Halloween Chocolate Cake

Made this for a Halloween Party... It's a Chocolate cake with cream cheese filling, covered with dark chocolate ganache and decorated with finger cookies and chocolate rats.

It's actually my first time to make a Halloween cake and I must admit I had fun! Though the chocolate cake, as well as the filling and the frosting are something I usually make, both the finger cookies and chocolate rats which I used for decoration are new to me...and I tell yah, I enjoyed making them! Want a creepy treat for Halloween? This is just perfect...so check it out and give it a try! Wishing you all A HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 

Scottish Shortbread

A couple of high school friends who are now living in London visited us two weeks ago, and they brought me a tin of Marks & Spencer Scottish Shortbread. Shortbread is one of my favorite things in the world, so even though I haven't tried Marks and Spencer's, I was definitely delighted. The tin itself is very nice. It's depicting an old red English telephone box with a variety of characters each waiting their turn to use the phone. Such a collector's item! When I tried what's inside, I was even more delighted. I just loved how delicious these all-butter Scottish shortbread by M&S were! They have the usual melt-in-your-mouth goodness but have a different texture compared to the ones that I usually make and the shortbread brands that I usually buy here like Walker, Archer Farms and Voortman. I checked the ingredients and found out that aside from wheat flour, it also has rice and corn flour. So what did I do? Of course I tried making them! I added rice flour and corn meal (since I don't have corn flour) to my favorite recipe...and my goodness, those two ingredients added the most heavenly texture to the shortbread which I've always thought was the best! Now, I know there's a better shortbread recipe...thanks to my good friends, Ces & Elaine! I'll surely be thinking of them and their visit to Texas everytime I bake Scottish Shortbread (^.^)

Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

It's fall here in the US, and pumpkins are everywhere...so for this month, it is the star of Baking Partners Challenge! We were given three recipes to try, and I chose the Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting recipe from Country Living suggested by Priya R. of Cook Like Priya.

These cupcakes are absolutely delicious and are perfect Halloween treats and Thanksgiving dessert as well. You'll surely love the wonderful combination of chocolate, cinnamon,  pumpkin and nutmeg! The orange flavor in the frosting is also something to fall in love with! A truly great fall cupcake --- you should try it!

Ghostly Treats and A Happy Halloween

It's Halloween today!

For kids, it's that one super sweet day of the year that they love! For me and my family, it means bonding time --- doing trick or treating, going to the pumpkin patch and carving pumpkins. We usually visit the pumpkin patch and make jack-o'-lanterns a day or two before Halloween, then on the day itself, Ryan & I go with the girls around the neighborhood for trick or treat.

Though Ryan and I didn't grow up with Halloween celebration, we don't want to deprive the girls of Halloween fun. Though there are some limitations to what they can do and what costumes they could wear (no evil or scary costumes for them), we see to it that every Halloween is enjoyable and memorable for them. We let them dress up as someone cute or funny, we let them do trick or treating (as long as they do it with us), and we let them enjoy candies and my homemade sweet treats. Not too much though. Just enough to satisfy their sweet tooth!

Today, I'm sharing with you two ghostly treats that I made for Halloween, one that I can say is healthy, and another one that is...too sweet! Clarise prefers the healthy one made with strawberries and cool whip...but for Cherlin, the sweeter treat made with marshmallows and white chocolate wins!

How about you, which one do you go for - strawberry ghost or marshmallow ghost??? Let me know! ;)

No-Bake Cheesecake Cup with Nutella Spiderweb Topping

Back when I was growing up in the Philippines, Halloween wasn't celebrated...so I didn't experience being in costumes or doing trick or treating. November 1 or All Saints Day is what we celebrate back there. It's a special non working holiday in the Philippines so families can go together to the cemetery to bring flowers and candles, and gather to pray for their loved ones who passed away. All Saints Day is more like a family reunion to most Filipinos. Many will camp out at the cemetery with lots of food and spend the night playing cards, drinking and having fun. Though my family stick to simply bringing candles/flowers and praying in the cemetery, All Saints Day is something I always look forward to when I was a kid. It's because of the yearly gathering we have at my aunt's place (which was near the cemetery) where we get to be with our relatives who we rarely see. Having the chance to catch up with them was always fun! There were also lots of food and drinks, and that made spending time with our relatives more enjoyable!

Here in the US, Halloween is such a big deal. And though I didn't grow up with this Western celebration, I'm not being a complete killjoy this time of the year. Though I don't do Halloween decorations nor let my daughters dress up in spooky costumes, I don’t hold them back from enjoying Halloween. I'm aware of how much they love it just like all kids do. For one day, they get to go door to door, show off their cute costumes in the neighborhood, and get showered with sweet treats --- I just know how much fun it is for them! I know too that for kids, Halloween is really all about sweets, so whenever Clarise and Cherlin ask me to make treats, I always give in to their request! But I always go for easy-to-prepare ones...those that, as much as possible, won't require cooking nor baking but something that they will love. This No-Bake Cheesecake Cups with Nutella Spiderweb Topping is one of those! My girls love Nutella (who doesn't???) and cream cheese so this is so perfect for them. And with chocolate chips, they say it's like heaven! The spiderweb topping makes it a cute Halloween treat. I love it because it doesn't require baking. It actually doesn't involve any cooking, what could be better than that??!

It's sweet, I know...but it's just a once a year thing, so I guess I can stop worrying and just let them enjoy this delightful treat! ;)