It’s finally spooky season and Halloween is right around the corner! It’s almost the time to dress up and go trick or treating or maybe even attend some Halloween parties! It is definitely important to make some delicious Halloween-themed foods that everyone can enjoy during this holiday.
Pumpkin Cheesecake:
Total Time: 2 hours and 24 minutes
Yield: 12-14 servings
Ingredients:
-80g butter melted, plus extra for the tin
-275g digestive or ginger biscuits
-1 large egg white (use the egg yolk in the filling, below)
For the filling
-800g full-fat soft cheese
-425g can pumpkin purée
-200g light brown soft sugar
50g plain flour
5 large eggs, plus 1 large yolk
To serve
-400ml whipping cream
-ground cinnamon or pumpkin spice, for dusting
-25g pecans, chopped
-3 tbsp caramel sauce
Directions:
1. Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Butter a deep 22cm loose-bottomed cake tin and line with baking parchment. Wrap the base and side of the tin with three layers of cling film, followed by three layers of foil (this helps keep it waterproof during baking). Fold a clean tea towel and put it in the base of a large roasting tin. 2. Blitz the biscuits to crumbs in a food processor. Add the melted butter and pulse to coat the crumbs. Tip the mixture into the prepared cake tin, spreading up to the side and pressing down with the back of a spoon. Bake for 10 mins. Remove from the oven, brush with the egg white and bake for another 3 mins (this will help stop the base from becoming soggy).
3. To make the filling, put the soft cheese in a bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, and beat with an electric whisk or the mixer until loosened. Add the pumpkin purée, sugar and flour and beat again until combined. With the motor running, gradually add the eggs and egg yolk until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Pour the filling over the baked biscuit base, then sit the cake tin on the tea towel in the roasting tin. Pour a kettleful of just-boiled water into the roasting tin so the water comes halfway up the side of the cake tin.
4. Bake for 10 mins, then reduce the oven temperature to 110C/90C fan/gas ¼. Bake for a further 1 hr 30 mins until the cheesecake is set with just a slight wobble in the middle when you gently shake the tin. Turn off the oven, then open the oven door slightly and leave the cheesecake to cool inside for 2 hrs until completely cool. Remove from the oven and chill overnight.
5. Carefully remove the cold cheesecake from the tin and transfer to a cake stand or serving plate. Whip the cream to soft peaks using an electric whisk, and spoon in big dollops over the cheesecake. Dust with a little cinnamon or pumpkin spice, sprinkle over the chopped pecans and drizzle with the caramel sauce before serving.
Halloween Donuts:
Total Time: 35 minutes
Yield: 12 servings
Ingredients:
-150g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for the tin
-150g caster sugar
-1 egg
-150g plain flour
-1 tsp baking powder
-25g cocoa powder
-100ml whole milk
-1 tsp vanilla extract
For the decoration
-200g dark chocolate
-200g white chocolate
Directions:
1. Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/ gas 4 and butter a 12-16 silicone doughnut moulds with cake release. Put the butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat using a whisk or electric beaters until pale. Beat in the egg. Tip in the plain flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, ¼ tsp salt, milk and vanilla, and mix well.
2. Spoon into the moulds and bake the doughnuts for 10-13 mins. They should be starting to come away from the edges of the moulds.
3. Remove from the oven and turn the moulds upside down on a cooling rack. After about 2 mins, carefully remove the doughnuts from the moulds. Leave to cool completely. If you have more mixture, repeat to use it up.
4. Melt the dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, making sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water, or microwave in 5-second blasts until smooth. Dip the tops of the doughnuts into the chocolate, and place them chocolate-side up on a large tray.
5. Melt the white chocolate using the same process as before. Drizzle three concentric circles of white chocolate on the doughnuts, working from the inside to the outside and following the shape of the doughnut. While the white chocolate is still wet, use a cocktail stick to carefully drag the inner circle out to make the points of the spiders web. Leave the chocolate to set fully before serving. Best eaten on the day but will keep for up to two days in an airtight container.
Chocolate Filled Pumpkin Cupcakes
Total time: 1 hour
Yield: 12 servings
Ingredients:
-1 batch vanilla cake batter
-1 container orange food color paste
-1/2 c. heavy cream
-13 oz. white chocolate chips
-2 c. chocolate hazelnut spread
-6 cinnamon sticks, cut in half
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 12-cavity mini Bundt cake pans. (Or bake in two batches.)
Fold in 1 tsp of food coloring. Divide the batter among the Bundt cake cups, filling them 3/4s full. Bake until the tops spring back when touched, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Chill in the freezer for 20 minutes, or until firm.
Make the ganache: In a microwave-safe bowl, combine heavy cream and white chocolate chips and microwave on high in 1-minute intervals, stirring for 2 minutes in between, until there are no lumps. This should take 2-3 minutes.
Measure out 1/2 c ganache and stir in 1/4 tsp food coloring. Set aside. Leave the remainder white.
Once cakes are firm, use a serrated knife to level each mini Bundt so the bottoms are flat.
Place the cakes back into the pan for stability and use a teaspoon to dig out a 1/4"-deep trench all around the center hole, leaving 1/4" of cake on both sides. Repeat for all cakes.
Place the chocolate hazelnut spread into a zip-seal bag and cut off a small corner. Pipe the spread into the trench to just below level with the cake.
Place the orange ganache mixture into a zip-seal bag, snip off a corner, and pipe a thin line along the outer and inner rims of the cakes. Pair up the cakes, turning one upside down and placing it on top of the other, to glue together. Refrigerate for 15 minutes to set.
Place the white ganache into a zip-seal bag and cut off a small corner. Pipe the ganache over the cakes, starting in the center and allowing the ganache to drip down the sides. Place a piece of cinnamon stick in the center of each cake to be the stem
Ghost Marshmallow Brownies
Total Time: 2 hours
Servings: 16 servings
Ingredients:
-1/2 c. butter, cut into cubes plus more for pan -½ cup (1 stick), cut into cubes, plus more for pan -1 1/4 c. semisweet chocolate chips
-3/4 c. granulated sugar
-3/4 c. brown sugar, packed
-3 large eggs
-1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
-1/2 tsp. kosher salt
-1 c. all-purpose flour
-5 chopped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
-1/2 c. M&M's
-1/2 c. candy corn
-16 large marshmallows
-1 1/2 c. white chocolate chips
-3 tbsp. coconut oil
-Black decorating gel, for decorating
Directions:
Brownies:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush a 9x9-inch baking pan with butter and line with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides. Butter the parchment paper.
In a large heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, melt ½ cup butter and chocolate chips, stirring until smooth. Remove bowl from heat and whisk in sugars. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, until fully combined.
Whisk in cocoa powder and salt, then fold in flour, chopped Reese’s, M&M’s, and candy corn. Pour batter into baking pan.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs, 35 minutes. Let cool completely.
Ghosts:
Use the overhanging parchment paper to lift brownies out of pan, then cut into 16 squares. Arrange squares on a parchment-paper-lined rimmed baking sheet. Top each square with a marshmallow.
In a medium heatproof bowl, microwave white chocolate chips with coconut oil until melted. Stir until smooth.
Drizzle chocolate over each marshmallow-topped brownie. Refrigerate until set, about 10 minutes.
Use black decorating gel to create eyes and a mouth on each marshmallow.
Candy Corn Fudge:
Total Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes
Yield: 24 pieces
Ingredients:
-3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
-Three 4-ounce bars good quality white chocolate, finely chopped
-Orange and yellow food coloring
Directions:
Line a 6-by-3-by-2 1/2 inch mini loaf pan with foil, being sure to leave a 2-inch overhang on the long sides of the pan. Lightly spray the foil with cooking spray and set aside.
Combine the sweetened condensed milk and chocolate in a bowl and microwave for 1 minute. Using a whisk, stir them together until smooth. Pour half of the mixture into another bowl. Stir 3 to 4 drops of orange food coloring into one of the bowls and set aside. Pour half of the remaining mixture into another bowl and add 2 to 3 drops of yellow food coloring to one of them, stirring until evenly distributed.
Pour the yellow mixture into the prepared pan. Tap the pan against a flat surface to ensure that it is smooth and even, then chill for 5 minutes. Pour on the orange mixture and spread it into a smooth and even layer. Tap on a flat surface again, and chill 5 minutes more. Top off the fudge with the white mixture, cover with plastic wrap and then chill in the refrigerator until completely set and firm, at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
Using the foil overhang as handles, remove the fudge from the pan to a cutting board. Cut the fudge lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick slices, and then into triangles so that they resemble candy corn.
Sources:
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/photos/halloween-recipes
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/halloween-recipes?scrlybrkr=8d2af6d8
https://www.delish.com/holiday-recipes/halloween/g366/scary-halloween-recipes/