Friday, October 14, 2016

A Sweet Graveyard


October is here, Halloween’s around the corner and Thanksgiving’s just down the road.   Where has this year gone?

My husband's 7 pumpkins will soon adorn our front steps.  The Harvest wreath is on the front door, and my witch sign is hanging on the wall.

It’s the season of witches and goblins and graveyards.  Screen savers with pumpkins, bats and scary forests that emit spooky sounds are on my computer.  I’m getting in the Halloween spirit!

Last week I met with some writer friends for coffee and I made a Graveyard cake to take along.

Since October starts the season of sweets, goodies and baking, I thought I’d do something a little different this year for the October blog and give you all an easy recipe that is always a big hit at parties.

I found this recipe on the internet while searching for Halloween desserts that were different from the norm.
(Please answer the question at the end for a chance to win a Halloween surprise!!)

Yours truly has changed the recipe a bit.  Always short on time, I use a box cake instead of the chocolate cake recipe.

Graveyard Cake:

Cake Ingredients:

1 chocolate box cake
Bake in a 13 x 9 inch pan according to directions
Cool for one hour

Topping Ingredients: 

1 (16 oz) chocolate frosting
1 tube of black icing (make sure it has a narrow tip for writing, I couldn’t find one for this cake and had to use toothpicks for writing)

½  (9 oz) box chocolate wafer cookies
1 (16 oz) bag Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies
1 (7.25) bag Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies
Candy rocks, optional

Finely crush wafer cookies in a plastic bag with a rolling pin or use a food processor.  Icing cake and sprinkle wafer cookies over it.

Score top of cake into 12 equal grave plots

Pipe with your black icing “RIP”, “1692”, “Poisoned”,  “Salem”, “Dr. Jekylll”, and any others scary words you want to.  You can draw skull and cross bones, aliens etc. on your Milano cookie tombstones.

Cut a slit in each grave plot to insert a Milano or Chessman cookie for the gravestones.  Sprinkle candy rocks around if desired.

ENJOY!!!

QUESTIONS: 

What have you done this year that was totally out of your comfort zone?

Taking a Chance in life can create change, which can be unexpected and a good thing!!!

15 comments:

Mindy Hardwick said...

I'm taking a chance by writing in a new genre. I've published in the YA romance market, and now am writing sweet, contemporary novellas. Loved the cake recipe!

Paty Jager said...

This cake was yummy and cute! My husband loved his piece too!

I do try new recipes and new authors, so I'm a chance taker I guess. As for a new genre, I've just about written all the ones that interest me, or will have once I get the mystery series going. Fun post!

Marie Harte said...

Yes, I've had this cake. It was amazingly delicious, and so cute! The picture is terrific but still doesn't show you how awesome it looks when you're staring at gravestone cookies. My kids and I LOVED it.
:)

Sarah Raplee said...

This is easy enough even I could do it! Thanks for the great recipe!

Judith Ashley said...

I do look for new authors and may try writing in a new genre once I finish my series. Right now that is looking Very Far Away. I do try new restaurants and new foods and even though I seldom cook any more, this cake recipe looks like something my granddaughter and I might like to make together.

Thanks for sharing it, Diana.

Diana McCollum said...

Hi, Mindy, that is a big change from YA to contemporary. Thanks for stopping by!

Hey, Paty! I'm glad your hubby liked the cake. We don't want you to change genres! Love your new action adventure "Secrets of a Mayan Moon" !!

Diana McCollum said...

Hi, Marie! So glad you and the kids loved the cake. It was fun and easy to make. Is "Tip of the Spear" available for the Nook?

Diana McCollum said...

Yes, Sarah, you could make this cake, but will you make this cake, only time will tell. LOL.

Diana McCollum said...

Good evening, Judith! I love trying new restaurants. That is one of my favorite things to do. You will get your series finished. Perseverance.:))

Sarah Raplee said...

Love this recpe!

Pippa Jay said...

Mmm, cake! Not sure if we have those kind of biscuits in the UK but I'm sure there must be alternatives. Although American sweets are starting to show up a lot more on our supermarket shelves - my local shop has a while rack of Hershey bars and Reese bars.
Halloween still isn't as huge here as the US, though I think it's growing, but I'm actually at a book convention that weekend so all my attention is focused on that!
Thanks for the recipe and enjoy your Halloween!

Trish Wilkinson said...

Great post! Thanks for the recipe.:) Fall is the best! I stepped out of my comfort zone this year by running my first (and possibly my only) marathon last April. The weather was horrendous: snow, rain, sleet, biting winds...I made it all 26.2 miles, but I think I'll run half-marathons for a while. I also seem to be back into writing nonfiction and am learning a ton about how brains work - so fascinating. If you had asked me a few months ago if I ever planned to get back into writing parenting material, I would have said I doubted it. Funny how life tosses in all kinds of stuff we don't see around the curves.

Vella Munn said...

My problem is I'm on the fence about taking a chance. I've been stalked by a romantic suspense series idea for months and have done quite a bit of research but it's easier to look for new homes for books I've gotten the rights back to. What to do, what to do? Oh I know. I'll bake something. :)

Judith Ashley said...

Creating a new website. For this technophobe, just the decision kept he tossing and turning for many a night.

Kathy Coatney said...

Love the cake Diana! My challenge this year is running in a five mile event.