As we head towards spooky season, many will be starting to plan their celebrations for the ultimate Halloween party - in fact, search interest for ‘Halloween party ideas’ has gone up by 53% in the past 30 days.
From cute-looking Cat Face Toasties to a not-so-pretty (but very tasty) Eyeball Spaghetti and some sweet Smore Spiderweb Brownies, there’s a Halloween treat for everyone to enjoy this October.
Surprise Mini Pumpkins
Whether you’re a pumpkin fan or not, you’ll love these autumnal, pumpkin-shaped parcels. Filled with sweet, spiced apple, they’re the perfect bite-sized treat for the table.
Ingredients:
40g salted butter, at room temperature
40g light brown soft sugar
½ tsp mixed spice
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
½ orange, zest and juice
30g raisins
4 bramley apples, peeled
2 tbsp plain flour, for dusting
350g ready-made puff pastry
6 drops orange food colouring (vegetarian if required)
1 large egg yolk, beaten
100g icing sugar
Method:
Place the butter in a mixing bowl with the sugar, spices and orange zest. Beat together with a hand mixer till smooth, then stir in the raisins using a wooden spoon. Remove the core from each apple with an apple corer or a paring knife, to create room for the filling.
Line a baking tray with baking paper. Lightly dust your work surface with flour. Cut the puff pastry into 4 equal pieces, then roll each into a 20cm x 15cm rectangle. Slice each piece into 4 long strips. Cross 2 of the strips to make a cross. Place the remaining 2 strips on top in an ‘X’, so you have an 8-pointed star. Press down the middle where they join to thin the pastry a little. This allows the apple to sit firmly and helps the pastry to cook.
Place an apple on top, then spoon in one-quarter of the spiced raisin butter, pressing it into the hollowed-out core. Bring both sides of one of the strips up, so they meet at the top of the apple, and press together, so they point upwards like a stalk. Stir a couple of drops of orange food colouring into the beaten egg yolk, then brush a little over the pastry.
Repeat with another strip; they will overlap a little on the sides – you may need to stretch them a little so that you get full coverage. Brush with egg. Finish with the remaining 2 strips and brush again. You should have a striped effect on the sides. Pinch the tops together to finish the stalk shape; cutting off any excess. Brush all over with egg, and transfer to the lined baking tray. Repeat with the remaining pastry, apples and raisin butter. Place the tray in the fridge and chill for 30 mins.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6. Place the tray in the oven and bake for 30-35 mins, or until the pastry is golden. Halfway through, brush the pastry with a little more of the orange-tinted egg. Once cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool for 20 mins.
Meanwhile, make the icing. Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and add just enough orange juice to make a thick glaze. Stir in a few drops of orange food colouring and mix until smooth. When the pastry apples have cooled for 20 mins, spoon the icing into a piping bag and snip off the end so you have a fine point. Pipe stripes down the side of the pastry, running along the pastry strips, and leave for 5 mins. These are best eaten soon after baking, with vanilla ice cream on the side.
Freaky Faces
Let the kids be as creative as they like conjuring these Freaky Faces cracker ghouls out of veg, cheese and houmous. You can also mix up the toppings, using both fresh and tinned ingredients.
Ingredients:
1 (300g) pack oat cakes, rice cakes or crackers
1 (300g) tub houmous
1 (200g) tub guacamole
1 (160g) pack cheese slices
1 (340g) jar pitted black olives
1 (200g) pack radishes
1 (195g) tin sweetcorn
1 red pepper
1 (150g) pack sugar snap peas
85g tub peeled edamame soy beans
2 carrots
¼ cucumber
1 (200g) pack baby corn
1 (100g) pack pumpkin seeds
Method:
Spread oat cakes or crackers with houmous and guacamole.
For eyes, use a small bottle top to cut circles from cheese slices; and make pupils from pieces of black olive or radish (you can use the end of a metal straw to cut them out) or peas.
Make mouths from odds and ends, such as sweetcorn kernels and trimmed pepper – create toothy grins with sugar snaps opened to reveal their peas.
Edamame beans make good noses.
Add finishing touches – pointy ears, eyebrows, horns and hair – using sugar snaps, chopped pepper, radish, carrot, cucumber, baby corn and pumpkin seeds. Best eaten the same day.
Eyeball Spaghetti
This gruesome-looking but very tasty dish is perfect as a quick meal before trick-or-treating, or is great served hot or cold as part of a Halloween buffet.
Ingredients:
20 mini mozzarella balls
10 stuffed olives, halved
350g spaghetti
1 tub of fresh pesto
4 squirts of tomato ketchup
Method:
Cook the spaghetti according to the pack instructions.
Meanwhile cut a small hole into each mozzarella ball and push in half an olive.
Drain the spaghetti and then stir through the pesto.
Divide between 4 bowls and top with splodges of tomato ketchup & mozzarella eye balls. Serve.
Smores Spider Web Brownies
These yummy vegan brownies are topped with fluffy melted marshmallow to create the spider web effect.
Ingredients:
165g plant-based butter, melted, plus extra for greasing
175g plain flour
75g cocoa powder
1½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp fine sea salt
325g granulated sugar
100ml almond milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
70g dark chocolate, finely chopped
70g vegan biscuits (we used Lotus Biscoff), broken into small chunks
40g white marshmallows (vegan if required)
Method:
Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4. Grease a 23cm square cake tin with butter and line the bottom with baking paper. Use a balloon whisk to whisk together the plain flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and fine sea salt and set to one side.
Use a freestanding mixer or electric hand mixer to beat the melted butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the almond milk and vanilla extract, then add the bowl of dry ingredients and mix until smooth. With a spoon, stir in the chocolate and broken biscuits; dollop into the tin. Level the top and bake for 25-28mins, or until just set with a crust but still a bit gooey.
Remove from the oven; leave to cool in the tin for 20 mins, before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Melt the marshmallows in a microwave for 30 secs, then stir with a fork. Allow to stand for 2 mins or so, until cool enough to handle, then stretch the mixture over the brownies, pulling and draping it to create a spider web effect. Then leave to cool completely before slicing and serving the brownies. They’ll store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Witch's Cauldron Cheesecake with Jelly Sweets
This gloriously ghoulish Halloween dessert is perfect for a party! Oreo biscuits are used to make the chocolate crumb base, with a creamy cheesecake filling and orange jelly topping. This recipe uses wriggly snake sweets to decorate the cake, but any spooky jellies would work well.
Ingredients:
170g unsalted butter, melted, plus extra to grease
308g Oreo biscuits, blitzed to a fine crumb
60g light brown soft sugar
300ml double cream
680g full fat soft cheese
80g caster sugar
4 tbsp soured cream
½ lemon, zest and juice
270g orange jelly, broken into cubes
80g jelly snakes
Method:
Start making the cheesecake the day before. Lightly grease a 23cm springform round cake tin with butter. In a bowl, use a wooden spoon to mix the melted butter, Oreo crumbs and light soft brown sugar. Evenly press into the tin so it covers the base and the sides (this is your cauldron). Use your knuckles to really compress the mixture to stop it from crumbling. Place in the fridge to chill for 30 mins.
Meanwhile, make the filling. Using a hand mixer, whisk the cream in a large mixing bowl until stiff peaks form. Set aside. Place the soft cheese and caster sugar in the bowl of a freestanding mixer, and beat with the paddle attachment until smooth, or use a hand mixer. Add the soured cream, 1tbsp lemon juice and the lemon zest, and beat for 2 mins, until smooth. With a metal spoon, gently fold in the whipped double cream.
When the cheesecake base has chilled for 30 mins, remove it from the fridge and spoon in the soft cheese mixture. Smooth it over; place the tin back in the fridge and leave to set overnight.
The following day, put half the quantity of jelly cubes in a measuring jug and top with 170ml boiling water. Allow the jelly cubes to melt, then top up with 170ml cold water. When the liquid jelly is room temperature, pour it over the soft cheese filling. Pop in the fridge and leave to set for 1 hr. While you’re waiting, make up the remaining jelly in the same way and leave to cool again.
Remove the tin from the fridge, dot over most of the jelly sweets, leaving some sticking up so that they look like they’re crawling out of the jelly, then pour over the cooled orange jelly and place the tin in the fridge for at least 4 hrs to set completely. When you’re ready to serve, arrange the reserved jelly sweets on top and slide a knife around the inside of the tin to loosen it, then release. It will keep, covered, in the fridge for up to 3 days.
For more halloween recipe inspiration, visit Ocado’s library here: https://www.ocado.com/content/halloween-recipes-203361
We'd like to thank Ocado for helping to prepare this post.
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