Bloodied Eyeball Dessert Shots

I can't believe how fast this year is flying by. We're more than halfway through October already, which means that Halloween is fast approaching, followed swiftly by that dreaded C word!

For Halloween this year my teens have requested a party, which came as a bit of a shock as they planned it together, by actually speaking to one another. Wonders never cease.

I've got quite a few Halloween party food recipes on this blog, but before I could start planning the menu for the party of the year I was informed that hot dog sausages resembling creepy fingers wouldn't be featuring on this buffet table, and neither would spooky banana ghost pops. All that would be required are a few bowls of crisps and a couple of cans of cider. How very disappointing!

If you're having your own Halloween party this year I'm sure your guests will appreciate these ghoulish mini desserts, complete with their own bloodied eyeball. Made with SKIPPY® Peanut Butter they have a touch of sweet & saltiness to the creamy filling, which pairs so well with the sharp raspberries. They are like mini cheesecake heaven. 

They are really easy to make, and can be whipped up in just a few minutes and stored in the fridge until you eat them. I found these plastic skull shot glasses in Asda and they're a perfect size for kids. Note that if you're making these for young children you might want to use a lychee or foil wrapped chocolate eyeball instead of the bouncy eyeballs I used, for safety reasons.

SKIPPY® Peanut Butter has been enjoyed by millions of Americans for more than 80 years, and as the Super Chunk and Smooth varieties can be now found in most major UK supermarkets the UK can go nuts about SKIPPY® Peanut Butter too. SKIPPY® Peanut Butter is made only with high quality peanuts from the USA, and is a really good source of protein, providing 22.1g per 100g.

The wide necked jar is a great feature that allows you to get out every last bit of nuttiness too, because nobody wants to waste peanut butter. Some of my favourite ways to enjoy SKIPPY® Peanut Butter are with sliced apple or banana for breakfast, spread with jam in a sandwich for lunch, or added to a curry or stir fry, which is a great way to add additional protein and flavour, as well as acting as a thickener. 

How do you enjoy yours?

The star of the show - SKIPPY® Peanut Butter Super Chunk

This recipe was commissioned by SKIPPY® Peanut Butter. You can find more recipes on their UK website here : www.peanutbutter.uk.com

Sweet & Salty Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Happy Halloween!

Many of us have been getting creative and carving up a pumpkin or two with the kids. We did ours yesterday as it was inset day, and decided to go quite simple this year with a scary pumpkin face with plastic glow in the dark teeth, and a simple 'Boo!'. 

This year I downloaded my template from The Pumpkin Lady, where you can find over 700 free templates, from simple ones (like my Boo!) to the more complicated for the creative ones among us. In the past I've definitely spent more time on my creations, including these Hello Kitty and Trick or Treat pumpkins, but this year we left it quite late to get the pumpkins and only managed to find some relatively small ones.

One thing that I always find time for is roasting the seeds from the pumpkins, as they make a great snack. In the past I've made spicy ones, as well as simple salted ones, but this year I tried sweet & salty, and they turned out just as I'd hoped. Instead of turning the oven on to roast a few seeds I cooked them in the Actifry this time, which seemed to work better than the oven, as they toasted evenly without the need for turning (especially useful if you have an oven like mine that bakes unevenly).

The seeds had the flavours of sweet & salty popcorn (which we love here), and didn't last long!

Bloodied Bones Halloween Cake

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. 
All opinions are mine alone. #CollectiveBias

Halloween is a week away, but many people are celebrating it early this year and having a Halloween half term week, with end of term Halloween themed school discos and parties galore. Kids love dressing up and what better excuse do you need to join them. I usually don my black cape and witches hat or mask to surprise the trick or treaters when they call, and decorating the doorway gets us into the spirit (excuse the pun) of things.

I've already shared some ideas for simple Halloween party treats , but with some additional effort this Bloodied Bones Cake can form an eye catching centrepiece for your party. Full of blood clots and puss, it really is mouthwatering!

If you don't want to bake your own cake, you could buy a plain chocolate or vanilla cake and decorate it yourself. I made my own, using my go-to chocolate cake recipe, and for the meringues I used powdered egg white, which is very handy to have in the cupboard for the times that you feel the urge to make meringues, but don't want to use all of the eggs.

Dr Oetker Free Range Egg white powder can be found in the baking aisle of most supermarkets, including my local Tesco which has a very good range of baking ingredients. (You can also find a chocolate cake mix for just 99p in the same aisle).

Bloodied Bones Halloween Cake

cake
175g Stork for baking
175g Soft Dark brown sugar
150g Self Raising Flour
25g Cocoa Powder
1 tbsp Baking Powder
3 Eggs
100ml Greek Yoghurt

frosting & filling
300g Full Fat Cream Cheese
300g White Chocolate Spread
250g frozen cherries, thawed & lightly crushed

• Beat the Stork & sugar together in a bowl
• Sift the flour, cocoa & baking powder together
• Add the dry ingredients to the bowl along with the eggs & yogurt
• Beat well until combined
• Divide mixture between 2 x 8" round pans that have been greased & lined with baking parchment
• Bake in a 180 C oven for approx 25 minutes, until the tops are springy
• Leave to cool slightly before removing from the tins & allowing to cool fully on a wire rack
• Beat the cream cheese & white chocolate spread together 
• Sandwich the 2 cakes together with some of the icing and a few cherries, and use the rest to cover completely

meringue bones

1 packet of Dr Oetker egg white (4 sachets)

225g caster sugar

1tsp white wine vinegar

1tsp cornflour

• make the egg white up according to the directions on the pack
• whisk to soft peaks with an electric whisk or stand mixer
• gradually add the sugar whilst whisking, until it has all been added
• keep whisking on a high speed until it forms stiff peaks, and then whisk in the vinegar and cornflour
• spoon the meringue into an icing bag fitted with a small round nozzle
• pipe your bones onto baking sheets lined with baking paper
• preheat the oven to 150C and turn down to 100C once you place the baking trays in
• bake for approx 1 hour and then turn the oven off, leaving the door ajar, until the meringues are completely cool
• take care when removing from the baking sheets as they can be quite fragile
• just before serving, decorate the cake with your bones and drizzle some cherry 'blood and clots' over the top
• serve extra bones with bowls of puss (cream cheese & white chocolate spread) & blood (blended cherries) to dip into

additional Halloween items :

Light up Pumpkin : Waitrose

Eyeballs, rats, fingernails & bats : Tesco

Have you found any really cool items for Halloween, or made any grizzly looking food?