Halloween Houses: Best Ever Buttercream

One of the kids' favorite Halloween events from last year was when the local bakery did a gingerbread house workshop.  A spooky, scary, Halloween gingerbread house workshop.  So naturally, this year, they wanted to do it again.

Like last year, Thatboy and I helped a lot with the actual construction of the house, then followed their vision for decoration.

Thatbaby stuck with his usual modus operandi of putting as much candy as humanly possible on his house.  He had a little more of a design plan this year, wanting to put snakes and body parts all over the yard.

Thatkid wanted to make his house anthropomorphic, putting faces on both sides.  But also, lots of dead bodies all around the house.  Both kids told us that their houses were where people came to die.

They were both very please with how their houses turned out.

I love helping the kids with things like this, but I admit, I'm also totally jealous.  I wanna sit and nicely decorate a gingerbread house.  It feels like it would be so soothing and relaxing without 2 kids hanging on your shoulders.  Instead, I have to use my creative juices on other forms of decorating.  Like when Thatkid's aftercare asked for parents to bring in things for a Halloween party.  I saw these batty cupcakes in a magazine and figured I could recreate them.  Also - not super relaxing with the kids touching, breaking and asking when they'd be ready every few minutes.  The basic idea is easy enough to figure out yourself (rolos, oreos, and candy eyeballs).  I've already shared a great chocolate cupcake recipe.  But I found a new buttercream frosting recipe for Thatkid's mirror glaze cake for his birthday.  I love it because it's just a couple of ingredients - so easy.  And it takes coloring like a champ, making it great for creative designs.

Best Ever Buttercream (adapted from preppykitchen.com)

2 sticks of butter

16 oz confectioners sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1. Cream the butter in an electric stand mixer until fluffy (3-5 minutes)
2. Add half of the sugar and continue to mix until combined.
3. Add the rest of the sugar and continue to mix.
4. Add in the salt and mix just until combined.
5. Color whatever color you wish to use for your cake, cupcakes, or stomach.