Halloween Treats: Frankenstein and Frankenstein's Bride Cakes

Good afternoon bloggers! Welcome to a brand new, spooky edition of Everyday Meals. I'm your ghastly hostess, Mandie. Today, I've got a double whammy for you all. I'm sure most of you have heard of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, yes? And I'm sure many of you have heard of The Bride of Frankenstein (also subrooted from Mary Shelley's book). Today, we are taking the spooky couple and making cakes out of them! Here's a little trivia before we begin... Mary Shelley was 18 when she conceived the idea of Frankenstein. She and her love (later husband), Percy Bysshe Shelley, visited Lord Byron at the Villa Diodati by Lake Geneva in Switzerland. The weather was cold and dreary that summer and the group stayed indoors. Mary, her lover, and Lord Byron had turned their conversation toward galvanism and returning a corpse or body parts to life, when Lord Byron suggested that each of them write their own supernatural tale. Mary Shelley had dreamt her story and thus, the story began... Well, let's wrap up our history lesson and get to baking some spooky snacks!

Frankenstein Cake

You will need:

• 1 package chocolate cake mix
• 1 package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 carton frozen whipped topping, thawed
• Moss green paste food coloring
• 1 can chocolate frosting
• 1 Swiss cake roll or "Ho Ho"

Ready?

1. Prepare the cake batter according to package directions. 
2. Pour the batter into a greased and waxed paper-lined 13 x 9 inch baking pan. 
3. In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth. 
4. Drop the mixture by tablespoonfuls about 1 inch apart onto the batter. 
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes or until the center is firm when lightly touched. 
6. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan to a wire rack to cool completely. 
7. To make Frankenstein, cut a piece of cake for the head (about 10 inches x 7 and 3/4 inches) and neck (about 2.5 inches x 4.5 inches). 
8. Cut two pieces for ears (about 2 and 3/4 inches x 1/2 inch). 
9. Save the remaining cake for another use. 
10. Position the head, neck and ears on a covered board. 
11. Place 1/4 cup whipped topping in a small bowl and tint dark green with moss green food coloring. 
12. Cut a small hole in the corner of a small plastic bag and insert a round pastry tip #3, then fill with the tinted topping. 
13. Set aside. 
14. Tint the remaining whipped topping moss green. 
15. Frost the face, neck and ears, building up areas for the forehead, nose and cheeks. 
16. With the reserved dark green topping, pipe the mouth, stitches on the neck and forehead, and eyes with pupils. 
17. Cut a hole in the corner of another pastry or plastic bag and insert the pastry tip #233. 
18. Fill with chocolate frosting and pipe hair 1.25 inches from the top of the head to the forehead and about 4 inches down both sides of the head. Cut the cake roll in half width-wise and place on each side of the neck for bolts. 
19. Store in the refrigerator to chill.
20. Enjoy!

Let's take a moment to breathe before we begin on our Bride. Okay, are we ready? Let's go!

Frankenstein's Bride Cake

You will need:

• 1 package yellow cake mix
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup shortening
• 8 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• Purple and green paste food coloring

1. Prepare the cake mix according to package directions. 
2. Pour the batter into two greased and floured 9 x 5 inch loaf pans. 
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. 
4. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pans to wire racks to cool. Place cakes end-to-end on a 22 x 8 inch covered board. 
5. In a large bowl, cream the butter and shortening until light and fluffy. Beat in 6 cups confectioners' sugar, milk, vanilla and salt. 
6. Beat in enough remaining confectioners' sugar to achieve spreading consistency. 
7. Set aside 1/4 cup white frosting for hair. 
8. Remove 3 cups frosting and tint purple. 
9. Tint the remaining frosting green. 
10. For the bride's face, frost the top and sides of one cake with green frosting. 
11. Frost the second cake with a thin layer of purple frosting. 
12. Insert a medium star tip in each of two pastry bags, then fill one bag with the remaining purple frosting and the other with the reserved white frosting. 
13. Pipe wavy purple hair with streaks of wavy white hair on the bride. 
14. Decorate the bride using assorted candies. 
15. For eyes, use halved marshmallow, halved black raspberry candy and black shoestring licorice. 
16. Add a Jordan almond nose. 
17. Make a smiling mouth and dimples using red shoestring licorice, red colored sugar and halved red raspberry candy. 
18. For ears and earrings, insert gummy stars and candy corn into the side of the cake. 
19. Attach spice gumdrops for bolts. 
20. Use black shoestring licorice and black licorice pastels for scar. 
21. Add a spider made with a black raspberry candy and black shoestring licorice strips.
22. Place in the refrigerator to chill.
23. Enjoy!

I hope you all had fun making these cakes. In my opinion, Halloween is not complete without something Frankenstein. I will catch you all on the flip side with more Halloween treats. Happy blogging to all! <3