Food / 23 October, 2019 / My Baba

Sweet And Spooky Treats To Make This Halloween

Ghost cupcakes

• Vegetarian
• Preparation time:15 minutes
• Cooking time:15 minutes
• Total time:30 minutes

Makes: 9

Ingredients

• 335g pack Betty Crocker Chocolate Chunk Muffin Mix
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 medium British Blacktail Free Range Egg
• Semi-skimmed milk

For the topping

• 200ml double cream
• Dark Chocolate Chips

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C, gas mark 6, and place 9 muffin cases in a muffin tin.
2. Prepare the muffin mix, oil, egg and milk according to the pack instructions, and divide between the 9 cases. Bake for 15 minutes until a skewer, when inserted in a muffin, comes out clean. Allow to cool.
3. Whisk the cream until it holds its shape and place in a piping bag with a 1cm nozzle. Pipe the cream onto the cakes to create ghost shapes. Use the chocolate chips for the eyes.

Poison meringue mushrooms

• Preparation time:30 minutes
• Cooking time:1 hour + cooling
• Makes: 25-30

Ingredients

• 3 Large Free Range Egg whites (roughly 125g)
• 250g caster sugar
• Pinch of cream of tartar
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp liquid red food colouring (not gel)
• 50g dark chocolate
• 1 tsp cocoa, plus extra for dusting

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 110°C, gas mark ¼ and line 2 solid baking sheets with baking parchment. Fit a large piping bag with a 1.5cm plain nozzle.
2. Place the egg whites into a medium heatproof glass or ceramic bowl, add the sugar, cream of tartar and a pinch of salt. Set the bowl over a pan of simmering water, not touching the surface. Whisk for at least 5 minutes or until the sugar has completely dissolved, the mixture is white and warm to the touch. Remove from the heat and continue whisking for 3 minutes or until thick, glossy and white and will stand in stiff peaks.
3. Spoon just over half the meringue into the piping bag and pipe about 25-30 domes in assorted sizes onto the parchment, to make the mushroom caps. Flatten the pointed peaks with a wet fingertip. Dip a clean dry pastry brush into the red food colouring and use a finger to flick it over half of the mushrooms.
4. Scoop the remaining meringue into the piping bag and on another baking sheet pipe 25-30 upright cone shapes in assorted sizes – these will be the stalks of the mushrooms. Bake the caps and stalks for 1 hour, swapping the trays around halfway through. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely.
5. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water or in the microwave. Stir until smooth and remove from the heat. Using a wooden skewer, make a 3mm hole in the middle of the underside of each mushroom cap. Dip the flat underside of each one in melted chocolate and place back on the parchment.
6. Place 1 mushroom cap on top of each stalk – you may need to carefully knock the spikey top off the stalks first – positioning the top of the stalk into the hole in the underside of the caps. Dust the top of the plain mushrooms lightly with cocoa. Sprinkle a tray or serving platter with more cocoa and arrange the mushrooms on top to serve.

Halloween biscuits

• Preparation time:15 minutes plus chilling
• Cooking time:12 minutes to 15 minutes
• Total time:27 minutes plus chilling
• Makes: 20 – 24 biscuits

Ingredients

For the biscuits:

• 125g Stork Original Baking Block
• 75g Golden Caster Sugar
• 1 medium Egg yolk
• 200g plain flour
• 2 tsp mixed spice
• Raisins
• Chocolate Chips

To decorate:

• Icing sugar
• Cocoa powder
• Dr Oetker Fruity Writing Icing, in green and orange

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190ºC, gas mark 5. Line two baking trays with baking parchment.
2. Whisk the Stork with the sugar until pale and fluffy, then whisk in the egg yolk. Gradually whisk in the flour and mixed spice and bind to a dough. Cover with cling film and chill for 30 minutes.
3. On a floured surface, roll out the dough to the thickness of a £1 coin. Using Waitrose Halloween Creepy Cookie Cutters including ghosts and pumpkins, cut out about 20-24 biscuits and place on the baking trays.
4. Cut the raisins into quarters and use as eyes for the ghosts, use the chocolate chips as eyes for the bats and bake for 12-15 minutes until just golden. Transfer to a cooling rack and leave to cool.
5. To decorate, dust the ghosts with icing sugar and the bats with cocoa powder. For the pumpkins, use the green icing for stalks and the orange icing to outline the pumpkin shapes.

Blood sucking pumpkin cupcakes

• Preparation time:15 minutes
• Cooking time:15 minutes to 20 minutes
• Total time:30 minutes
• Makes: 12

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

• 150g Flora Buttery
• 150g Waitrose Golden Caster Sugar
• 3 medium essential Waitrose Eggs
• 150g self-raising flour
• 80g seedless raspberry jam

To decorate

• 50g Flora Buttery
• 100g icing sugar
• Yellow and red food colouring
• 20g Dr Oetker Regal-Ice Green Ready To Roll Icing

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190ºC, gas mark 5. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with 12 paper muffin cases.
2. Whisk the Flora Buttery with the sugar until pale and fluffy. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time until combined. Fold in the flour and spoon half the mixture into the paper cases. Add a teaspoon of the jam to the centre of each and spoon over the remaining cake mix to cover the jam.
3. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool on a cooling rack.
4. For the icing: whisk the Flora Buttery until pale and gradually whisk in the icing sugar. Add a few drops of yellow and red food colouring at a time to give an orange colour (you will need more yellow than red). Spread over the cakes.
5. Divide the green icing into 12 large pea shapes and mould each into a thin cone shape for the pumpkin stalks then place in the centre of each cake.

Recipe and image courtesy of Waitrose & Partners

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