DIY Multi-Color Halloween Cake

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

As hard as it is to believe, October is finally ending and we are beginning the stretch towards the long winter ahead. But before we begin thinking about Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years parties, take a minute to embrace the fall season and enjoy Halloween the best you can! Whether you’re planning on going to a Halloween party, or you’re just looking for a seasonal treat to make this Halloween, this cake is a great way to make your friends think you’re the next Great Baker on Cake Boss! It’s an easy and colorful way to turn that $1.29 box of white cake mix into a master piece everyone will love to dive into!

For this cake you will need to purchase white cake mix, two containers of white cake frosting (preferably the Pillsbury Funfetti brand because it comes with free sprinkles!), one package of food coloring, a box of Ziploc bags (if you don’t already have some!) and a tray to place the cake on for display (pink striped tray in my picture)

• 1.      Start by mixing together the white cake mix according to the directions on the back of the box.

• 2.      Depending on how many colors you want to dye the cake split the cake batter into that many bowls. For my cake I used 3 colors: green, purple, and orange.

• 3.      According to the directions on the back of your food coloring package, dye the cake batter the color you are trying to obtain. There are usually directions for “cake mix” food coloring, but if there isn't you may want to look it up on the internet for the specific color you are looking to create! For mine, I used about 50 drops total for each.

• 4.      Next you want to make sure that you spray your pan with cooking spray or oil.

• 5.      Now drizzle the cake batter around the pan in random patterns until you use all of the batter OR you can layer the batter in the pan. For example when making my cake, I could have put the entire bowl of green batter in first, and then the orange and lastly the purple. After baked this would give the cake horizontal lines of each of the colors.

• 6.      Lastly back your cake according to the directions on the box!

Let your cake cool for about an hour and using a spatula go around the sides of the cake and separate the cake from the pan so that you can remove the cake and place it on your tray. Once you separate the cake with the spatula as best you can, place the tray on top of the cake pan and flip it over so that the cake is separated from the cake pan and on the tray. This will give you a platform to decorate your cake.

Before decorating, let your cake cool for between 4-6 hours, and if possible overnight.
When you are ready to start decorating your cake designate one container of frosting for the base coating of the cake and its sides and one for the decorating part.

• 1.      Using a bowl add food coloring (as designated per color on the package for cake frosting) to one container of frosting and frost the base of the cake.

• 2.      Then, for my Halloween cake, I mixed together 1/3 of the second container of frosting with purple food coloring to decorate the border and sides of the cake.

• 3.      Place the frosting in a zip lock bag and cut the corner of the bag to your discretion. I would suggest cutting a small corner off at first and then cutting a bigger piece off. Start with a cut as small as one centimeter from the corner!

• a.        It’s important to practice writing/decorating on a paper towel/napkin/piece of paper first to get a feel of how to do it on the cake.

• 4.      Next, make as many bags as you need for each color you want to use. For some colors such as the green on my Halloween cake, I only used about two tablespoons of frosting.

• 5.      Go crazy! Decorate your cake in any way that you choose and make it personal to you: add sprinkles, candies, cookies, etc. Just remember that you can always fix any “mistake” that you think you made and don’t be afraid to try something different! If your cake turns out bad you can always just eat it and try again another day! I personally have no cake decorating experience but I love to try new things with the few cakes that I have decorated. It’s super easy to do when you put your mind to it and concentrate. I haven’t used any decorating tools yet so my cake’s are pretty basic, but I try and do the best I can with what I've got! This Halloween cake is the fourth cake that I've tried decorating, hope you enjoy!

Good luck and happy baking!

First Cake

Second Cake

Third Cake

What’s your favorite holiday to bake for?!

Decorating Your Home Away from Home

As any college student knows, college dorms are not the homiest of all places. They are typically bare, white cinder block walls which are not fun at all, but there are many fun ways to personalize your room and add color! Here are my favorite inexpensive ways to decorate your dorm room wall:

Photographs:

A great way to personalize any room is by adding pictures to it! Especially in your dorm room, pictures remind you of all the good times with your friends and family at home and as the year goes on you can add pictures from the semester to your wall. Photo collages are a great way to seem crafty and make your picture collage unique!

Photo Collage:

Photo collages can be in any pattern or shape that you like!

Meghan Ermi, St. John Fisher Dorm (Rochester, NY)

Arranging your photo’s into the shape of words makes the photos look inspirational and gives them more meaning. This idea doubles as a photo collage and a piece of art on your wall! You will be sure to get compliments on this photo collage style!

Kelly Forstbauer, SUNY Fredonia Dorm (Fredonia, NY)

Simply arranging your photo’s into a large group on one of your walls is also a great way to spice up your room and give that homey feel to such a boring white dorm room wall. You can also try adding bright, colorful construction paper behind the pictures to make them pop against the bare walls. This will draw attention to your photos and will be sure to start conversation with friends!

Canvas Pictures:

Using canvas photos are a great way to make your room more personalized and will be sure to remind you home and maybe your mother in particular, or at least it does to me! You can buy canvas pictures at Wal-Mart, Bed Bath and Beyond, The Christmas Tree Store and many other places starting at about $5!

Leah Cripps, SUNY Fredonia Dorm (Fredonia, NY)

Posters:

Posters are a great way to express yourself because you can buy a poster with pretty much anything you can think of on it! They are a great way to tie together a room or accent a wall. At Fredonia, we have a huge select ion of posters in our book store which is a great place to start looking, though they are a little pricey. Other great places to look are at craft stores, such as Michaels, Wal-Mart, the Paper Factory, or online at websites such as Amazon, which may be cheaper than your school book store.

My room, SUNY Fredonia Dorm (Fredonia, NY)

Quotes:

Using quotes for your wall is a great idea! I’ve seen students use pictures to write out quotes or get wall stickers that have quotes on them, but here at Fredonia our walls are cackled so stickers don’t usually work out as well. This year, one of my suitemates showed me another great way to decorate your walls using quotes. She wrote out quotes with colorful markers in different fonts on index cards and arranged them on her wall above her bed. This idea will definitely ensure you have a great day, every day! Who wouldn’t when you could wake up every day to an inspirational quote by your favorite person?

Kelly Forstbauer, SUNY Fredonia Dorm (Fredonia, NY)

Post Cards:

Using post cards to decorate your walls is a unique and cheap way to add style to your college dorm room. This summer I visited New York City and bought ten post cards for $1! I placed them on my wall above my bed in-between my pictures to remind me of the amazing trip!

My room, SUNY Fredonia Dorm (Fredonia, NY)

I hope these decorating tips help you to personalize your dorm room and make it the perfect home away from home for you! How did you decorate your dorm room or room at home to let your personality shine through?