Ghoulishly good eats: Recipes add spook-tacular flavour to Halloween
Credit to Author: Aleesha Harris| Date: Sat, 26 Oct 2019 18:00:52 +0000
Capturing the flavours of Halloween doesn’t have to mean sinking your teeth into a piece of sugary-sweet candy.
Instead, opt for a ghoulishly good treat that picks up tastes and themes of the spook-tacular festivities — such as pumpkin innards and blood-soaked cake (yes, actually) — while also elevating the edible arrangement of the upcoming occasion to a whole new level.
With this in mind, we’ve rounded up a few chef, restaurant and product recipes to create a Halloween sampler that’s so good that you’ll forget all about those bags of bite-size candy sitting out on the kitchen table. For the moment, anyway.
Happy Halloween!
Created by Betty Hung, Beaucoup Bakery
Pumpkin Sponge
2 cups (500 mL) all-purpose flour
2 tsp (10 mL) baking powder
1 tsp (5 mL) ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) ground ginger
1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp (1 mL) ground allspice
1/4 tsp (1 mL) ground cardamom
1 1/2 cup (375 mL) granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) canned pumpkin puree
1/2 cup (125 mL) neutral tasting oil, such as canola
4 egg yolks, room temperature
4 egg whites, room temperature
Filling
1 cup (250 mL) cream cheese, room temperature
2 tbsp (30 mL) whipping cream
2 tbsp (30 mL) icing sugar
Coating
2/3 cup (160 mL) canned pumpkin puree
1/4 cup (60 mL) whipping cream
1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) ground cinnamon
1 tsp (5 mL) fine salt
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) chopped white couverture chocolate, preferably Valrhona’s Ivoire
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) pumpkin seeds, ground
3/4 cup (180 mL) fine unsweetened desiccated coconut
Method
For the cake, preheat oven to 325 F, and set a rack in the centre. Line a 9-inch x 13-inch cake pan with parchment paper on the bottom and sides.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and spices into a medium bowl. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, pumpkin puree, oil, and egg yolks. Fold in the sifted flour mixture with a spatula until the flour is just hydrated. Do not overmix once you add the flour otherwise the cake might become tough.
In a clean bowl of a stand mixer place egg whites and whip on high speed with a whisk attachment. You can also use a hand-held electric mixer for this. After 1-2 minutes, reduce speed to medium high until soft peaks form. This may take 4-5 minutes. When you lift the whisk from the egg whites, there should be a soft peak at the tip of the whisk.
Fold in one-third of the whipped egg whites into the wet flour mixture and mix with a spatula until well combined. Lightly fold in the rest of the meringue. Pour batter into the prepared pans. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway. It is done when a cake tester is inserted in the centre and comes out clean. Let the cake cool before filling it. You can bake the cake up to 2 days before assembling. Store the baked cake in an airtight container in the fridge.
For the filling, mix all ingredients by hand with a spatula in a medium bowl until the ingredients are incorporated.
For the coating, combine pumpkin puree, cream, spices, and salt in a small saucepan. Cook over medium while stirring to prevent the bottom from burning until it comes to a simmer. Place the chocolate into a heatproof bowl. Pour the hot pumpkin mixture over the chocolate. Let it sit for 1-2 minutes, stir the mixture with a spatula until the ganache is coherent. In a separate bowl, combine the ground pumpkin seeds and coconut.
To assemble, slice the cake in half like you would for a sandwich. Spread the cream cheese filling evenly with an offset spatula and place on the top half on top to make a sandwich. Place the cake in the freezer to firm up, for abut 20 minutes. When ready to coat, trim off the edges if necessary, and cut the cake into 1.5” squares. Brush warm ganache onto the individual cakes, and coat in the pumpkin seeds and coconut mixture. Store in the fridge for up to 2 days. Can be frozen for up to a week.
Created by: Doug Stephen, DL Chicken Shack
1 large loaf French Boule (bread)
1 cup (250 mL) cream cheese
1/2 cup (125 mL) sour cream
1/2 cup (125 mL) spiced havarti cheese
1/2 cup (125 mL) shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups shredded chicken (500 mL) (grab a pre-cooked chicken from the grocery store to make it easy)
1/4 cup (60 mL) cayenne
1/2 tbsp (7.5 mL) smoked paprika
1 tsp (5 mL) garlic powder
1 tsp (5 mL) onion powder
1 pack of panko breadcrumbs
Method
Combine all ingredients, aside from the panko breadcrumbs and the boules, and place in a heat-safe casserole dish.
Bake for approximately 30 minutes at 375-degrees F. While the mixture is warming, take the boules of bread and cut a hole through top of it to hollow out your bread bowl.
Once the mixture has warmed, pour it into your bread bowl. Pour the panko crumbs over top for that delicious crunch. For Halloween, we love making a cheeky pumpkin stencil to pour those crumbs out with.
Created by: Temper Chocolate and Pastry
6 Granny Smith apples
1 cup (250 mL) sugar
2 cups (500 mL) sugar
1 cup (250 mL) butter
1 cup (250 mL) glucose syrup
1 cup (250 mL) cream
Method
Bring cream to a boil, then set aside. In a pan, make a dry caramel by melting down one cup of sugar until golden brown. Deglaze the dry caramel with the cream in slow increments while whisking.
Then, add 2 cups of sugar into the mixture and boil to 112-degrees C. At 112 C add the butter and glucose, stirring until fully incorporated. Then, strain into a bowl and dip apples into. Place coated apples on a plate in the fridge until cool.
Created by: Cibo Trattoria
2 eggs
1/2 pound (226 g) butter
1/2 cup (125 mL) pig’s blood
1 cup (250 mL) sugar
1 large pinch salt
1/4 cup (60 mL) cocoa powder, sifted
1/4 cup (60 mL) all-purpose flour, sifted
2 tbsp (30 mL) coffee
Method
Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate, butter, and coffee.
Separately, place the eggs, blood, sugar, and salt in a stand mixer and whisk at high speed for three minutes Turn the mixer to slow and pour in the chocolate mixture and stir until combined. Slowly fold in the sifted cocoa and flour, mixing until it just comes together.
Get six ramekins, brush inside with melted butter and coat with cocoa powder. Divide the batter evenly between the ramekins and bake in the 350 degree oven for 14 minutes. Un-mold from ramekins and serve garnished with toasted pine nuts, drunken raisins and chocolate sauce.
Makes 6 small cakes in a ramekin.
Created by: Blue Hat Bistro at Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts
2 cups (500 mL) all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
3/4 cup (180 mL) sugar
2/3 cup (160 mL) butter
1 small egg
1/8 cup (30 mL) milk
1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Sift flour with salt and set aside. Cream the butter and the sugar together until light and fluffy.
Combine the milk and the eggs then add alternately with the dry mix to the butter-sugar mixture. Once cookie dough comes together wrap in plastic and chill in refrigerator until firm.
Roll out dough to a thickness of approximately 6mm/.25 inches. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Bake until cookies are lightly golden on the edges (approximately 8-12 minutes depending on cookie shapes and thickness).
Royal icing
1 cup icing sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons water
Food colouring in assorted Halloween colours
Method
Place the icing sugar in a bowl and add a drop or 2 of colour. Add a very small amount of water and stir. Add a few more drops of water and stir until the paste thickens to an almost like toothpaste consistency. This paste will be used for the outline of your shaped cookies.
Fill pastry bag with some of paste and pipe the along the outline of the cookies. Make as many batches as required for different colours.
Once the cookies are outlined, add a few drops of water to the remaining icing until it is the consistency of honey.
Flood spaces between the outlines. Once hardened, pipe on any additional details desires.
Makes 12 medium size cookies.
Pumpkin Spice & Chestnut Coffee
2 capsules Nespresso Variations Pumpkin Spice Cake
2 tbsp (30 mL) chestnut cream
2 tsp (10 mL) white chocolate syrup
Method
Melt chestnut crème and white chocolate syrup in a mug, until the syrup and cream have been combined. Brew coffee into the mixture. Enjoy!