Halloween is becoming more and more popular in the UK, make sure this year you are ready to make some Halloween children’s party food that will impress your little monsters!!
Ghoulish Ghost Cakes
Dariole moulds are the ideal shape or these spooky little cakes but you could cheat and use a mini chocolates rolls under the white icing!
175g butter
175g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 eggs
175g self-raising flour
800g ready-to-roll white icing
1 tube black writing icing
Beat together the caster sugar, butter and vanilla essence until light and fluffy. Add one egg at a time with a tablespoon of flour for each egg. Beat well and fold in the remaining flour.
Spoon into 8 greased and floured dariole moulds, place on a baking tray and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Cut the top of the cakes off to form a flat surface and then turn out onto a board or plate. Leave until completely cold.
Roll out the white icing on a surface dusted with cornflour and cut out 8 x 16cm circles (can use a saucer as a guide). Drape these over the sponge cakes to form ghost figures. Draw the ghost’s features using a tube of black writing icing
Makes 8 mini ghost cakes
Spider And Bat Cakes
These are fun to make with your children. You can make five of each design, divide the cake mixture in two and add one tablespoon of cocoa powder to half of it .
Fairy Cakes
100g (4 oz) soft margarine
100g (4 oz) caster sugar
2 eggs
100g (4 oz) self-raising flour
(substitute 2 tbsp cocoa powder for 2 tbsp of the flour for chocolate fairy cakes)
1 tsp pure vanilla essence
Spider Cake Decoration
100g / 4 oz milk chocolate
liquorice laces
10 chocolate marshmallow teacakes
Assorted liquorice sweets
Sugar-coated coloured chocolate buttons
Bat Cake Decoration
100g / 4 oz softened butter
175g (6 oz) icing sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp milk
1 tube black writing icing
black liquorice sweets
edible silver balls
To make the fairy cakes: pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Cream the margarine and sugar together until light and fluffy and then beat in the eggs one at a time together with 1 tablespoon of the flour. Add the vanilla and fold in the remaining flour. Line a bun tin with paper cases and half fill each case with the mixture. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes. Remove and put on a wire rack to cool before decorating.
Spider Cakes
Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Using a palette knife, cover each cake with some of the melted chocolate. Arrange six liquorice strips for the spider’s legs and stick a teacake in the centres. Finish with assorted liquorice sweets and sugar-coated coloured chocolate buttons as eyes.
Bat Cakes
To make the chocolate frosting, beat the butter until creamy. Sieve together the icing sugar and cocoa and gradually beat into the butter together with the milk using a wooden spoon. When the cakes have cooled, cut off the tops of the cakes and cut into three sections and use the two curved ends to make wings (reserve the middle section).
Draw a ‘V’ with black writing icing on the wings. Spread a thick layer of chocolate frosting over the surface of the cake, position the wings to that they stand up: you will need to cut small squares of cake from the middle section to position under the wings to prop them up. Stick edible silver balls on top of black liquorice sweets for the bat’s eyes.
Makes 10 to 12 spider cakes
Tombstone Sandwiches
You can use a variety of fillings like Marmite, Peanut Butter, Egg Mayonnaise, Cheese and Tomato to make these spine-chilling sandwiches.
Sliced bread
Grated carrot
Grated cheddar cheese
Mayonnaise
Salad cress
Cut the crusts off the bread and cut into rectangles. Using a plain round cutter or a saucer as a guide cut the top of the sandwich into a round tombstone shape. Mix together the grated carrot, cheese and mayonnaise (or use a filling of your choice) and sandwich the bread together with this mixture.
Arrange the tombstone sandwiches upright on a plate and sprinkle the cress around the sandwiches before serving.
