by Jan Cartwright,
Decorating Ideas editor
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 Use a quick icer tip to pipe strips of bandages across the top of a single-layer round cake. Airbrush purple and black along the edges of the bandages. |
 Inverted cupcakes make wonderful treats for children's Halloween parties. Offer customers an assortment of characters so they can mix and match. |
 After placing the edible design on a base-iced cake, airbrush the cake blue, making some areas of the cake darker to resemble the evening sky. |
 Stripe an icing bag with black icing and use star tip No. 22 to pipe a triple 'e,' reverse triple 'e' top border and bottom shell border. |
 Pipe pumpkins using tip No. 10 and a series of forward and backward 'C's. |
October can be a very profitable month in the decorating department. It is the fourth busiest month for retail bakeries. To take full advantage of seasonal sales, have Halloween decorations up and cakes on display by October 1st. Bakery showcases should include mass displays of Halloween decorated cookies, cupcakes and individual desserts to invite "trick or treaters" of all ages. The following cakes are sure to tempt your customers.
A Halloween staple is the pumpkin. Create a quick and easy pumpkin using heart-shaped tin foil pans. After baking, leave the cake in the pan. Ice the top of the cake with orange icing, and place a dollop of icing in the center for a nose. Use writing tip No. 10 to pipe the whites of the eyes. Add other features, such as the mouth, pupils, stem and vines using writing tip No. 4.
Single layer cakes are extremely popular, often due to smaller households. And, when the cakes are attractively displayed in high-traffic areas, they are a perfect impulse item. The mummy cake is a great example of a singlelayer Halloween design. Base ice a round cake with white icing. Then use a quick icing tip to add the bandages. Use an alternating over and under method to create the wrapped look. With an airbrush, spray purple and then black over the edges of the bandages. Pipe bloodshot eyeballs, and add sugar spiders for a gory garnish.
Cupcakes are always popular and are ideal for Halloween parties. Several different characters can be created using cupcakes. Place unwrapped cupcakes upside down on small cake boards. To decorate a pumpkin, ice the cupcake in orange icing with a small spatula. Add features, such as stem, vines, eyes and mouth using writing tip No. 4. To create a ghost, use white icing and an open coupler to form the ghost's body. Add arms, and use a small spatula to give the arms more shape. Use writing tip No. 4 to pipe black facial features. Finish by adding some candy treats in the ghost's arms.
For a witch, use an open coupler and green icing to create the head. Form a pointed chin at the base of the cupcake, and add a pointy nose. Pipe gray stringy hair using tip No. 233. Add a blue hat using tip No. 12. Pipe a circular brim. Use an upward motion, slowly decreasing the pressure to create the cone of the hat. Another fun cupcake idea is a hairy monster. At the base of the cupcake, pipe three-toed bubble feet using tip No. 4. Then, from the bottom up, pipe colorful hair, such as blue or green, with tip No. 233 until the cupcake is completely covered. Finally, add some eyes.
Edible designs add variety to your Halloween display, and help speed production. I chose a grim reaper and witch edible designs to demonstrate some fast ways to enhance the cakes. Base ice quarter sheet cakes with white icing, and apply the edible designs. For the grim reaper cake, airbrush the cake purple. Then, use star tip No. 22 and an icing bag striped with black icing to pipe the top and bottom borders. Use a triple 'e', reverse triple 'e' motion for the top border. Pipe a bottom shell border. Add some sugar bat decorations to finish the design. For the witch cake, airbrush the cake blue, making some spots darker for a more realistic sky. Use star tip No. 22 to pipe both the top and bottom borders. Add a triple 'e', reverse triple 'e' top border and a shell bottom border. Place sugar bats and ghosts on top of the cake to complete the design.
Whimsical pumpkins on a vine also make a great Halloween cake. Begin by base icing a quarter sheet cake with white icing. Use writing tip No. 4 to pipe vines around three edges of the cake. Add several pumpkins along the vines. To create the pumpkins, use tip No. 10. Pipe a 'C' and a backward 'C.' Leave some space between the 'C's. Next, pipe another 'C' next to the first, and add another backward 'C.' In the remaining space, pipe a line. Add a stem and leaves with either tip No. 252 or a snipped parchment bag. Pipe the features on the pumpkins using writing tip No. 4. Add borders using tip No. 22 and icing bag striped with orange icing. Pipe a shell top border and a triple 'e,' reverse triple 'e' bottom border.
Cake decorating for holidays tests your creativity. Appealing designs can scare up many boo-tiful sales for Halloween.