Is Halloween a thing in Australia? Boo knows? It certainly provides an excuse to celebrate and entertain (within health restrictions) as lockdown comes to an end. Put the treat in trick-or-treat for your guests with these recipes.
Drac-tastic vampire gingerbreads
Makes 20
125g unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup golden syrup
1 egg yolk
2 1/2 cups plain flour
1 tsp bi-carb soda
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
Royal icing
2 cups icing sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 egg white
Brown/black, orange, and yellow food colouring
Pre-heat oven to 180°C. Line 2 oven trays with baking paper.
Beat butter, sugar and golden syrup in a bowl with an electric mixer until pale and creamy.
Add egg yolk and beat until just combined. Sift flour, bi-carb, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves into mixture. Use a wooden spoon to combine.
Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth.
Roll out dough to approximately 5mm thick. Using a gingerbread biscuit cutter, cut out shapes and place on prepared trays.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove from oven and cool.
Royal icing: Sift icing sugar into a small bowl. Add lemon juice and egg white to form a firm paste.
Divide the icing into 3 small bowls. Add 1 drop of food colouring to each bowl to make brown/black, orange, and yellow icing. Using a piping bag fitted with a 1mm nozzle, pipe the eyes, teeth and buttons onto your gingerbread vampires. Enjoy!
Recipe from McKenzie’s Foods
Halloween cheesecake cups
Makes 6
1 packet of White Wings cheesecake mix
310ml cold milk
8-10 drops orange food colouring
8-10 drops green food colouring
20g white chocolate
Chocolate sprinkles, to decorate
2 Oreo chocolate coated biscuits
1 liquorice strap
12 eyeball candies
Orange coloured sprinkles, to decorate
2 Oreo biscuits
2 Mini Oreo biscuits
Icing sugar, to dust
100g ready to roll soft white fondant
2 white marshmallows
Prepare White Wings cheesecake mix as directed. Divide the cheesecake mixture among three medium bowls.
Tint one portion orange and one portion green. Leave the remaining portion plain. Spoon the different cheesecake mixtures among six 80ml (1/3 cup) plastic cups.
Place chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 30 seconds until melted.
For the spiders: Scatter plain cheesecake cups with chocolate sprinkles, then top with a chocolate covered Oreo. Cut the liquorice strap into 4cm pieces (you will need three).
Cut along the lines on the piece to separate the strands. Place eight strands around the biscuit to form the spider’s legs. Lightly press strands into the cheesecake mix to secure.
Using some melted white chocolate as the glue, attach eyeball candies to the chocolate covered biscuits to form eyes.
Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to set.
For the bats: Scatter orange coloured cheesecake cups with orange sprinkles. Using a serrated knife, cut each large Oreo in half to form two wings. Using melted white chocolate as glue, attach the small Oreo to the two Oreo wings to form the bat’s face (use the image as a guide).
Use the melted white chocolate to attach the eyeball candies to the small Oreos and form the bat’s eyes. Set aside for 5 mins for the chocolate to set.
Top cheesecake cups with bats and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to set fully.
For the ghosts: Scatter green coloured cheesecake cups with green sprinkles to fill.
Lightly dust a clean, dry surface with icing sugar. Knead fondant into a ball then roll out to 3mm thick. Using a round 6cm cutter, cut out 2 discs from the icing.
Working quickly, place each disc on top of each marshmallow and press down to form a ghost. Using melted white chocolate as glue, attached eyeball candies to ghost to form eyes.
Top cheesecake cups with ghosts and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to set.
Serve your spooky souls all together.
HOT TIP: Use a mixture of red and yellow food colouring to colour your cheesecake filling if you
can’t find orange food colouring.
White Wings Cheesecake Mix is available at Woolworths and independent supermarkets, retailing for $4.
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