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A Spooktacular Halloween Feast!

Published on October 31, 2013 β€’ Last updated July 18, 2014 by Elizabeth
spider cupcakes 2

I have a confession to make: I absolutely love Halloween. I love Halloween a bit more than a grown adult should love Halloween. It’s the one time of the year where I get to indulge my Tim Burton-esque tendencies without raising (too many) eyebrows. Out comes my handmade steam punk costume or that black 1980s Carrie-like beaded prom dress, the black and grey cosmetics and we celebrate!

Over the last few years we’ve developed a new family tradition – I spend the day preparing a spooktacular feast and no one gets to eat unless they are in fancy dress. We then finish the evening off with a Halloween-themed family-friendly film like the Corpse Bride or Frankenweenie (I do so love everything Tim Burton!). I can’t wait until the children are old enough for Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice and Sleepy Hollow!

You might hopefully be inspired by some of the ideas we had for this years’ All Hallow’s Eve feast which included gruesome green fairy cakes with a blood red centre topped with spooky fondant spiders, swamp juice, toxic marshmallow pops, mummy hot dogs, witches cauldron soup, pizza dough ‘bones’ with ‘blood’ dip and Halloween cheeseburgers. I’ve shared the recipes for three of our favourite dishes this evening. We hope you like them!

spider cupcakes

These spooky green fairy cakes were my own idea. I used a little bit of matcha powder to colour the cakes, scooped out a hole in the centre of each and used locally made ‘Raspblootered Jam’ as a filling (a raspberry jam with a hint of vodka!). ‘Jarlsbreath Marmalade’ was used to stick the icing onto the cupcake seeing as I was out of apricot, but with a name like that it deserves to be in a Halloween treat! Jarlsbreath…. cringe!

My children loved these and although I was sceptical about the matcha flavour coming through the children never noticed and they gobbled their green fairy cakes right up. I thought this might make a healthier alternative to filling the cake with green food colouring, but then I did sort of ruin that anti-E-numbers thing by using black fondant on the top.

Spooky Spider Fairy Cakes
by Elizabeth
Ghoulishly green cupcakes with a blood red centre topped with a spooky spider!
Ingredients
  • 125 grams unsalted butter
  • 125 grams caster sugar
  • 125 grams self raising flour
  • 3 tsp matcha powder
  • 2 eggs
  • 2-3 tbsp milk
  • 200 grams raspberry jam
  • 50 grams apricot jam
  • 250 grams white ready-to-roll icing
  • 100 grams black sugar paste
  • Β blackΒ edible ink pen
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 200 C. Line a 12 hole muffin tray with paper cases.
2. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
3. Add eggs and mix well.
4. Sift in flour and matcha powder and stir until combined.
5. Add enough milk to make a soft drop consistency batter.
6. Spoon evenly into the baking cases and bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden.
7. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
8. To assemble, slice off the tops of the fairy cakes so they are even with the edges of the paper cases.
9. Using a small spoon, scoop out a small hole in the centre of each cake. Reserve the balls of cake.
10. Spoon 1 tsp raspberry jam into the hole and place a small piece of reserved cake onto the top to hide the jam.
11. Roll the ready-to-roll icing out to about 3-4 mm thick. Cut into circles the same size as the fairy cake tops.
12. Brush the under side of each round with some apricot jam and place on top of the fairy cake. Leave to dry for an hour or so.
13. Draw a spider web on each cake using a black edible ink pen.
14. Using black sugar paste form the spiders. Roll four thin strings to make the legs (the legs will stick out either side of the body), a small thin string for the pincers and using two small balls make the head and body.
15. Stick to the top of the white icing with a tiny drop of water. Enjoy!
Details

Prep time: 1 hour Cook time: 20 mins Total time: 1 hour 20 mins Yield: 12 fairy cakes

Every good Halloween feast needs a spooky juice, no? This is one of our family favourite fresh juices. On non-Halloween days it goes by the name of Popeye Power and it’s a juice recipe by Jason Vale, the Juice Master. My children (and I) can’t get enough of this vibrant green juice. I’ve scaled up Vale’s recipe to fill a pitcher; enough to serve 4 adults (or three big people and two little un’s).

swamp juice
Swamp Juice
by Elizabeth
A delicious, fruity and healthy green juice – your children will never know there is spinach in it!
Ingredients
  • 1 whole fresh pineapple (large)
  • 4 Royal Gala apples
  • 1 unwaxed lemon
  • 100 grams spinach leaves
  • ice
Instructions
1. Place everything, except the ice, into a juicer. Pour over the ice and serve!
Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: Total time: 5 mins Yield: Serves 4

I have another confession to make. These toxic marshmallow pops were supposed to be the clever Jack Skellington marshmallow pops I found over on Pinterest, but my black writing icing and edible ink pen both weren’t up to the job of making the detail necessary for Mr. Skellington himself, so I improvised. I also realised, too late, that to make Jack Skellington pops you need to allow the chocolate to harden with the marshmallow up (ie: stick the straw in some polystyrene) so you avoid a flat side. Ach well, they tasted fantastic nonetheless! I might have eaten a few too many of these myself!

toxic pops
Toxic Marshmallow Pops
by ElizabethΒ 
White chocolate coated marshmallow pops – what’s not to love?!
Ingredients
  • 24 large marshmallows
  • 150 grams white chocolate
  • black writing icing
  • 12 paper straws
Instructions
1. Boil kettle and pour the hot water into a heat proof bowl.
2. Break white chocolate into small pieces and place in a heat proof bowl. Place bowl over hot water (not over heat!) and leave for 10-15 minutes until the chocolate has melted.
3. Cut paper straws in half. Push half a straw through the centre of a marshmallow and dip into the chocolate. Shake off excess and place on a silicone mat (or greaseproof paper) placed on a small baking sheet.
4. Repeat with each marshmallow and place baking tray into fridge to harden.
5. When the white chocolate is solid draw a skull and crossbones on the front with the black writing icing.
Details

Prep time: 1 hour Cook time: Total time: 1 hour Yield: Makes 2 dozen

halloween collage

The meal itself began with a starter of a peeled clementine with a little bit of celery stuck in the top for a ‘stalk’. You’ve probably seen a zillion photos of them on Facebook and Twitter, so I won’t add to them. Witches Cauldron Soup (known as Three Bean Vegetable Soup on non-Halloween days) was served next. I usually make this soup with orzo pasta but this time I made it with a handful of quinoa so that the curly grain would add to the spookiness of the dish.

Next came warm hot dog mummies (halved tinned hot dogs – my local shop was all out of cocktail sausages – wrapped in home made short pastry, glazed with milk and baked for 20-25 minutes). There were pizza dough ‘bones’ with ‘blood’ sauce to dip the bones in and Halloween cheeseburgers, another idea I saw on Pinterest. I made the burgers with lean beef mince, a sautΓ©ed chopped red onion, a clove of chopped garlic, a few chopped gherkins, a splash of chilli sauce, a tbsp tomato purΓ©e and 1 tsp dried thyme (plus salt and pepper) and they were wicked! One of the best throw-it-together burgers I’ve ever made. A lovely smoked cheddar was used for the pumpkin faces.

Speaking of pumpkins – that Jack o’ lantern you see on the left above was the first carved pumpkin the children have made that I had nothing to do with (except for cautionary knife advice on the sidelines!). I’m so pleased how well it turned out! I was also really pleased at their co-operation. With an age range of 13, 7 and 4 finding activities they can all do together can be difficult. The 7 year old drew the pumpkin design, the 13 carved it and the 4 and 7 year olds emptied the pumpkin of its seeds. As such, I am sharing this post with Ethan’s Escapades, a weekly blog challenge dedicated to sharing our children’s milestones.

Oh, and I feel I must mention the tear-inducing fiery lettuce we ate in our salad! Our veg box arrived half an hour before tea was served and there was something in it called Spicy Chinese Greens. Oh my, if you eat a whole leaf at once you can’t keep your eyes from watering! I thought it was a very appropriate Halloween salad ingredient, ha! πŸ™‚

Happy Halloween to you all from Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary!
Category: Recipe

About Elizabeth

Solivagant. Foodie. Calls Shetland home.

Previous Post:Green Tomato Relish Recipe (Chow Chow)
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Heather Haigh

    October 20, 2014 at 9:14 am

    Looking for Halloween inspiration – I knew you wouldn’t let me down – those are fab! And the swamp juice is delightfully healthy too. πŸ™‚

    Reply
  2. jackie chapman

    September 8, 2014 at 10:29 pm

    Eeek its nearly that time again! Thanks for this, some great ideas here πŸ™‚

    Reply
  3. bev

    August 19, 2014 at 10:26 am

    Awesome!

    Reply
  4. Jane Roberts

    November 4, 2013 at 7:58 pm

    What a lovely thing to do on Halloween, we don’t have any traditions like this yet. I hope next year we might start to make more. Your food looks amazing, I will needs lots of practise to get results like this. It’s great that the children shared their first pumpkin carving milestone together.

    Thanks for linking up with Small Steps Amazing Achievements :0)
    x

    Reply
  5. Laura Loves Cakes

    November 3, 2013 at 11:27 am

    All your Halloween creations look amazing! I love the spider fairy cakes…although the spiders look a bit too realistic :-@

    Reply
    • Elizabeth S

      November 3, 2013 at 6:19 pm

      Thanks Laura! I was going to be lazy and just stick plastic spiders to the tops of the cakes, but I’m really glad we put the effort in to make some fondant spiders. Three adults worked on these! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  6. Johanna GGG

    November 2, 2013 at 12:23 pm

    happy halloween, elizabeth – this spooktacular night sounds so much better than the trick or treat traditions (I never grew up with these and just don’t really get them). All your food is so cute and fun (and of course so scary)

    Reply
    • Elizabeth S

      November 3, 2013 at 6:16 pm

      Thanks Johanna πŸ™‚ We’ve stopped trick or treating because it’s not a big thing where we live and I feel like we’re inconveniencing folk. I love party food though! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  7. belleau kitchen

    November 2, 2013 at 12:22 pm

    god I love halloween too, we could have had such an amazing party together… love your cupcakes oozing with blood!

    Reply
    • Elizabeth S

      November 3, 2013 at 6:14 pm

      Haha! That would have been so much fun! πŸ˜€ Thanks for leaving a comment!

      Reply
  8. Angela

    November 2, 2013 at 7:27 am

    My kids love Halloween so I find myself getting a bit more ‘into it’ every year. Seeing how much work you put into your spooktacular feast puts me to shame though. Fantastic ideas!

    Reply
    • Elizabeth S

      November 3, 2013 at 6:13 pm

      If I’m honest, I’ve started throwing more and more grand home parties as a bribe so we don’t have to go to the village party. I’m becoming more and more reclusive these days and really struggle with the social village party – I would rather stay home, eat and play!

      Reply
  9. Kat BakingExplorer

    November 2, 2013 at 12:19 am

    This is so adorable, I love your Halloween tradition!

    Reply
    • Elizabeth S

      November 3, 2013 at 6:12 pm

      Thank you! πŸ˜€

      Reply
  10. vohnmcg.com

    November 1, 2013 at 11:47 pm

    Fab! Love your steampunk costume too – we need photos of you wearing it! Vohn x

    Reply
    • Elizabeth S

      November 3, 2013 at 6:11 pm

      Thanks Vohn πŸ™‚ I’m terrible for not remembering to get any photographs of myself. I am always the photographer!

      Reply
  11. Laura Denman

    November 1, 2013 at 9:54 pm

    Awww, what a lovely family idea from start to finish. But where are the pictures of your amazing sounding costume?!

    Reply
    • Elizabeth S

      November 1, 2013 at 11:09 pm

      Thank you Laura πŸ™‚ I forgot to link to my steam punk costume post I wrote when my blog was new. It’s not the greatest post, but there are some photos of my costume on it.

      Reply
    • Elizabeth S

      November 1, 2013 at 11:11 pm

      Here’s the link here: http://tangolikeraindrop.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/steampunk.html

      Reply
    • Laura Denman

      November 2, 2013 at 8:07 am

      Oh wow, that is amazing and you are very talented. I can completely see why you would want an excuse to wear it =)

      Reply
    • Elizabeth S

      November 2, 2013 at 8:11 am

      Aw thanks Laura! πŸ˜€ xx

      Reply

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Cooking up a storm at the edge of the world

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