Halloween Pizzas

Frankenstein Pesto Pizza

Yesterday I had a terrible time trying to make cute Halloween treats..."Third time's a charm" does not always hold true! After I tossed the third mess in the garbage, I finally went to bed. Sometimes I'm glad there's only 24 hours in a day:)

Thankfully, today I hit on an idea for an easy and fun edible Halloween craft...PIZZA!

I found five different Halloween pizzas (owl, vampire, spider, pumpkin, and cat) in Phyllis Hoffman's "Celebrate~Halloween" magazine~October 2010. Love her publications!

I chose the owl right away, but like Dr. Frankenstein I conjured up my own monster pizza:)

My husband actually said that this (pesto pizza) was the BEST homemade (more like semi-homemade) pizza that I've ever made, and we've been married for a looong time(we are grandparents, after all), so that's saying a lot!  I must agree with him; The pesto/alfredo sauce blend turned out to be delicious!

As an added bonus, both of these pizzas were super simple to make!

OWL Pizza

Recipe for Owl (adapted):

1/2 cup pizza sauce

1 naan or other flatbread (mine is 8 1/2-inches x 11-inches, same as notebook paper)

1/2 cup shredded Italian six-cheese blend

2 slices onion (eyes)

12 slices pepperoni (wings and eyes)

2 black olives, sliced (eyes)

red bell pepper (beak)

green bell pepper (eyes)

yellow bell pepper (ears)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spread pizza sauce over naan, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle with cheese in the shape of an owl. Use 5 slices of pepperoni per wing, placing pepperoni on each side of body, slightly overlapping slices. For the eyes, place onion ring slices on face.  Place a pepperoni slice on the center of each onion slice.  Top each with half (open end) an olive, placing a small piece of green bell pepper in the center of each olive. Cut 1 triangle from the red bell pepper for the beak, and 2 triangles from the yellow bell pepper for the "ears".  Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes (on pizza stone or baking sheet), or until heated and cheese melts. For a crisper pizza, bake 12-15 minutes.

Recipe for Frankenstein 

1/2 cup pesto (I used Classico traditional basil)

1/2 cup Alfredo sauce (I used Bertolli)

1/2 cup shredded Italian six-cheese blend

6-8 slices of pepperoni (hair and mouth)

2 onion slices (eyes)

6 olives (scars, eyes, nuts)

green bell pepper (nose, bolts)

red bell pepper (nose)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix pesto and alfredo sauce togeteher and spread over naan, leaving a border of at least 1/2-inch. Sprinkle cheese over the sauce. Cut a triangle out of each pepperoni slice and place across the top of head for the hair. Use leftover pieces of pepperoni (or extra pepperoni slices) to form the mouth. Cut ears (the bell pepper is naturally "ear" shaped, when sliced) from the green bell pepper, and cut two small pices for the bolts, at each bottom corner. Cut a piece of the red bell pepper in the shape of a nose and place in the center of the face.  Slice two olives in half.  Place one piece in each eye, and one piece at the end of each bolt. Slice a couple of olives into slivers and place them to look like scars.

Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes (on stoneware* or baking sheet), or until heated and cheese melts. For a crisper pizza, bake 12-15 minutes.

I know my munchkins will love these pizzas, and I think yours will too!

 *FYI:: My stoneware is not dirty, just "seasoned".  It is virtually non-porous, is non-stick and washes off with water.  I also bake all of my cookies on stoneware and I think it's impossible for them to burn.  No parchment or greasing is needed either:)  Love all of my stoneawre!

 Have fun and ENJOY!

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Candy Corn Cheesecake

There are so many cute candy corn treats all over blogland, that I just had to jump on the bandwagon, or should I say, hayride:)
I have been having so much fun on Pinterest, pinning like crazy!  I can't believe how many creative people there are!

When I first thought about making a candy corn cheesecake, using a special insert/pan set *(which I have), I thought I had come up with an original idea...then it dawned on me that maybe I had "pinned" such a cheesecake to my Halloween Pinterest board.  Sure enough, when I looked, there it was.  Somethimes I pin things at such a fast and furious rate, that I forget what's there!?!  I'm not as creative as I thought I was~ha ha! Surely a "senior moment"!
*If you don't have the insert/pan and don't want to buy it, I'm sure it would look candy corn-ish just to swirl these colors around, or layer the colors:)

 This is what the pre-baked cheescake looked like, after the insert was lifted out. 

FYI:  I was going to take a shot of the whole cheesecake, but for some reason my lens would not adjust/focus at that distance. I had the same problem in May.  When I took it to the camera store, the tech was perplexed, but it was determined that it was my lens, not the camera.  I bought a new lens, but the duplicate problem is happening again:(  Back to the camera store...

This cheesecake design was found on the Wilton site, which included a no-bake recipe, but  I wanted to use a baked 9-inch (the size of the pan) cheesecake recipe and found this recipe, which had over 3,000 reviews with an average 4.5/5-star rating.

I was a little anxious to cut the cheesecake into wedges and didn't let it cool completely before I released the sides of the springform pan. Consequently the sides did not release cleanly, and it didn't look very pretty:( I manged to salvage some for the photos though:)

My husband and I  decided that the cheesecake deserved the 4 1/2 stars!  We loved it!  It was dense and creamy! I love the LOOK too!


Chantal's New York Cheesecake (All Recipes)
Adapted

Ingredients:


15 graham crackers, crushed
2 tablespoons butter, melted
4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup milk
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Directions: (My additions in BOLD)

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch springform pan.

2.In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter. Press onto bottom of springform pan. Place insert on top of unbaked crust.

3.In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Blend in milk, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth.

For the candy corn effect:

Pour some untinted cheesecake batter into the middle section of the insert, to about 1/4-inch from the top of the divider. Tint the remainder of the batter yellow~I used a mixture of Wilton Lemon Yellow & Golden Yellow(as Wilton suggested, and I had them on hand). Pour the yellow batter into the outer section of the insert.  Tint the remainder of the yellow batter orange, by adding Orange coloring to it.  There's no problem with the yellow becoming orange.
Carefully lift the divider straight up, out of the cheesecake.

Before baking, I put heavy-duty aluminum foil around the bottom/sides of the pan by setting the foil on the counter, placing the cheesecake on it, and wrapping the foil up and around the sides of the pan) and placed it gently in a water bath (I filled a roasting pan with about an inch of HOT water, put it in the oven and then placed the cheesecake pan in it).

4.Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Turn the oven off, and let cake cool in oven with the door closed for 5 to 6 hours(I only left it in the oven for only an hour since I had used a water bath); this prevents cracking. Chill in refrigerator until serving.

5. Cut into wedges to look like candy corn:)

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Double Berry Swirl Pound~like Cake

The minute I saw this cake on Lisa's fabulous blog~Parsley, Sage, Dessert and Line Drives~I knew it would be a part of my baking future~pronto! When Lisa bakes/cooks, she does so at full throttle, and this cake was no exception...I was so enthralled with the ribbons of berry puree running through the batter.  So pretty!

The raspberry and blueberry swirls even look pretty unbaked, don't you think? I used blueberries instead of blackberries(which Lisa used) because that's what was available at Costco the day I shopped:) Lisa also used yogurt in the recipe (which I mistakenly thought I had), but I used sour cream.  

Before I cut into it, I just stared at it for awhile. It was a thing of beauty:)

I need to improve on my swirl technique next time, so that there's more of it. Even so, the puree on top helped this cake turn out "berry" delicious~sorry, but I couldn't resist. The ribbon in the middle guarantees more berry flavor in every bite!  Thanks, Lisa!

Bid a fond farewell to summer with this beautiful treat!

Double Berry Swirl {Pound-like} Cake

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
3 ounces blueberries (about a scant 3/4 cup)
3 ounces raspberries (about a scant 3/4 cup)
1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream

Directions:

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan and line with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides; butter parchment. In a food processor, puree blackberries with 1 tablespoon sugar. Wipe out processor and puree raspberries with 1 tablespoon of sugar. Pour/scrape into separate bowls and set aside (you can strain them into the bowls if you don’t like the light bit of seeds that do not break down). In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder.

2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together butter and 1 1/4 cups sugar until light and fluffy, 5 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and beat to combine, scraping down bowl as needed. With mixer on low, add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

3. Stir two to three tablespoons of the cake batter into the bowl with the blueberry puree until uniform. Stir two to three tablespoons of the cake batter into the bowl of raspberry puree, until uniform.

4. Pour half the plain batter into the pan and dot with 1/2 of the blueberry puree -batter mix and half the raspberry puree-batter mix - cake batter. Swirl/marble lightly using a skewer or knife. Repeat with remaining batter and remaining puree-batter mixes, then again, swirl batter and puree-batter mixes together, pushing skewer or knife all the way to the bottom for a full marble.

5. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, about 1 1/4 hours. Let cool in pan on a wire rack, 30 minutes. Lift cake out of pan and place on a serving plate; let cool completely before slicing.


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Jumbo Animal Cookies

(Mother's original Circus Animal Cookies with my Jumbo version)

A couple of years ago, I purchased some tiny animal cookie cutters from Williams-Sonoma, and made some homemade animal crackers/cookies, plain and iced. It was a lot of fun, and the iced version tasted just like their original counterpart, Mother's Circus Animal Cookies.

So... the other day as I was searching through my cookie cutters for something fun to make, my large elephant cutter ended up in view and the light bulb went on...I can make some jumbo size animal cookies!

I used the same cookie recipe as before, and chose four animals: A lion, an elephant, a bear and a giraffe.

Just as before, the elephant is my favorite! I would call him Jumbo,

but as you can see, they are all jumbo! They are also BIG on flavor!

Do yourself a favor and also check out Bridget's gorgeous frosted (jumbo) animal cookies at Bake at 350! You'll be happy you did!

 

Animal-Cracker Cookies~Williams-Sonoma kitchen
(modified for JUMBO cookies)

Ingredients:
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp. mace
1 1/2 cup (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cup sugar
2 egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
16 oz. buttercream icing
pink food coloring
nonpareils (rainbow)

Directions:
Preheat an oven to 350°F.


Over a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and mace. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter on high speed for 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium, slowly add the sugar and beat for 2 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and vanilla and beat for 1 minute, stopping the mixer once to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Stop the mixer and add half of the flour mixture. Beat on low speed until most of the flour has been absorbed. Add the remaining flour and beat until all of the flour has been absorbed and the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl, 2 to 3 minutes.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface and divide into 2 equal balls. Shape each into a disk and wrap separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.

Let the dough stand at room temperature for 5 minutes.  Roll out the dough to almost 1/2-inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters and move them to parchment-lined baking sheets with a firm, metal spatula. (I used stoneware baking sheets, so didn't need to line them.)
Bake the cookies until very light golden brown, about 18 minutes. Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks to cool for about 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

Icing:
Place the buttercream icing in a microwave-safe bowl from 15-30 seconds(until pourable). If it becomes too then, add some powdered sugar. Divide icing into 2 bowls. Tint half of it pink and keep the other half white. With the cookies on a wire rack, place the rack over a baking sheet(or over wax paper).  Use a spoon to cover each cookie with the icing. Sprinkle with the nonpareils.
Makes about 15 jumbo animal cookies.

Have Fun!

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Chocolate~Dipped Cheesecake Bars

Do you want an easy, decadent dessert that is sure to elicit ooooohs and aaaaaahs from friends and family? If  the answer is "Yes", then you've come to the right place, my friend! 

Food Network magazine (July/August 2011) mentioned a place (un-named) in California that serves chocolate-dipped cheesecake and I knew immediately that I would be making my own chocolate-dipped cheesecake, on a stick, of course:)

To make it super simple I bought a cheesecake, and as a bonus it was already sliced into wedges, just waiting to be dipped.  I picked a cheesecake sampler which included fabulous flavors: peanut butter, strawberry, turtle, and chocolate chip..something to please everyone.

I chose the strawberry swirl version to try, and it was deeeeelicious!

What fun it would be to cover each bar with an ingredient that would hint to what's under the chocolate~peanut butter chips, mini chocolate chips, dehydrated strawberries, or a drizzle of caramel.

I think I may try this in the fall with a pumpkin cheesecake. I can just imagine...

Chocolate~dipped Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients:
1 frozen store-bought 9-inch cheesecake, cut into 12 wedges
2 pounds melting chocolate (I used chocolate bark)

Directions:
1.  Remove frozen cheesecake from the freezer and insert a popsicle stick about 2-inches into each wedge(If it's difficult, make a small slit with a sharp knife to get it started).
2.  Place the cheesecake back in the freezer until it is frozen solid.
3.  Melt the chocolate according to package directions (I used the microwave). I placed the chocolate in a deep, small-ish bowl to make dipping easier. Stir melted chocolate until smooth.
4. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (shiny side up).  Take a cheescake pop from the freezer(one at a time), hold it by the stick and dip into the chocolate (I used a spatula to make sure each was completely covered).  Let the excess chocolate drip off over the bowl, and then lay the bar on the aluminum foil. If you want to add decorations, do so at this point.  Repeat with each wedge.  Freeze (if needed) for about 15 minutes.              Serve and enjoy!
 
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