Witch's House Recipe

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13 by 9 by 2 inch pan, an 8inch oven-proof bowl and a 6 inch loaf pan.
2. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the cooled, melted chocolate and the vanilla extract, then gradually stir in the milk. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, stirring until just combined.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pans, about two thirds full (begin with the loaf pan, followed by the bowl and then the baking pan). Bake the 13 by 9 by 2 inch pan and the bowl for 45 to 50 minutes, and the loaf pan for 35 to 40 minutes. Insert a toothpick into the center to see if the cakes are done. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
4. Tip: To make the project more manageable, bake the cake one day and decorate it the next.
5. Part Three: ASSEMBLING THE CAKE
6. Decorations:
7. Orange frosting
8. Green gumdrops
9. Chocolate graham crackers
10. Chocolate icecream cones
11. Regular and chocolate peanut butter sandwich cookies
12. Black licorice twists
13. Chocolate kisses (recommended: Hershey's)
14. Mini chocolate chips
15. Green hard candies
16. Black shoestring licorice
17. Mini marshmallows
18. Chocolate covered raisins
19. Cover a large cutting board or piece of cardboard with aluminum foil. Place the 13 by 9 by 2inch cake on the top of the foil to create the graveyard. On one end, place the bowlshaped cake to create the hill. Generously frost the graveyard and hill. Next, cut a 2 by 3-inch rectangle, about 1 inch deep, on top of the hill to accommodate the house.
20. Tip: For crumbfree spreading, frost a very thin layer on the entire cake, then spread with a fluffy layer.
21. CREAKY ROOF
22. To create the roof on the Witch's House, cut the corners off one end of the small loaf cake (a job for older kids). Place the house in the 2 by 3-inch slot, securing it with toothpicks or a bamboo skewer. Then paint the house with orange frosting.
23. Tip: To make the orange frosting, tint 1 cup of storebought or homemade white frosting with orange food coloring. For a vibrant color, use food coloring paste, which is available at kitchen and party supply stores.
24. Tile the roof of the house with chocolate graham crackers and frosting. Add a few scary details: windows made of broken chocolate cones with orange icing grids and a peanut cookie door with a candy doorknob. Surround the house with shoestring licorice barbed wire. Then add a flying witch. Use a toothpick to attach the witch's face (a gumdrop cut in half, lengthwise) to her hat (a chocolate cone) and to her broomstick (licorice with three slits cut in the end).
25. CANDY GRAVEYARD
26. To create the gravestones, break peanut cookies in half and pipe on spooky sayings with orange frosting (R.I.P., Boo and so on). Secure in the muddy frosting. Next, make ghosts in the trees. Use scissors to cut three crooked branches in a piece of licorice. Tuck two mini marshmallows between the branches and place tree on a piece of waxed paper. Microwave for 10 seconds to slightly melt the ghost. Give the ghost two mini chocolate chip eyes, then plant the trees in the mud.