Some people want Halloween to come and go quickly but others throw a huge party and decorate the house, inside and out. You’re liable to see anything from snakes, to spiders, to witches, and more. The overall goal is to spook the guests and be remembered for throwing yet another fabulous Halloween party. If you’re having a sit-down dinner you’ll need place cards to mark everyone’s seats and those, of course, should be as eerie as possible. Something like a tombstone. You can’t ask for a more appropriate place card, nor for an easier craft to do. Plus, the guests not only get led to their seats, via the headstones, but they also get to eat them.
Simple cakes are easily turned into tombstones that guests will find delicious. The perfect cakes are ones sold as “snack cakes”. The chocolate, crème-filled versions, which are oval in shape, are ideal for making the tombstones. You’ll find these cakes, often called Devil Cremes, or Chocolate Cakesters, at most any grocery store, and they’re not expensive.
Cut a small piece off of one rounded end of each cake so that it has a flat end. Then, use a food marker to write a name on the tombstone. Or, put frosting in a zipper-lock bag, cut the tiniest hole in one corner, and dispense the frosting to spell out what you want on each cake. Write “Here Lies…” or “RIP”, along with the person’s name.
After each cake has a name and an eerie sentiment, simply stand it on a small plate. If you want, sprinkle cookie crumbles, chocolate chips, shredded coconut or other goodies, around the headstones, to make “dirt”.
The cake tombstones are great as party favors or as desserts for a child’s Halloween party, too. They’re cheap and easy to make, look spooky for the occasion, and are perfect for creating an overall, eerie look for the food table.
If you want, you can create a whole cemetery of the cake tombstones by standing them up on a platter or plate. Sprinkle candies or other goodies around to make the dirt and add creepy, edible gummy worms, licorice spiders, or other spooky accents. Set the tray on the food table and guests can help themselves. Instead of writing the names of the guests on the cakes, just write “RIP” or other sentiments on them. They’re scrumptious and slightly disturbing.