Ghoulish Goodies

Kids love everything served on a stick, so enlist their help when making these colorful pops.

1/4 cup green melting wafers

1 cup orange melting wafers

1 cup purple melting wafers

Lollipop sticks

24 large marshmallows

Sprinkles, candy corn, and candy icing decorations

1/4 cup chocolate chips, melted

1. Place melting wafers in separate small bowls. Microwave for 15-second intervals, stirring in between, until melted. Insert one end of lollipop sticks into melted green wafers. Push green-colored end of each stick into a marshmallow. Let set 3 minutes.

2. Dunk marshmallows into orange or purple melted wafers, shaking off any excess coating. Place on a sheet of wax paper, and top with assorted sprinkles or decorations.

3. To make faces, place melted chocolate in a resealable plastic bag, and snip off one tiny corner. Pipe face designs onto marshmallows.

Choking Hazard Alert: Remove any decorations or small pieces of candy before giving treats to children 3 years old or younger.

Top off an evening of frightful fun with these ice-cream treats, each of which has a candy prize hidden inside.

12 chocolate cones

1 pint premium ice cream, softened

12 candy icing decorations

1/2 cup chocolate chips

12 chocolate wafers

Sprinkles

1. Using a small spoon, fill cones with softened ice cream. Place an icing decoration in each, facing up. Freeze for 3 hours to set.

2. Microwave chocolate chips for 15-second intervals, stirring in between until melted. Spread 1 teaspoon on each wafer, and top with a filled ice-cream cone. Coat edge with sprinkles. Freeze immediately. Makes 12 treats.

Your guests will be green with envy when they bite into a frightful Frankenstein cupcake. Plus, kids love to get wrapped up in our Mummy cupcakes.

Monster Cupcakes

1 can (16 oz.) vanilla frosting

Green and yellow food coloring

24 baked cupcakes

Chocolate sprinkles

Candy-coated chocolate pieces, such as M&M's

Red tube gel icing

Chocolate tube icing

Black licorice laces

Mini marshmallows

1. Color frosting using several drops of green food coloring and a few drops of yellow. Frost cupcakes. Sprinkle a crescent of chocolate sprinkles onto each cupcake for the hair. Place two M&M's sideways into cupcakes for eyes. Using red gel icing, make a squiggly line for each monster's mouth. Pipe scars and two dots for each nose using chocolate icing. Snip licorice laces into 1 1/2 inch pieces, and use to secure mini marshmallows to each face as bolts.

Mummy Cupcakes

1 can (16 oz.) vanilla frosting

24 baked cupcakes

Blue candy-coated chocolate pieces, such as M&M's

Cocoa powder

1. Place frosting in a pastry bag fitted with a small ribbon tip (#45). Pipe one line across center of cupcakes' tops. Place 2 M&M's on piped line for eyes. Pipe more lines at slight angles to cover tops, leaving the eyes visible. Dust tops lightly with cocoa. Makes 24 cupcakes.

These kitty-cats aren't creepy; they're adorable, making this a perfect dessert for little ones who frighten easily.

1 package 18 oz. refrigerated sugar-cookie dough

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 can (16 oz.) chocolate frosting

Chocolate sprinkles

Candy corn

Mini marshmallows

Green candy-coated chocolate pieces, such as M&M's

1 tube each black and orange decorating frosting Red licorice laces

1. Heat oven to 350?F. Knead cookie dough and flour together until smooth. Roll out dough to a scant 1/4 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface.

2. Using a 3 1/2 inch round cookie cutter, cut out as many cookies as possible. Transfer to baking sheets. Cut a 3/4 inch-deep notch, 2 inch long, to make the ears. Repeat process to make more cookies using remaining dough. Bake cookies until golden, 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack. Let cool completely.

3. Cover cookies with chocolate frosting. Place chocolate sprinkles around edge of cookies. Put candy corn on for ears. Cut marshmallows in half, then place on cookies cut side up. Press on M&M's for eyes. Use black tube frosting to pipe slits on M&M's; use orange frosting to create noses. Trim licorice and place on cookies for whiskers. Makes 16 cookies.

How much fun will you have serving up slices of this dessert? The sky's the limit!

1 box (16 oz.) pound-cake mix

1 can (16 oz.) vanilla frosting

Yellow food coloring

1/4 cup yellow sugar crystals

1/2 cup dark-chocolate melting wafers

Mini marshmallows

Toothpicks

1. Heat oven to 350?F. Grease and flour two 8 inch round cake pans. Prepare cake according to package directions. Divide evenly between the two pans. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool 10 minutes. Invert, and let cool completely.

2. Tint the frosting a pale yellow. Place one layer on work surface, and spread with 1/2 cup of frosting. Place other layer on top of frosted layer. Refrigerate cake 30 minutes. Cut a 3/4 inch piece from cake to create a flat edge. Place cake on a serving platter, flat side down, and frost with remaining yellow frosting. Sprinkle with sugar crystals.

3. Line a sheet pan with wax paper. Place chocolate wafers in a resealable bag, and melt in the microwave for 15-second intervals, until smooth, about 1 minute. Snip a small corner from the bag, and pipe outlines of bats onto wax paper (see template below). Fill in with chocolate, and refrigerate until set, about 5 minutes.

4. Insert toothpicks into marshmallows. Peel chocolate bats from wax paper. Attach a marshmallow to the center of the back of each small bat using a dab of chocolate. Repeat this with the larger bat, attaching two marshmallows to back. Refrigerate bats until set, about 2 minutes. Attach bats to cake by inserting toothpicks halfway into cake. Makes 16 servings.

Note: Remove toothpicks from cake before serving. The bat template.

Make sure to use a very large bowl or a saucepan with high sides when making this frothy mixture. The meringue powder will really foam up when you start whisking.

2 tubes red decorating gel

Lemonade mix to make 2 quarts

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. meringue powder

2 liters seltzer

10 drops green food coloring

4 drops yellow food coloring

1. Squeeze red gel down the inside of 12 small, clear glasses. Let dry about 10 minutes.

2. In an extra-large bowl, combine lemonade mix, sugar, and meringue powder. Slowly pour in seltzer, whisking continually until combined. Stir in green and yellow food coloring. Pour punch into glasses and serve.

Copyright &copy 2003 Meredith Corporation. Used with permission from the October 2003 issue of Parents magazine.