know they came from a box!

Spice Pumpkin Cake

*Duncan Hines Original

This wonderfully moist cake has pumpkin, crunchy nuts and a creamy

vanilla icing. Enjoy the warm and spicy aroma as you apply your own

decorative touches

Hands On Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 pkg Duncan Hines® Moist Deluxe® Spice Cake Mix

2 large eggs

1 cup water

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 cup chopped nuts

2 tubs Duncan Hines® Creamy Home-Style Classic Vanilla Frosting

green, red and yellow food coloring

1 flat bottom ice cream cone

Baking Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 10-inch Bundt pan.

2. Combine cake mix, eggs, water and pumpkin in large bowl. Beat at

medium speed with electric mixer for 2 minutes. Stir in nuts. Pour

into pan.

3. Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes

out clean. Cool in pan 25 minutes. Invert onto serving plate. Cool

completely.

4. Measure 1/4 cup frosting into small bowl. Tint with green food

coloring. Place ice cream cone upside down on waxed paper. Frost

with green frosting. Refrigerate.

5. Tint remaining frosting with red and yellow food coloring until

frosting is desired orange color. Measure 3 tablespoons orange

frosting in small bowl; add green food coloring to brown frosting.

6. Frost cake with orange frosting. Make eyes, mouth and nose with

brown frosting as desired on pumpkin. Place green frosted ice cream

cone in center hole of cake for stem.

Makes 12 to 16 servings

Werewolf Cupcakes

*Karen Tack and Alan Richardson Original

Hands-On Time: 1 hour and 30 min

Howlingly delicious! - If you have a monster appetite for baking

adventures, then this is the project for you! Scare up some friends

to join in the werewolf cupcake fun! Use Duncan Hines Devil's Food

cake mix to get started.

Ingredients

12 Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Devil's Food cupcakes baked in brown

paper liners

½ cup Duncan Hines Creamy Home-Style Classic Vanilla frosting

1 cup Duncan Hines Creamy Home-Style Dark Chocolate Fudge frosting

Black food coloring

1 can Duncan Hines Creamy Home-Style Milk Chocolate frosting

24 marshmallows

Red leather fruit

24 orange, yellow and green candy coated chocolates (M&M)

12 black jelly beans

Baking instructions

1. Spoon the vanilla frosting into a ziplock bag. Tint the dark

chocolate frosting black with the food coloring. Spoon half of the

black frosting (about 1/2 cup), up one side of a ziplock bag. Spoon

half of the Classic Chocolate frosting (about 3/4 cup) up the other

half of the bag. Repeat process with another ziplock bag.

2. Cut 1 inch corners from each side of the 12 marshmallows to make

the ears. Cut a 1/2 to a 1 inch V shape notch from the remaining 12

marshmallows to make the muzzles (see step photo). The size of the

notch will determine the size of the howling mouth.

3. Snip a small corner (1/8 inch) from the bag with the chocolate

frostings. Pipe a small dot of chocolate frosting to attach the

marshmallow ears and muzzle on top of the cupcakes. Cut 2 inch ovals

from the red fruit leather and press onto cut notch of marshmallow

muzzles to stick. Trim any excess fruit leather.

4. Pipe several vertical lines of chocolate frosting to cover the

marshmallow ears. Starting along the outer edge of cupcakes, pipe

the fur, about 1/2 inch in from edge to go completely around

cupcake. Pipe another row of fur in from first row, slightly

overlapping. Continue piping rows of fur with the chocolate frosting

to cover the cupcake and marshmallow just up to the red fruit

leather. Continue with remaining cupcakes and chocolate frosting.

5. Add 2 like colored M&M's, pressing them lengthwise, into the

frosting at an angle to make the glowing eyes. Snip a very small

corner (1/16 inch) from the bag with the vanilla frosting and pipe

fangs all around the mouth at the edge of fruit leather using a

squeeze and pull motion. Add the black jellybean to make the nose.

Makes 12 werewolf cupcakes

Spooky Surprise Cupcakes

*Duncan Hines Original

So deliciously simple, it's scary! That's the secret behind this

recipe for moist chocolate cupcakes with a sweet cream cheese

surprise filling. Scare up some smiles from your little monsters

with these frightfully fun treats.

Hands on Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 2 hours

Ingredients

1 (8ox.) block of cream cheese

1/3 cup sugar

4 lg eggs

8 drops yellow food coloring

4 drops red food coloring

1 pkg. Duncan Hines® Moist Deluxe® Devil's Food Cake Mix

1 1/3 cups water

½ cup vegetable oil

1 tub Duncan Hines® Creamy Home-Style Classic Chocolate Frosting

1 tub Duncan Hines® Creamy Home-Style Classic Vanilla Frosting

Chocolate decorating decors

Baking Instructions

1. Blend together cream cheese, 1 egg, sugar, 2 drops of red food

coloring and 4 drops of yellow food coloring until smooth and

creamy; set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 350° F. Place paper baking cups in muffin cups.

3. Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Fill each

muffin cup ½ full of batter. Place a dollop of cream cheese mixture

in center of each cupcake.

4. Bake for 23-26 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center

comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan 5 minutes then remove to

cooling rack to cool completely before frosting and decorating.

5. To decorate cupcakes -- frost top of each cupcake with chocolate

frosting. Tint ½ cup of vanilla frosting with 2 drops of red food

coloring and 4 drops of yellow food coloring: set aside. Place

remaining vanilla frosting into plastic resealable bag. Cut a

pinpoint hole in one corner of the bag. Starting in the center, pipe

frosting in circles on top of cupcakes, making each circle larger

than the previous. Drag a toothpick through the circles in an

outward, spoke like motion to create a spider web.

6. Place orange frosting into plastic resealable bag. For the head

of the spider, pipe a small dollop of frosting onto frosting spider

web. Pipe a slightly larger dollop beside the small dollop, for the

body of the spider. Use chocolate decorating decors for the legs of

the spider.

Makes 24 cupcakes

WIN: 24/7 MOMS and Duncan Hines are giving away new Decadent Cakes which are available in Triple Chocolate and Apple Caramel to 2 of our 24/7 MOMS.

Enter for your chance to win:

1. Become a 24/7 MOMS Subscriber Enter your email address below then leave a comment that you subscribed along with your email address.

2. If you are already a subscriber just leave a comment that you are a subscriber along with your email address.

US entries only and one entry per person. Winner will be chosen on October 24, 2010.