Hi Pat,
Thanks for stopping by to visit. I'll be sure and stop by over at your Halloween Thread as well.
Friends, Halloween is the perfect time to get creative in the kitchen, and these party treats are sure to please all of those trick-or-treaters whether young or old. You can pack them up for the kids' school parties, serve them at your own festive affair, or hand them out to the costumed kids that come by on All Hallow's Eve.
Want to make that Halloween table look just a bit more frightening? Even a bowl of hot tomato soup will leave you cold if it stares back at you from the bowl.
Eye-Popping Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon(s) unsalted butter
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 cup(s) dry white wine
- 2 can(s) (28 ounces each) crushed tomatoes
- 1 quart(s) homemade or low-sodium store-bought chicken stock
- 3 sprig(s) oregano or marjoram
- 1/2 cup(s) half-and-half
- Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
- 6 pitted black Kalamata olives
- 2 sprig(s) fresh rosemary
- 4 fresh chives, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 pound(s) (about 30) bocconcini (bite-size mozzarella balls)
- 1 jar(s) small pimiento-stuffed olives
- Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion and garlic; cook until onion is translucent, about 6 minutes.
- Add wine and cook until most liquid has evaporated, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes, stock, and oregano, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer gently until thickened, about 45 minutes.
- Using a slotted spoon, remove herbs. Puree soup
in small batches until smooth. Return to pan and slowly pour in half-and-half, stirring constantly. Season with salt and pepper. - Meanwhile, make the bugs: Use a toothpick to pierce each Kalamata olive 4 times (all the way through to other side). Insert a rosemary leaf into each hole to make eight legs. Insert two pieces of chive into the small hole at the end of the olive to make antennae.
- Make the eyeballs: Using a small melon baller, scoop out a hole from each bocconcini. Halve each pimiento-stuffed olive crosswise. Place a half, cut side out, in the hole in each bocconcini to make eyeballs.
- Ladle hot soup into shallow bowls. Float 4 or 5 eyeballs in soup and place a bug on rim of each bowl.
These moon pies on a stick make a perfect party project for kids. Or, arrange the lollipops in a container filled with florist foam for an impressive centerpiece.
Harvest Moon Lollipops
Ingredients
- 12 (10- to 12-inch-long) lollipop sticks
- 1 package(s) (24-ounce) Chocolate Flavor MoonPies
- 1 package(s) (14-ounce) orange candy melts
- 1 zip-top plastic bag
- Scissors
- Wax paper
- Halloween candies
- Halloween sugar cake decorations
- Decorator icing
- Ribbon (optional)
Directions
- Insert 1 lollipop stick 2 to 3 inches into marshmallow center of MoonPie.
- Microwave candy melts in a glass bowl at Medium (50 percent power) 1 minute or until melted, stirring once; spoon into plastic bag, and seal.
- Snip a small hole in 1 corner of the bag; pipe melted candy around where stick meets MoonPie to secure. Lay flat on wax paper, and let stand until firm.
- Pipe fun border of melted candy around edges. Attach candies and/or cake decorations with decorator icing. Tie ribbons around tops of sticks, if desired.
These cookies are designed as accessories for our Dark Chocolate Graveyard Pots de Crème, but they also make a nice Halloween snack. Follow the simple design or cut the gravestones into more elaborate shapes topped with crosses or lunettes.
This is a true chocolate-lover's dessert: rich, thick puddings topped with chocolate wafer "dirt" and cookie "gravestones." Best of all, you can make the puddings with very little fuss using a microwave and a blender.
Dark Chocolate Graveyard Pots de Crème
Ingredients
- 14 ounce(s) (about 3 cups) semisweet or bitter-sweet chocolate, roughly chopped
- 2 large eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 1/2 cup(s) whipping cream
- 1/3 cup(s) coffee-flavored liqueur
- 1/2 cup(s) chocolate wafer crumbs
- Tombstone Cookies
-
In a food processor or blender, whirl chocolate until finely chopped. Pour into a bowl. Put eggs and yolks in the processor or blender.
-
In a 4-cup glass measure, heat whipping cream in a microwave oven (see Tips & Techniques) at full power (100 percent) until cream boils, 3 to 5 minutes.
-
With processor or blender on high speed, add boiling cream to egg. Check temperature of mixture with an instant-read thermometer; if below 160 degrees, pour mixture back into glass measure and reheat in microwave oven at full power until it reaches 160 degrees, stirring and checking at 15-second intervals.
-
Combine hot cream mixture, chopped chocolate, and liqueur in blender or processor (or whisk the ingredients together in a large bowl); whirl until smooth, about 1 minute.
-
Pour chocolate mixture into 8 ramekins or glasses (1/2-cup size). Chill until softly set, 30 to 45 minutes. If making ahead, cover and chill up to 1 day. For creamiest texture, let desserts stand at room temperature about 30 minutes before eating.
-
Spoon 1 tablespoon wafer crumbs onto each pot de crème. Insert a Tombstone Cookie into each serving.
Tombstone Cookies
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a blender, whirl cocoa nibs until each is about the size of a grain of rice.
- In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and 1/2 cup sugar until creamy; beat in egg and vanilla.
- In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa nibs; gradually add to butter mixture, blending thoroughly, to form a soft dough. Divide dough into thirds, cover each portion tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm (at least 1 hour), or up to 3 days.
- On a floured board, roll out dough, a portion at a time, to a thickness of 1/8 in. (keep dough refrigerated when not in use). With a sharp knife, cut out free-form tombstone shapes (about 1 1/2 by 3 in.; cut bottom edges at an angle to make them easier to poke into the pots de crème), and place slightly apart on ungreased baking sheets. Sprinkle generously with sugar.
- Bake cookies until edges are lightly browned, about 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to racks and let cool completely before handling.
- Using a pastry bag with a very fine tip, pipe the letters "RIP" in chocolate on at least 8 of the cookies. Stick these cookies into the Dark Chocolate Graveyard Pots de Crème and serve the rest of the cookies alongside.
Haunting (but not daunting) snack cakes get a makeover with ready-made white frosting.
Chocolate Ghost Cakes
Ingredients
- 1/2 container(s) (12-ounce) ready-to-spread white frosting
- 1 package(s) (11-ounce) cream-filled chocolate cake squares
- 1 (0.68-ounce) tube black decorating gel
- Microwave frosting in a microwave-safe bowl at High 30 seconds to 1 minute or until melted; stir until smooth. Let stand 2 minutes.
- Place 1 cup melted frosting in a gallon-size zip-top plastic bag. (Do not seal.) Snip 1 corner of bag to make a small hole. Pipe frosting onto each cake square in the shape of a ghost, adding remaining frosting to bag as needed. Pipe 2 dots on each cake using black gel to form eyes.
Finally, celebrate the harvest season with this twist on traditional chocolate fudge. These sweet little squares feature canned pumpkin, white chocolate, and marshmallow crème.
Pumpkin Fudge
Ingredients
- 3 cup(s) sugar
- 3/4 cup(s) melted butter
- 2/3 cup(s) evaporated milk
- 1/2 cup(s) canned pumpkin
- 2 tablespoon(s) corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon(s) pumpkin pie spice
- 1 package(s) (12-ounce) white chocolate morsels
- 1 jar(s) (7-ounce) marshmallow crème
- 1 cup(s) chopped pecans, toasted
- 1 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
- Stir together first 6 ingredients in a 3 1/2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat, and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Cook, stirring constantly, until a candy thermometer registers 234 degrees F (soft-ball stage) or for about 12 minutes.
- Remove pan from heat; stir in remaining ingredients until well blended. Pour into a greased aluminum foil-lined 9-inch square pan. Let stand 2 hours or until completely cool; cut fudge into squares. Yields 3 pounds of Fudge.
Line pan with aluminum foil before you begin to cook the fudge. Once the candy thermometer reaches 234 degrees F and the remaining ingredients are added, quickly spoon the fudge into the pan.
Celebrate this Halloween in Style, just click below and this adorable Pumpkin Witch will greet your Halloween visitors...
Have A Safe & Happy Halloween My Friends,
Phil
.gif)