Monster Bash Blog's 1st Birthday

Wow, can you believe it? We've come so far. It was one year ago today that Monster Bash Blog was born. Thank you all (Jim) for being such (a) loyal readers!

With such a celebratory day, I thought we could go back and relive my "sweetest" Monster Bash moments!!! Just like any master of his/her craft, I'll also attempt to break down my thought processes of making these in case you're planning a monster bash of your own in the near or far future!

So, for Monster Bash 2006, I did a gross kitty litter cake (fully edible) as the Monster Bash dessert:

I know, it looks real. But here's how I did it. You get a brand new kitty litter box and scoop. You can also get a new liner, but nixed that idea. I just lined the bottom with foil. you never see it anyway. Then, I took two cake mixes: German Chocolate cake and white cake mix, made them according to instructions. While they were baking, I smashed up some vanilla oreo-type cookies and made vanilla pudding. I set aside some of the smashed up cookies and used a little green food coloring on those cookies. Once the cakes are done and cooled, crumble them up and add just enough pudding to moisten the cakes. Spread this mix, along with some of the cookies, into the pan. Sprinkle the green food colored cookie on top. I then took some brownies and rolled them to look like the turds, but you can use tootsie rolls too.

For Monster Bash 2007, I took it to a slightly less gross level and made an oozing spider cake:

All this takes is a few ingredients and some creativity/patience. For this recipe I tweaked a few good ones I found. First, I used devil's food cake mix because it's light and easy to work with. I baked two round cakes according to the package. While they baked, I took vanilla pudding mix and made it according to package, and added some green food coloring for the "ooze" (the original recipe calls for green jello, I don't like jello and cake together, it doesn't sound too tasty to me). When the cakes were cooled, I cut one into a small circle (the head) and the other, I kept the original size, but cut the top off as smoothly as possible. I filled the well I made with the green pudding, and then replaced the "lid". I iced the entire cake (head and body) with dark chocolate frosting, and sprinkled some crumbled cake from the leftovers from the head to give the "fuzzy" effect. I stuck chocolate twizzlers as the arms, used marshmallows (minis) for the eyes (with black food coloring for the dot), and two pieces of candy corn to make the hourglass "black widow" effect. When the body of the cake was cut, vanilla pudding oozed out!

Monster Bash 2009 was a lot more subdued in the dessert department, because the theme was "Murder Circus" so the focus was more on carnival/circus type foods (popcorn, corn dogs, pretzels, etc), so I opted for these graveyard cupcakes (see arrow):

For these, I made typical cupcakes. I used funfetti with green food coloring to make them appear "toxic". Then I also baked devil's food cake to create the "dirt". When the cupcakes were cooled, I used a pastry bag and creme filled them (maggots, I guess or something), and frosted them with chocolate frosting. I stuck Milano cookies in each one and wrote "Boo" or "RIP" on each one with icing. I then sprinkled some of the "dirt" over the tops of them. The picture truly doesn't do it much justice, I know.


And of course, who can forget: Jason Cake for Jason's Birthday party this past February:

This wasn't difficult to make, but it definitely requires some good hard work and imagination. I used a picture online that I looked at for a few minutes and then went to work. I baked a devil's food cake (two round ones, just in case), and when they were cooled, I cut one into a "mask" shape. I cut out the eyes (freehand, btw) and tried to make his torso, but it doesn't look that great. Just concentrate on his sweet mask. Then I used white frosting, and black and red icing to decorate his face. I mixed the leftover white with the black to create the gray tombstone and torso. With the leftover cake, I made the "dirt" and the tombstone. I adorned his "grave" with sour worms. I set out to make a Jason cake and I think I did a decent job. Just a little luck and some baking skills, I always say.

So that's all I've got so far. Monster Bash 2009's dessert? You better believe it's going to be the most disgusting, horrifying, and did I mention disgusting? dessert yet. I've already picked it, and I can say with 150% confidence that it might make you vomit.

Happy Birthday Monster Bash Blog!