Arachnoclusters

     These spidery specialties incorporate a family recipe and crunchy Pocky.  The thorax and abdomen are made from haystacks: a chewy treat consisting of oats, coconut and chocolate.  The legs are Pocky chocolate biscuit sticks, cut and "glued" together with melted chocolate, which I also used to make the eyes.

Photo credits: Kelly Garsha

     These terrifying treats remind me of the infamous spider (and its young) from Arachnophobia (1990).  This is a very satisfying and funny horror movie.  The pacing is perfect, so you're not left frustrated while waiting for the characters to figure things out, which is a problem I have with a lot of horror movies.  Spiders make a pretty great villain, too.  Their small size is both their strength (easy to miss) and their weakness (easy to squish).  This is a fun, creepy, almost family-friendly adventure, and it's the perfect time of year to watch it.  Eat these yummy arachnoclusters while you do, and enjoy a sense of poetic justice.

                                          

Rock and roll!

Brain Cupcakes

    BRRAAAAIINNSS!

     These are some smart cupcakes!  To celebrate my recent graduation, I made this batch of pumpkin spice cupcakes with cream cheese icing, tinted pink with pumpkin, cinnamon and just a drop of red food colouring.

Photo Credits: Kelly Garsha

     These are pink, healthy brains, not at all like the mutant monstrosity shown below.  But still, The Brain (1988) is probably my favourite brain-centred horror film.  It's actually about a giant brain that terrorizes teenagers and eats people.  It's got a strongly 80's B-movie vibe to it, and it's so enjoyable that it's achieved cult status.  And what could be worse than a smart bad guy?

Evil Dead Devil's Food Cake

     This terrifying treat is the book of the dead, in cake form, and bound in chocolate icing instead of human flesh.  You might even call it the NecroNOMicon.  Maybe.  

     I started with a basic devil's food cake, of course, and iced it with vanilla and chocolate buttercream icing.  I used a combination of marshmallows and layered icing to make the facial features, and then poured some melted dark chocolate (mixed with a little milk and instant coffee) into the craters of the eyes and mouth.  I then unceremoniously hacked at it with a toothpick to give the icing some texture.

Join us!

Photo credits: Ann Fillmore

     This cake was inspired, of course, by Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead (1981).  In fact, you should be thanking me, because there are many moments in the film that could have made for some truly unappetizing food.  And by that, I mean there's some spectacular gore.  Demonic possession, rotting body parts all over the place, oatmeal oozing out of shirt-sleeves!  The special effects are so creative and weird you'll have to pick your jaw up off the floor when it's over.  This is a great example of fun horror.  It's just so creepy, insane and hilarious!  I haven't met anyone who hates it.  Just watch it.  But you might not want to be eating anything while you do.   

Really though, this is a film for people who like horror movies.  If the trailer offends you, the movie will as well.  You've been warned.

Join us!

Nosferatu Pfeffernüsse

     In celebration of Oktoberfest, I decided to create a German horror-dessert masterpiece.  I fused the delicious, gingerbread-like pfeffernuss cookie with one of the greatest German horror films: Nosferatu.  I pressed whole blanched almonds into the dough before baking, creating the pointed ears.  Once baked, I either coated the cookies in icing sugar or glazed them.  I liked how both techniques looked, for different reasons.  Next I piped some melted dark chocolate onto the face as shown, and attached the eyes and fangs, which were cut from marshmallows.  

"It will cost you sweat and tears, and perhaps... a little blood." - Tell me about it. Cutting marshmallows is hard work!  Thanks for the help, David.

I like their surprised expressions.

Photo credits: Kelly Garsha

     Nosferatu, eine Sinphonie des Grauens or Nosferatu: A Symphony of Terror (1922) is a classic of German Expressionism, directed by F.W. Murnau and starring Max Schreck.  It is an unofficial adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, but names have been changed to protect the undead (a.k.a. the studio couldn't get the rights to the novel).  The film was very influential for the vampire sub-genre.  You might be wondering though, what does a 90 year-old vampire movie look like today?  A bit dull, a bit confusing, a bit unintentionally funny.  Graf Orlok, however, still looks great in film and cookie form, if I may say so myself.  You might put it on in the background at a get-together, if your friends are as geeky as mine are.  And don't forget: everything's more pfun with pfeffernüsse! 

Guten Appetit!

Halloween Thanksgiving Pie

     In honour of Thanksgiving, I baked the classic pumpkin pie – with a twist.  I used the leftover dough and cut out jack-o'-lantern features, lightly baked them and then arranged them on the finished pie.

  

I've finally mastered the homemade crust!

Photo credits: Kelly Garsha

This creation was inspired by Carpenter's hugely influential Halloween (1978).  I won't say anything about it, because who hasn't seen it already?  If you haven't, it's the perfect time!  I tried to copy the features from the classic title screen below:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Creepshow Cockroach Cupcakes

Oh no, my cupcakes are infested with cockroaches!  

I decided to go with something creepy and crawly for my first creation.  First, I made Apple Pie Cupcakes using this wonderful recipe.  Such great autumn flavours!  Then I grabbed some pitted dates and stuffed them with halved pecans, and painted them with a bit of molasses for shine.  You could put one cockroach on each cupcake, or arrange them in a "scene" as I've done here.      

Photo credits: Kelly Garsha

     These cupcakes were inspired by a very cool segment from the anthology film Creepshow (1982), directed by George A. Romero and written by Stephen King.  Creepshow is a horror comic book come to life, filled with suspenseful short stories with macabre endings.  Some are better than others.  In the final segment, "They're Creeping Up on You", a cruel and germ-phobic business tycoon is attacked by cockroaches that invade his hermetically-sealed apartment during a blackout.  What happens next is both awesome and gross at the same time.  Check out the video below, or watch the movie yourself if it sounds like your cup of... cake.

Bon appetit!