Recipes for a spooktacular Halloween

IF you’re having a Hallowe’en party for the kids, you’ll need some suitably grotesque food.

Or for a more sophisticated gathering of older ghosts and ghouls, a seasonal pumpkin can be turned into all kinds of sweet and savoury dishes.

We asked some of Nottingham’s top chefs, a professional cake baker, a blogger and a city nightspot for their suggestions to make your Hallowe’en party go with a bang.

Two star Michelin chef Sat Bains demonstrated this delicious winter warmer at a recent energy-efficient event at E.ON in Nottingham. To create different textures and flavours pumpkin seeds, chives, croutons, cubes of parmesan, sage oil and a soft boiled duck egg were added.

“It’s quite a luxurious and substantial dish in its own right. Add some sauteed mushrooms and bread and that is your dinner,” he says.

PUMPKIN SOUP

Serves 4

Ingredients:

250g pumpkin, finely sliced

2 medium shallots, sliced wafer thin

50g butter

450g simmering white chicken or vegetable stock

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Melt the butter in a pan on medium heat. When hot and sizzling add the shallot and fry for 2 minutes.

2. Add the pumpkin and continue cooking for a further 5 minutes making sure that the pumpkin doesn’t colour.

3. Add the hot stock and simmer until the pumpkin is cooked (about 10 minutes).

4. Season with a little salt and pepper to taste.

5. Blitz in a blender until smooth, check the consistency and add a little more stock if needed.

6. Check the seasoning and serve.

Head chef Dan Burridge and pastry chef Thomas Buhse at Hart’s restaurant in Nottingham conjured up these delicious recipes for readers to try.

PUMPKIN RISOTTO

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

600g pumpkin, cubed

Olive oil

500ml vegetable or chicken stock

1 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Small bunch of sage, chopped

440g Arborio rice

125ml white wine

30g butter

35g grated parmesan

Method:

1. Heat the oven to 200°C. Toss the pumpkin in olive oil, place in a roasting dish and roast for 30 minutes or until tender and golden. Turn half way through cooking time. Remove and puree.

2. Heat the remaining oil in a large saucepan and cook the onion, garlic and sage over a low heat or until the onion is cooked but not browned.

3. Add the rice and stir to coat. Stir in the wine for 2-3 minutes or until absorbed.

4. Add 125ml stock, stirring constantly until all the liquid has absorbed. Continue adding the stock gradually, stirring constantly until all the stock has absorbed and the rice is tender and creamy. Add more water if necessary.

5. Season to taste and stir in the pumpkin puree, butter and parmesan.

PUMPKIN ICE CREAM

Makes 1 litre

Ingredients:

375ml whole milk

250ml heavy cream

95g granulated sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cinnamon stick

½ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

5 large egg yolks

180g pumpkin puree

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/ 392°F

2. For the pumpkin puree split a pumpkin in half and place face down on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. This will help dry out the pumpkin to avoid excessive moisture.

3. Bake the pumpkin until the flesh is very tender, about 20 minutes.

4. Peel the skin off (it should come right off if the pumpkin is properly cooked).

5. Puree the pumpkin in a blender until smooth.

6. Next, infuse the milk. Bring the milk to a simmer with the spices over medium-high heat; remove from the heat and steep for 10 minutes. Strain the milk.

7. For the ice cream base heat the infused milk with the cream and granulated sugar.

8. Whisk the egg yolks in a separate bowl and gradually whisk in about half of the warm spiced milk mixture, stirring constantly.

9. Scrape the warmed yolks back in to the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring until the mixture thickens

10. Add the pumpkin puree to the ice cream base while it is still hot. Whisk thoroughly to incorporate the puree.

11. Strain the base through a fine-mesh strainer and cool over an ice bath. (Make your ice bath by putting some ice and a little water in a large bowl and nest a smaller metal bowl inside it.) Chill thoroughly, preferably overnight.

12. Churn to the desired consistency. Harden for at least 2 hours and up to 4 hours.

PUMPKIN PIE

Serves 8

Ingredients:

23cm diameter sweet shortcrust pastry case

Filling:

450g prepared weight pumpkin flesh, cut into small chunks

2 large eggs plus 1 yolk (use the white for another dish or freeze it to use another time)

1 tablespoon molasses

75g soft dark brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ level teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

½ tsp ground allspice

½ tsp ground cloves

½ tsp ground ginger

275ml double cream

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.

2. Make your sweet crust pastry case to fit a tin 23 cm diameter and 4 cm deep. You will need about 175g flour.

3. To make the filling, steam the pumpkin for around 15 minutes, drain thoroughly and puree.

4. Then lightly whisk the eggs and extra yolk together in a large bowl.

5. Heat the molasses gently in a pan. Add the sugar, spices and the cream, bring to simmering point, giving it a whisk to mix everything together. Then pour it over the eggs and whisk it again briefly.

6. Now add the pumpkin puree, still whisking to combine everything thoroughly.

7. Pour the filling into your pastry case and bake for 35-40 minutes, by which time it will puff up round the edges but still feel slightly wobbly in the centre.

8. Remove the pie from the oven and place the tin on a wire cooling rack. Serve chilled with créme fraïche.

West Bridgford mum-of-two Emily Leary, who writes the blog www.amummytoo.co.uk says: “We usually opt for garish greens and scary blood reds in our Hallowe’en baking, so this year, we thought we'd try something a little more understated.

“These vanilla sponge cupcakes with white chocolate frosting are made ghoulishly gross with the aid off a little food colouring, sugarpaste and rice paper. We loved making them as a family, and we loved eating them too.”

ELEGANT ROCK AND COBWEB FROSTED FLY CAKES

Makes 12

Ingredients:

For the sponge:

200g unsalted butter

200g caster sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

200g self raising flour

2 tsp baking powder

12 muffin cases

12 hole muffin tray

For the icing:

300g butter

940g icing sugar

75ml milk

225g white chocolate

¾ tsp black/grey food colouring gel

Piping bag

Wide star nozzle

White glitter writing icing

For the flies:

3 white rice paper flowers (the type with 8 petals)

1 tbsp of black sugar paste

Method:

1. To make the sponge pre-heat the oven to 180°C fan assisted.

2. Beat together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. then beat in the eggs and vanilla until fully combined

3. Sieve in the flour and baking powder and stir until combined – don't over mix.

4. Line the muffin tray with muffin cases, fill evenly with the cake mix and bake for 20 minutes. They should be springy golden brown and risen just proud of the top of the cases.

5. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely

6. To make the frosting beat the butter until fluffy, then beat in the icing sugar, food colouring and half the milk until combined, light and fluffy

7. Melt the chocolate gently, then beat into the icing – if it's looking a bit too pale, you could add more colouring now, and if it's still a bit stiff, beat in the milk little by little until you have a good piping consistency.

8. Pipe the icing on to the top of each cake in large swirls from the outside in, leave them for 10 minutes to set a little, then drizzle on the glitter pen from a height to create a cracked rock/cobweb pattern.

9. For the flies roll 12 large pea size bits of black sugarpaste and squash into slight ovals. Pop the middle off the rice paper flowers, then use scissors to snip the flowers into individual petals. Push two petals into each fly body to create wings and sit a fly on each cake. Leave to set for 30 minutes before serving.

These ‘blood’ splattered bones are ideal for a ghoulish feast.

Liana Stevens, from Hucknall, who runs Star Bakery and Swirls Bakery, says they are quick and easy to make.

“They require little effort to create a gruesome effect that’s as tasty as it is gory. Serve with a raspberry coulis dip for extra gruesome points!”

MERINGUE BONES search meringue bones in local pix

Ingredients:

4 large egg whites at room temperature

115g caster sugar

115g icing sugar

½ vanilla extract or flavouring of any kind

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 210°F/100°C (fan oven) and line your baking tray with greaseproof paper.

2. Place 4 large egg whites into a large clean mixing bowl. Beat them on medium speed with an electric hand whisk until the mixture stands up in stiff peaks when the beaters are lifted.

3. Increase speed and add caster sugar, a spoonful at a time. Continue beating for 5-10 seconds between each addition. It’s important to add the sugar slowly at this stage as it helps prevent the meringue from weeping later.

4. Beat for a further 20 seconds until the mixture is thick and glossy. Add in flavouring at this stage – vanilla is perfect but you can be creative and try orange, lemon, strawberry or even bubblegum. If you’d like to colour your meringues then add food colouring alongside flavouring.

5. Sift one third of the icing sugar over the mixture, then gently fold it in so as not to beat out the air you’ve incorporated. Continue to sift and fold in the remaining icing sugar a third at a time. Be careful not to over mix – the mixture should still be full of volume and glossy.

6. Pipe bone shapes onto baking sheet or spoon them on with a spoon. Bake for approximately 1½ hours or until the meringues sound crisp when tapped underneath. Leave to cool on the trays or if you don’t need them straight away leave them in the oven overnight with the oven turned off.

One for the adults – a gruesome blood red drink created by Rocket at Saltwater in the Cornerhouse.

AFTER DARK COCKTAIL

Ingredients:

37.5ml Absolut mandarin vodka

12.5ml cherry brandy

12.5ml mango purée

25ml whole orange juice

12.5ml fresh lime juice

12.5ml sugar syrup

Method:

Put all ingredients in a Boston glass and fill with lots of ice. Shake until chilled and well mixed. Double strain into a Martini glass. Garnish with your favourite Halloween sweets.