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SPOOKTACULAR HALLOWEEN HACKS

Rocky road decorated with Percy pumpkin sweets

Host a scarily tasty night in for all the family this Halloween with these three easy, kid-approved recipes from lifestyle blogger and mum-of-three Heledd Harman who blogs at Running in Lavender

“When it comes to Halloween parties, I like to keep things simple, and let the spookily-themed food do the talking.”

“Halloween has become much more of an event over the past few years. I don’t remember doing much to celebrate it when I was young, beyond a Halloween night at my local youth club and a spot of apple bobbing, but these days my girls love it. We have a Halloween box in the attic, full of ghostly ornaments and plastic pumpkin decorations. The girls get excited about going trick or treating to our neighbours’ and, of course, we carve pumpkins for our doorstep.

“Sewing is definitely not one of my strengths, so we’ll be buying our Halloween costumes again this year. My girls are very traditional, and usually stick to ghosts or witches – although my eldest daughter has mentioned she’d like to be a zombie cheerleader this year, which should be interesting!

“At my Halloween parties, I stick to simple decorations, and normally drape lots of ivy and cobweb-style

string around the house, as well as using black and orange plates. We also draw pumpkin faces onto tangerines for a simple decoration. I try to go stylish – well, as stylish as you can be when it comes to Halloween – and let the spooky food take centre stage.

“Halloween treats are so much fun, and these ideas, which I make for the kids, are quick and easy. My girls are always happy to help, especially when they know they can sneak a few extra sweets along the way. I try to get them involved at every stage, so they can try mixing, scooping, icing and decorating. So long as it's fun, the kids love to lend a hand, and these Halloween treats are definitely fun.”

Shop Halloween party food

Spooky chocolate graveyard cake

“This spooky chocolate cake is an impressive kitchen hack, as it’s just an assembly job using a ready-made cake. You can add whichever decorations you like.”

Serves 6

Ingredients
1 M&S chocolate fudge cake
20-30 chocolate sticks
7 Bourbon biscuits
4 Rich Tea biscuits
50g dark chocolate, melted, to decorate
Cobweb decorations and Halloween sweets, to decorate (optional)

Using a knife, spread the fudge icing from the top of the cake around the sides – this will act as a glue for the chocolate sticks.

Cut the chocolate sticks in half and arrange them around the cake to create a gate-like barrier.

Blitz the Bourbon biscuits in a food processor to make the soil, then spoon onto the surface of the cake.

With a sharp knife, slice the Rich Tea biscuits in half, and decorate with the melted chocolate in crosses or RIP shapes to make gravestones.

Push the Rich Tea biscuits into the top of the cake, then finish with some cobwebs and spooky sweets, if you like.

Scare-berry tarts

“Your kids will love to make as well as eat these. All you have to do is heat up the custard and melt the chocolate, and the little ones can do the rest.”

Mini tart topped with ghost-white chocolate-dipped strawberries

Makes 18

Ingredients
500g vanilla custard
200g white chocolate, broken into chunks
18 M&S mini all-butter sweet pastry tartlets
18 strawberries
25g dark chocolate, melted

Heat the custard in a small saucepan over a medium heat. When hot, stir in 100g white chocolate. Mix well until the chocolate has fully melted into the custard, then set aside to cool.

Spoon a little of the cooled custard into each tart case. Slowly melt the remaining 100g chocolate – I tend to do this in a bowl in the microwave, heating for two or three 10-second bursts.

Dip the strawberries into the melted chocolate, then place onto greaseproof paper to cool and set.

Decorate the strawberries with melted dark chocolate to create the ghost faces, then gently place the strawberry ghosts on top of the vanilla tarts.

Percy Pumpkin rocky road

“Rocky road is our treat of choice at any time of year. For this Halloween version, I’ve used some of the biscuits leftover from the other recipes and, of course, decorated with Percy pumpkins.”

Makes 9

Ingredients
75g butter
200g dark chocolate, broken into chunks
2 tbsp golden syrup
6 Bourbon biscuits, crushed
6 Rich Tea biscuits, crushed
100g mini marshmallows
9 Percy Pumpkin sweets

In a large pan, melt the butter over a medium heat, then add the dark chocolate. Turn the heat down low and mix until the chocolate has completely melted into the butter.

Stir in the golden syrup before adding the crushed biscuits and mini marshmallows, then mix until everything is covered in melted chocolate.

Line a 22cm-square cake tin with greaseproof paper and pour in the mixture. Spread it out evenly and place the Percy Pumpkin sweets on top, before placing in the fridge for a few hours to set.

Take the rocky road out of the cake tin and cut into nine squares – and enjoy!