THE HALLOWEEN MENU

Are you bored of the same old Halloween treats? Do you need some easy ideas to not only entertain the kids this Halloween, but add minimal stress to your day? look no further…

Halloween Cookies:

Prep Time: 45 mins

Cook Time : 25 mins

Servings: 7-8

Ingredients:

For the biscuits –

• 200g unsalted butter , softened
• 200g golden caster sugar
• 1 large egg
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 400g plain flour , plus extra for dusting
• 20g popping candy or rainbow sprinkles

For the decoration –

• White, black and grey sugar paste
• 100g icing sugar
• White, black and grey sugar paste
• 100g icing sugar

How to Prepare :

Step 1:

Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and line a baking sheet with baking parchment.

Step 2:

Put the butter in a bowl and beat with electric beaters until soft and creamy. Beat in the sugar, then the egg and vanilla, and finally the flour to make a dough. If the dough feels a bit sticky add a little more flour and knead it in. Wrap in cling film and put in the fridge for half an hour.

Step 3:

Heavily flour a surface and cut the pastry in half. Roll out one half to 5mm thickness. Using a cookie cutter in the shape of a ghost (or any spooky shaped cutter you like), cut out 12 ghost shapes, which will make 4 cookies. Put the cut shapes on a baking tray lined with baking paper and put back in the fridge. Repeat with the second half of the pastry. Swap into the fridge, taking the chilled ghost biscuits out.

Step 4:

Using a smaller cutter or a knife, cut a ghost-shaped hole in the middle of 4 of the biscuits on the tray, this is the space to store the surprise center! Put these biscuits into the oven to bake for 10-12 mins, until pale but cooked through. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Repeat with the other tray.

Step 5:

Once all the biscuits have cooled completely, they are ready to be assembled. Mix the icing sugar with 3 tbsp of water and mix well. It should be quite thick so add a little more icing sugar if the mixture is too runny. Take a biscuit without the center missing, and spread or pipe a little icing around the edge. Press a biscuit with a center missing on top, then sprinkle popping candy into the pocket that you have created (or rainbow sprinkles as an alternative, if you’re serving to very young children). Spread icing on the edge of the second biscuit and press another whole biscuit on top. Set aside to firm up. Make sure you leave them for a while so they don’t slide when you are finishing the decoration

Step 6:

Once the biscuits feel firm and the icing has set, use the sugar paste to decorate them as you please, rolling it out, cutting it to shape and topping the biscuits. You may have to use a little of the icing to glue it down. Decorate with icing pens if you like.

Freaky Fruit Platter:

Prep: 30 mins

Servings: 12

Ingredients:

For the Mummy Bananas –

• 70g White Chocolate, plus extra for sticking on the eye balls
• 3 small bananas
• eyeball cake decorations or black writing icing or edible pen

For the Tangerine Pumpkins –

• 6 small tangerines, peeled
• 6 small pieces of celery

For the Apple Fangs  –

• 1 red apple, cored and cut into 6 wedges
• 2 tbsp of nut butter (we used almond)
• 25g yogurt-coated raisins

For the Lychee Eyeballs –

• 425g can lychees in juice, drained
• 150g blueberries
• eyeball cake decorations or skewers

For the Grape Snakes –

• 250g black and green grapes
• short wooden skewers
• black writing icing or edible ink pen, or eyeball cake decorations

How to Prepare :

Step 1:

For the mummy bananas, melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a small pan of simmering water or in the microwave in 20-second bursts. Cool to room temperature. Put the bananas on a tray lined with baking parchment and drizzle over the chocolate in a crisscross pattern to make ‘bandages’. Stick on the eyeball decorations or use black icing or an edible ink pen to draw the eyes on the bananas, then chill until set, about 30 mins (they will start to discolour after about 2 hours)

Step 2:

For the tangerine pumpkins, cut tiny ‘stalks’ from the celery piece and push these into the tops of the tangerines where the segments come together.

Step 3:

For the apple fangs, cut a small wedge from the peel side of the apple wedges to make lips, then fill the ‘mouth’ with the nut butter. Push the raisins into the mouth to look like wonky teeth.

Step 4:

For the lychee eyeballs, stuff each lychee with a blueberry. Stick the eyeball decorations onto the blueberry using some of the melted white chocolate from step 1, or skewer the fruit together. If you like, drop these into a punch bowl.

Step 5:

For the grape snakes, thread alternating green and red grapes onto skewers, then stick on eyeball decorations with white chocolate as in step four

Step 6:

Arrange the freaky fruits on a large serving platter. Fill gaps with any leftover blueberries and decorate with spooky Halloween figures and decorations, if you like.

Healthy Halloween Pizzas:

Prep: 20 mins

Cook: 10 mins

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

For the Base –

• 200g strong white flour
• 200g strong whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp or 7g sachet easy-blend dried yeast
• 250ml warm water

For the Toppings-

• 300g passata
• 1 garlic clove , crushed
• 1 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil
• 75g grated mozzarella
• 10 black olives
• handful cherry tomatoes , halved
• handful basil leaves , to serve

How to Prepare :

Step 1:

Mix the flours and yeast with a pinch of salt in a food processor fitted with a dough blade, or combine in a bowl. Pour in the water and mix to a soft dough, then work for 1 min in a processor or 5 mins by hand. Remove the dough, divide into 4 pieces and roll out on a lightly floured surface to rounds about 15cm across. Lift onto heavily oiled baking sheets

Step 2:

Mix the passata with the garlic, oil and a little seasoning. Spread over the dough to within 2cm of the edges. Scatter with the mozzarella. Halve the olives and tomatoes. Place an olive in the center of each pizza to make the spider’s body. Cut the rest into little legs and arrange them around the spider bodies. Dot the tomatoes here and there. Leave to rise for 20 mins. Heat oven to 240C/ fan 220C/gas 9 or the highest setting.

Step 3:

Bake the pizza for 10-12 mins until crisp and golden around the edges. Scatter with the basil to serve.

Scary Halloween Jelly:

Prep: 25 mins

Servings: 8

Ingredients:

• 2 x 135g packs strawberry or raspberry jelly
• 425g can lychee in syrup
• 12-14 small seedless green grapes
• 12-14 dark coloured jelly beans
• 80g white marzipan
• 6-8 whole blanched almonds
• red piping gel or red icing in a tube

How to Prepare :

Step 1:

Cut the jelly into cubes with scissors and place in a bowl. Add 400ml boiling water and stir continuously until dissolved.

Step 2:

Drain the lychees, reserving the juice. Put the juice in a measuring jug and make up to 400ml with cold water. Add to the dissolved jelly.

Step 3:

Pour about a quarter of the jelly into a clear glass dish and place in the fridge to set.

Step 4:

Take a grape and gently push a jelly bean into the center, using the hole where the stalk has been. Then gently push the grape into a lychee. Repeat with the remaining grapes and lychees to make eyeballs.

Step 5:

To make the spooky fingers, divide the marzipan into 6 and shape into sausages the size of a finger. Pipe a little red gel at one end and attach an almond to represent a fingernail. Using a small knife mark three or four lines half way down the finger to make a knuckle.

Step 6:

When the jelly is set, arrange half the eyeballs over the surface, add more jelly and return to the fridge.

Step 7:

When this has set, arrange the remaining eyeballs over the jelly. Place the spooky fingers against the side of the bowl. Pour over the remaining jelly and place in the fridge to set. Serve in the bowl.