Jack o' Lantern

Today I have more of a story to tell. It's about Stingy Jack.

Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. Since he was stingy and didn't want to pay for his drink, he told the Devil to turn himself into a coin so Jack can pay for the drinks. The Devil obeyed, and Jack decided to keep the money. Jack put the coin in his pocket, next to a silver cross, so the Devil couldn't change back to his original form. Eventually Jack freed the Devil, under the condition that he wouldn't bother him for a whole year, and if he died, the Devil wouldn't claim his soul.

The next year, Jack tricked the Devil (...again!) to climb a tree to pick some fruit. While the Devil was up there, Jack carved a Cross on the bark of the tree so that the Devil couldn't come down. This time, Jack had a plan. In order to free the Devil, he would have to promise him not to bother him for another 10 years, and if he died, the Devil wouldn't claim his soul.

Well, Jack died before the 10 years were up! But God couldn't allow such a person to enter Heaven. The Devil on the other hand, kept his promise not to take his soul (he was upset with Jack for tricking him-it's unlike the Devil to keep his word!). What the Devil did instead, he sent Jack into the dark night, with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal in a carved out turnip (he didn't want to burn his hands I guess) and has been roaming the Earth ever since. See, turnips, beets and potatoes were carved waaaay before pumpkins. The Irish were refering to this as "The Jack of the Lantern" and as we know it today, "Jack O' Lantern."

People in Ireland and Scotland started to make their own versions of Jack-o'-Lanterns and put them near windows or doors to scare Stingy Jack and other evil spirits away. In England, they carved beets.
When people immigrated to the Americas they found pumpkins more easily, and the tradition was kept as we know it today.

This is the story of the Jack-o'-Lantern. And that's how I came up with these:

Jack-o-Lantern Cookies

I decided to make these 6 designs as 1 vote since they are technically the same cookie :) I want to make these Pumpkin Spice Cookies, but that's only if I can find pumpkins to make pumpkin Puree. If not, these are going to be either Sugar Cookies, or something else I might find more interesting. The top is going to be frosting and the decorations most likely Chocolate Candy Melt.

Wacky Jack-o-Lantern Cupcakes

Same concept as the cookies. I am probably going to use sugar paste with these and use the smoother to make them even instead of 3D. I might even add some sparkles on the black part to make it more interesting. Chocolate Cupcake base.

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Yes, these are 2 different ones. On the first one you can see the half top of the pumpkin and on the other one wou can see the whole pumpkin. The first one will have a domed top whereas the other one will only have frosting to make the design. The darker orange area I think I will score and add orange sparkles to make it look interesting.

P.S. I decided that I have to add the entries more frequently so I can be done a week before Halloween. The reason is that I'm going to hold a Bake Sale on the 30th of October with the 10 most voted ideas. So I want to be able to get my supplies on time :)

I took my information from here.