My Halloween Gaieties

Being born and raised in Australia, Halloween was always virtually non-existent and I only knew of it from American TV such as Simpsons Halloween specials and Bette Midler's performance in "Hocus Pocus". To me, witches, cauldrons and jack-o-lanterns belonged in the same category as white Christmas and Thanksgiving.

Meeting my husband changed all that. Actually, he doesn't care much for festivities (thinks they're a commercial waste of money). It was actually the arrival from Canada of his cousin Sarah 2 years ago, that encouraged me to "try" Halloween. (She was staying for a year on a working holiday visa)

I tried my hand at carving a pumpkin, Teddy dressed up and we got candy - but alas, the Australian children of the neighbourhood didn't make an appearance.

Halloween 2013: A tiny fairy and a tiny witch show up. I run to the pantry - hmm... packets of mi goreng. Tuna cans. Baked beans??? Thank goodness there was an old family block of chocolate. I didn't even check the expiry date and gave it to them.

Come 2014, I was determined to be prepared! By having dinner and dress-ups!! I wasn't about to go buy Teddy a new costume so I dressed him in his tux once again. He looked dashing!

To build a theme from his outfit, I chose "black and white" - left open to interpretation! Most guests turned up in black and/or white clothing, but a few dressed up! I have a black and white top that Paul has always called my "mime" shirt so it only seemed appropriate (with white dental gloves)

Dinner included my meatballs and sweet potato bake (see previous posts)
As well as roast veggies and pasta bake.
Thanks to friends for bringing spring rolls and ensaymadas (sweet Filipino bread)

Red Velvet Cake

This cake is one of those recent resurgences of a retro recipe. It's probably thanks to Manhattan's Magnolia Bakery's resurrection of it, that it has become so popular of late.

I remember when I first tried this cake. It really messed with my mind. The blood red colour makes my mind say "beetroot????" whilst if I close my eyes and eat it, it's simply a deliciously light chocolate cake.

And that's what it basically is! Apparently the reaction between the vinegar and buttermilk causes something in the cocoa powder to turn red, but the colour is normally enhanced with beetroot or red food colouring (which I use). It'd be interesting to see what effect beetroot would have on it.

RED VELVET CAKE

Into a bowl combine 250g plain flour, 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder, 2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda.

I find the type of cocoa you use affects the colour - I go for a premium Dutch cocoa which tends to be a dark brown, resulting in a deeper red in the cake.

Beat together 100g soft butter with 200g caster sugar.

Add 2 eggs, one at a time followed by a teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Add 2 tablespoons of red food colouring (I use Queen's Pillar box Red)

Careful not to stain your clothes!

Add 1 tablespoon vinegar to 175ml buttermilk.

Alternate the addition of dry ingredients with the buttermilk.

Bake at 160C for 40 minutes or so (whenever a skewer comes out clean)

You can make one cake or many cupcakes with this batter.

I made 2 small cakes to layer together.

Cream Cheese Icing

I use this easy-peasy icing for many cakes and have even used it to sandwich macarons together.

Beat together a whole bag of CSR Pure Icing Sugar with 1/2 a block of Philly cream cheese and 100g soft butter. 

Add a squeeze of lemon.

Place in a piping bag if making cupcakes or just spread with a spatula onto your cakes.

You can decorate it with sprinkles and the like, but I put my Halloween cookies on top with crushed Arnott's Chocolate Ripple cookies for "dirt".

I originally wanted to make cookie tombstones for a graveyard cake, but my Halloween cookie cutters are just too cute!

Sweet Potato Bake

This post will be short & sweet - just like the recipe. You have to love sweet potato to like this dish! I know sweet potato isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I really love sweet potato, so I love this dish.

Told you I love sweet potato

SWEET POTATO BAKE

Peel and cube 4 sweet potatoes then boil until tender.

Pierce with a fork to test if they're ready.

 Drain the sweet potatoes and mash.

Mix in 1/4 cup white sugar, 100g butter, 2 eggs and 1/2 cup evaporated milk.

It will look like spew.

Mmmm. Spew.

Bake at 160 C for about 30 minutes.

Prior to baking I made a crumble topping of a bit of flour, butter, brown sugar and crushed walnuts.

And that's it! Told you it was short & sweet.

Gingerbread

Ginger has grown on me over the years. I used to abhor it the way I abhor black licorice. I dunno if it's acquired taste or just age, but I now enjoy ginger beer, ginger cookies and I am even giving pickled ginger a chance!

These biscuits keep really well in an airtight container so are ideal to bring over as a gift or give out at Christmas time.

I actually just wanted an excuse to finally use some cookie cutters I bought ages ago! Halloween was the perfect excuse.

GINGERBREAD

In a saucepan melt 100g butter.

Add 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup golden syrup.

In a bowl combine 1 cup plain flour, a pinch of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon each of ground ginger, cinnamon and all-spice.

Slowly incorporate the wet to the dry ingredients. 

Mix until a ball forms.

Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roll out to about 0.5cm thickness.

Use your cookie cutters. Keep rolling and cutting until the dough is used up.

Place cookies onto lined baking trays and bake at 160 C for about 15 minutes.

Leave to cool on the trays.

Royal Icing

These cookies are a bit plain-jane if you don't jazz them up with some icing!

This is a fun way to make some mess with the kids!

Mix together 1.5 cups icing sugar with 1 egg white and a tiny squeeze of lemon juice.

(Keep that lemon handy)

Mix until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Separate your icing into ramekins which will hold each colour you will use.

I made orange (red + yellow, duh) for my pumpkins and purple (blue + red!).

Be careful when adding food colouring because you can add but you can't take back!

I hope you've kept that lemon handy. Before decorating we need to check the consistency.

Drizzle the icing upon itself - it is right when the peak disappears in about 10 seconds.

If too thick, squeeze more lemon. If too thin, add a tiny bit of icing sugar.

Spread directly onto your cookies or use a piping bag if you wanna be pedantic.

Meatballs

Thought I'd post something savoury for a change! I don't just live on desserts you know :)

We often have a bag of minced meat in the freezer. It has so many uses - burgers, rissoles, meatballs... Actually I think those are all the same thing just in different shapes and sizes! Everyone has their own recipe, their own little "twist". But for me, as always I keep it simple.

This recipe uses ingredients you'll probably already have in the pantry (as many of my recipes do). It is a little time consuming rolling out the little balls, but it would be a great activity for getting the little ones to help out! You can make these in advance and pop them in the freezer ready to defrost for future use. Feel free to halve or double this recipe. I yielded 37 balls with 1kg of minced beef.

MEATBALLS

Get ready to get down and dirty. I put my dental gloves on for the task!

In a large bowl place 1kg of mince (can be whatever you like - beef, pork, veal).

Add 1 chopped onion, 2 eggs, 2 cups of breadcrumbs and 500ml milk.

Feel free to add whatever herbs and spices you like - but I keep mine simple.

Then put your hands to work to amalgamate the mixture! (Sorry, dental pun).

Have 2 or 3 trays nearby and a bowl of flour.

Roll the mixture into balls - I pick just enough to fill the palm of my hand in an attempt to make uniform sizes.

Roll the ball in flour, pat off excess and place on tray. Repeat!

As I said, I yielded 37 altogether.

Bring a large frying pan with oil to medium-high heat.

Fry the balls in batches, turning to colour all over.

Remove to a baking dish.

Now they are ready - you can serve them at a party with toothpicks and ketchup dipping sauce.

I like to pour passata from a jar over them and bake for about 15 minutes.

Garlic Bread

Do you have that one random item of junk food that you're really addicted to? That you can never get sick of eating; the one food that you'd still eat no matter how poorly made! For me, that food is garlic bread.

The sinful combination of thick butter, salt and carbs all laced with the heady aroma of garlic (vampires beware) makes me weak at the knees. This snack (or meal on past occasions for me), is widely available too - most restaurants serve it whether it be a pizza place or steakhouse. Once I even found it available at Red Rooster!

The only time I don't enjoy garlic bread - is when it is 95% hard, dry bread with a smear of butter and the garlic barely detectable. I'm sure you would all agree with me on that point.

Now I'm no expert at this, but every time I've tried to make my own, there are never any leftovers to be seen! It is so easy-peasy. You could make the bread from scratch or even use those partially baked dinner rolls you can get at the supermarket. Try it for yourself and see!

GARLIC BREAD

Roasted Garlic

The first thing you should get out of the way is the garlic part.

I take a whole head of garlic and separate the cloves, then place them in a ramekin.

Don't bother taking the skins off. It's one kitchen job that just does my head in!

Place enough olive oil to surround them all - not enough oil will make your garlic hard and dry (and useless).

Roast on low heat - about 120 C for 1 hour.

Once cooled, you will see how easily the soft cloves slide out of the skins.

You can keep the garlic-infused oil for other things (I like to add balsamic vinegar and dip freshly baked bread into it)

The empty skins look like something akin to cicada shells

Bread

This part is not difficult, but is time-consuming purely for the raising time. It's especially easy if you use a stand mixer too! I don't see any crime in not being "artisan" and using a machine. You don't even need to tell your friends.

First, prepare your yeast. I use 1 tablespoon of instant yeast in 3/4 cup warm water and 1 tablespoon of honey. Stir, then set aside for 15 minutes or so.

Mmm yeasty.

Scoop out 2.5 cups of plain flour into your mixing bowl. Add a pinch of salt.

With the mixer on low speed slowly pour in your yeast soup.

Keep on low speed until combined. 

If it looks too "wet" add a bit more flour until it looks more like dough.

Increase to medium speed and leave to mix for about 5 minutes.

Turn your dough out onto a floured surface.

Knead by hand for a bit.

To see if it's ready, press your thumb into the dough.

It's ready when the imprint starts springing back.

Place in a lightly greased bowl and cover with a tea towel. Leave in a warm place for 1 hour.

After an hour the dough will have doubled in size.

Divide the dough in 2 - if you wanna be pedantic, weigh the halves out.

This is probably the most technical part - shaping the rolls.

I shape with my hands into a rectangle and fold it like an envelope - bottom 1/3 up and top 1/3 down. Crimp the seams. Fold and repeat until you get your long roll.

Place on your baking tray, cover with the tea towel and set aside for 30 minutes.

This is when you should preheat your oven to 200 C.

Make 3-4 diagonal slashes with a sharp knife over the tops.

Place the baking tray on the top rack of the oven. 

Immediately after, place a tray containing a handful of ice cubes on the bottom rack. 

This apparently creates steam which makes the rolls "crusty".

Bake until golden - but not TOO golden if you continue on to make garlic bread.

Allow to cool.

Garlic Bread:

Place a healthy dollop (about 50g) of soft butter on your roast garlic with some sea salt.

Smoosh it all together. When mixed, it looks kinda like spew. So don't worry.

Slice your bread roll (without going through the bottom obviously)

Here's the messy part. Spread your garlic spew into each slice.

To make it easy for myself - I don a pair of gloves and use my fingers.

I work with gloves on everyday so it just makes sense to me.

Bake at 200 C again, just for 5-10 minutes.

Yuuuuuuuuuummmmmmm