Posts Tagged ‘Halloween’

There’s only one thing better than Halloween, and that’s having your birthday coincide with Halloween. I entered the world 25 or so *cough* years ago and about one whole month later than expected. What can I say; I’ve been a diehard procrastinator since birth. Throughout my life, my birthday and Halloween were inextricably intertwined. I always had a Halloween-themed birthday cake. Usually, my cakes were of the uninspiring sheet-cake variety from the local grocery store bakery:

Standard Halloween Sheet Cake

Not that I cared too terribly much. As a child, anything with chocolate cake and lots of icing was welcomed! Add in all the candy from trick-or-treating later in the evening, and it was pretty much a recipe for disaster as far as my parents were concerned. Can you imagine how loaded with sugar I was after all that cake, ice cream, and Halloween candy?!

Of course, birthday cakes have evolved so much since I was a child. Now children get super-fancy specialty cakes from talented bakers like The Cake Artist. I can’t say I would have minded getting a cake like this:

Halloween Birthday Cake via The Cake Artist

Look at the detail on that cake! It’s absolutely stunning:

Halloween Birthday Cake Details via The Cake Artist

Actually, looking at the decorations on that cake, it seems pretty damn appropriate for someone my age. I like the tombstones, especially the one which says, “Cindy – She worked too hard.”

Hell, at my age, I would just be happy with a cutely decorated slice of pumpkin cheesecake. I’m not picky.

Spiderweb Pumpkin Cheesecake

I hope the restaurant we’re going to for dinner this evening has pumpkin cheesecake! It’s definitely one of my Fall favorites.

What are you doing for Halloween? Do you don a costume? Do you sit at home with the lights off, hiding from trick-or-treaters? Do you go all out and decorate your yard and gear up to frighten all the kids who stop by for candy?

Perhaps you’ve bought a ton of candy corn as treats for the neighborhood goblins this year. Maybe you have little goblins of your own and are at a loss as to what do with the candy corn no one wants to eat. Hey, there isn’t too much that vodka and a little liqueur can’t improve! Voila, the candy corn martini*, featuring actual candy corn:

Candy Corn Martini

INGREDIENTS:

For the infused vodka:

* 1/2 cup candy corn

* 1 1/2 cups vodka

For the cordials:

* 2 ounces orange liqueur

* Juice of 1/2 lemon

* 1 large egg white

* Candy corn, for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

Infuse the vodka:

Combine the candy corn and vodka in an airtight container; set aside for at least 3 hours, then strain.

 Make the cordials:

Add 4 ounces of the candy corn vodka, the orange liqueur, lemon juice and egg white to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously for at least 30 seconds. Strain into 2 chilled martini glasses and garnish with candy corn.

 *Recipe and photo courtesy of Food Network