Candy Corn Crafts

I know it seems crazy and counterintuitive to do anything with candy corn other than eat it, but if you are feeling wild and crazy (or just sick of consuming sugar) here are a few candy corn crafts to get your house in the Halloween spirit!

Candy Corn Wreath: Using a pre-made wreath form makes this craft go by faster than you can say "glue gun." I love the look of this bright and festive wreath paired with an orange or black ribbon. Make sure you cover it with a protective layer of Mod Podge or something similar if you're going to hang it outdoors!

Candy Corn Tree: This is a perfect centerpiece for a Halloween party or candy buffet. Top a small flowerpot with a foam cone and go to town attaching your candy corn.

Candy Corn Branches: This is the simplest of the crafts, but it just might be the most striking. I love the haunting, creepy look of the spindly branches with just a few candy corn pieces dangling from the ends. Best displayed while making "Ooohwhoooooo" ghost sounds.

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Candy Corn Wreath Photo c2010 Elizabeth LaBau, licensed to About.com, Inc.

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Vampire Bait: Bloody Candies

Velllllcome. I vant to share vith you zis collection of candies featuring everyone favorite bodily fluid, blooooood. Mwahaha! First, zee Blood-Splattered Fudge. A smooth and creamy white chocolate fudge ees covered in red food coloring splatters that look disturbingly like blood. Eet ees not for the squeamish, but if you're looking for the perfect scary candy for Halloween, look no further than this gruesomely delicious fudge.

Next, you von't be able to resist biting into zees Bleeding Truffles! Zee innocent-looking chocolate truffles contain a surprise center of red jam that oozes out when you bite into the truffles, just like...you guessed it...bloooood.

And finally, a candy near and dear to my heart, Vampire Bite Truffles! Zhey have bloody vampire fang marks on the outside and ooze red "blood" when you bite into zhem! Zees truffles are made of sweet almond marzipan and contain a liquid cherry filling that gushes once bitten. Don't miss zee photo tutorial showing how to make Vampire Bite Truffles. Vhichever bloody candy you choose, I hope you enjoy sucking them down! Mwahaha!

Get the recipes: Blood-Splattered Fudge
Bleeding Truffles
Vampire Bite Truffles
Vampire Bite Truffles Photo Tutorial

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Photos c2011 Elizabeth LaBau, licensed to About.com, Inc.

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Chocolate-Filled Witch Hats

(c) 2009 Elizabeth LaBau, licensed to About.com, Inc.

These clever Chocolate-Filled Witch Hats Halloween candies feature crunchy ice cream cones, shortbread cookies, and a delicious chocolate truffle filling.

You can use any round, thin cookies you’d like to make these hats. I’ve used chocolate-striped shortbread cookies with good success, and found that the hole in the center isn’t a problem as long as the ganache is chilled enough to not drip down from the cone. Don't miss the video showing how to make chocolate-filled witch hats!

Yield: 12 witch hats

Ingredients:

• 3.5 oz semi-sweet chocolate (about 1/2 cup chopped)
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 12 pointy-tipped ice cream cones
• 12 thin, round cookies
• 12 oz (about 2 cups) chocolate candy coating wafers
• 1 fruit roll-up (optional)

Preparation:

1.Finely chop the semi-sweet chocolate and place it in a small bowl. Put the cream in a small saucepan over medium-high heat and bring it to a simmer, but do not allow it to boil.

2. Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate and gently whisk it until the chocolate melts and the mixture becomes smooth and homogenous. This is your “ganache.” Press some cling wrap directly on top of the ganache, and place it in the refrigerator until it is firm enough to pipe, about 1 hour.

3. Once your ganache is a spoonable texture (but not too firm, or it will be hard to work with), remove it from the refrigerator and place it in a piping bag fitted with a ? inch round tip, or if you don’t have this, into a large Ziploc bag with a ? inch hole cut in the corner.

4. Use a sharp serrated knife to cut the ice cream cones about 2 inches from the bottom, creating small mini-cones about 2.5 inches long. Try to get them fairly even, but don't worry if they're not perfectly straight.

5. Insert the tip of the piping bag in a cone and squeeze until it is filled with ganache. Overfill it slightly, so that there is extra ganache coming out from the top. Center the ganache-filled cone onto a round cookie. The extra ganache will help “glue” the cone to the cookie. Repeat with remaining ganache and cones. Place the 12 witch hats on a baking sheet and refrigerate them until the ganache is firm, about 1 hour more.

6. Place the candy coating in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave until melted, stirring after every 30 seconds to prevent overheating.

7. Once the coating is melted and smooth, dip the witch hats completely in the coating, using forks or dipping tools. Tap the fork against the side of the bowl to encourage excess coating to drip back down, and scrape the bottom of the cookie against the lip of the bowl to remove excess coating. Place the dipped hat back on the baking sheet and repeat with remaining witch hat candies.

8. If you would like to add ribbons to your hats, unwrap the fruit roll-up and use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to cut twelve thin strips from the roll-up. Wrap a strip around each hat. You can either trip off the extra, or cross it into a decorative ribbon or bow.

9. Refrigerate the hats to set the coating, about 10 minutes. Chocolate-Filled Witch Hats can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for several days, but their taste and texture is best the day they are made.

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Halloween Candy Bark

If I was a wise blogger, the kind who planned her "editorial calendar" several months in advance (or, let's be honest, the kind who had a legitimate editorial calendar in the first place), I would save these candies to blog about after Halloween. After all, they're the perfect way to use up leftover Halloween candy. This "bark" is actually a base of graham crackers, covered with a simple two-ingredient chocolate fudge, and then sprinkled with whatever mish-mash of Halloween candy you have lying around. Want to toss on a mix of Butterfingers, Snickers, and Kit Kats? Perfect! Been looking for a use for those almost-stale Pretzel M&Ms? Let them join the party! This candy is like the Statue of Liberty: it wants your tired, your poor, your huddled masses of candy yearning to breathe free be eaten.

Alas, I am not a wise blogger, nor am I a very patient one, because I enjoyed this Halloween Candy Bark last week, and I couldn't wait any longer to post about it! I liked how easy it was to make--it took about 10 minutes to put together, and then another few minutes in the refrigerator to "set" the fudge enough to be able to break it into pieces. I also loved the mix of candies on top--there was a great variety of flavors and textures, and each bite was a little bit different than the one before it. The only thing I'll change next time is to add more salty flavors to the mix. I loved all the sweet candies, but I think some crushed pretzels or chopped peanut butter cups would have REALLY pushed this bark over the edge. So if you've already gone a little crazy with the candy-buying this season, consider putting it to good use and giving this bark a bite!

Get the recipe: Halloween Candy Bark

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Halloween Candy Bark Photo c2011 Elizabeth LaBau, licensed to About.com, Inc.

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Choose A Theme and Colors

The first step in creating any candy buffet is to decide on a theme and a color scheme. A color scheme helps unify the table elements and makes the buffet look more professional and enticing. Fortunately, the holiday of Halloween makes choosing a theme and colors fairly easy. You can take as your inspiration typical Halloween colors, like orange, black, and white, or broaden your palette to include other autumn colors like yellow, brown, or red.

In my Halloween candy buffet pictured above, I primarily used orange as my decorating color, and added hints of black and white in my serving dishes, and in the decorative Halloween confetti scattered amongst the plates. The result is a table that looks well-planned, styled, and unified, even though it's full of candies with differing shapes and colors.

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Cinnamon Pumpkins

(c) 2007 Elizabeth LaBau, licensed to About.com, Inc.

These petite white chocolate pumpkins, scented with ground cinnamon, make the perfect autumn candy. I prefer to use white molding chocolate (as opposed to real white chocolate) for this recipe, so that these candies are less delicate and can be used as party favors, decorations, or garnish for baked goods.

The exact amount of chocolate you’ll need depends on the type of candy molds you have. This recipe was tested using plastic molds with 18 small 1-inch pumpkin cavities. Remember also that since these candies are small, they will set quickly, so you can re-use your molds in a fairly short period of time.

Prep Time: 10?minutes

Total Time: 10?minutes

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces white chocolate candy coating
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• Orange and green oil-based candy colors
• Small food-safe paintbrush
• Pumpkin candy molds

Preparation:

1. Make sure that your candy molds are clean and dry.

2. Place the white chocolate in a large microwave-safe bowl and microwave until the chocolate is melted, stirring after every minute to avoid overheating. Stir in the cinnamon and blend until well-combined.

3. Remove a tablespoon of chocolate and place it in a small bowl. Stir in a small amount of green candy coloring, and continue to add color until you achieve the green you want.

4. Add orange coloring to the remaining melted chocolate, and stir until smooth.

5. Using a small paintbrush, brush the green coloring in the “stem” portion of the pumpkin cavities. Allow the green chocolate to set for a minute, then spoon small amounts of orange chocolate in the cavities. Using a bench scraper or metal spatula, scrape along the top of the candy mold, to spread the chocolate evenly and remove any excess chocolate from the pumpkins.

6. Place the pumpkins in the refrigerator to set. If your pumpkins are small, this should only take about 10 minutes. Once they are set, you can pop them out of the molds, clean the molds, and re-use them to make more pumpkins. Briefly re-heat your chocolate, if it has started hardening.

7. Store the candy pumpkins in an airtight container. If you have used chocolate candy coating, they will be stable at room temperature and will not require refrigeration.

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Candy Corn Snack Cakes

It's hard to top the nostalgic appeal of real candy corn, but in my opinion these Candy Corn Snack Cakes, decorated to look like giant candy corn kernels, come pretty close. You can use your choice of brownies, rice crispy treats, or cake to form the basis of this recipe. They're covered with colored fondant, which most people might agree is not so tasty on its own. But imagine this: your brownies or rice crispies are slathered in chocolate frosting, then topped with a thin layer of homemade marshmallow fondant, which tastes exactly like--you guessed it--marshmallows! If you're an almond fan, you could use marzipan instead to add even more flavor.

Get the recipe: Candy Corn Snack Cakes

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Candy Corn Snack Cakes Photo c2008 Elizabeth LaBau, licensed to About.com, Inc.

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