Halloween – a celebration of frights and flavours

Halloween, celebrated each year on October 31st, is a lively and imaginative holiday that blends ancient traditions with modern fun. One of the most delightful aspects of Halloween is its desserts, which combine seasonal flavors with eerie, playful designs. Kitchens fill with the sweet aroma of pumpkin spice, caramel apples, and chocolate, while bakers craft imaginative sweets like ghost-shaped cookies, spiderweb cupcakes, and candy corn bark. To capture this festive spirit, here are a few Halloween Special recipes from Swapnadeep Mukherjee, Executive Chef at The Metropolitan Hotel & Spa.

Monster Praline

 

  Ingredients                                                                Quantity

White chocolate bars, broken into pieces                       120 gm

Whipping cream                                                             1/4 cup

Butter, cut up                                                                  3 tbsp

Almond, crushed                                                             1 cup

Dry fruits for garnishing

 Method:

  • Mix white Chocolate pieces and whipping cream. Whisk until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Whisk the mixture in butter and add crushed almonds for crunchiness; let stand for 20 minutes.
  • After 20 minutes, again beat the mixture at medium speed with an electric mixer for 4 minutes or until mixture forms soft peaks. Cover and chill for sometime
  • Add mixture in desired Halloween molds. Add dry fruits to give the Halloween effect. Refrigerate it for some time before serving.

 

 

Cobweb Doughnuts

Ingredients                                                         Quantity

Flour                                                                       3 cups
Baking Powder                                                        2 tsp.
Salt                                                                          1/4 tsp.
Beaten eggs                                                              2
Sugar                                                                       2/3 cup
Melted white chocolate                                           50gm

Melted brown chocolate                                          50 gm
Melted butter                                                          2 tbsp.
Milk                                                                        1/2 cup
Vanilla                                                                     1 tsp.

Chocolate glaze                                                        1 cup
Chopped nuts                                                           1 cup

Method:

  • Preheat the fryer or oven.
  • In a mixing bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt together.
  • In another mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together. Add the melted chocolate and butter. Stir in the milk and vanilla.
  • Slowly add the sifted flour into the egg mixture, turn it into a soft dough.
  • Cover the dough for some time. Take out the dough onto a floured surface.
  • Roll the dough. Cut the doughnuts out, using doughnut cutter.
  • Fry a couple of doughnuts at a time for 1 minute on each side.
  • Remove the doughnuts from the fryer/ oven and drain on a paper-lined plate.
  • Place the doughnuts on a plate. Drizzle the warm doughnuts with the white chocolate glaze. After that make cobweb design on the doughnuts with melted white and brown chocolate. You can make cone for the same
  • For plating, place the doughnuts on a platter and sprinkle with nuts.

 

 

Pumpkin Cheese Cake

 

  Ingredients                                     Quantity

    Quark Cheese                                     350 gm

Breakfast Sugar                                    125 gm

Cream                                                 200 gm

Whipped Cream                                  200 gm

Canned pumpkin Puree                       125 gm

Milk                                                     50 ml

Ground cinnamon                                 ½ tsp

Ginger, Nutmeg, cloves, all spices

Black Pepper (all crushed)                      ½ tsp (all)

Salt                                                         1/8 tsp

For crumb

Crushed biscuits for crumb                            2 cups

Brown sugar                                                   1/3 cup

Unsalted butter                                              ½ cup

 

Method:

  • For crust, take a bowl, stir the crumb ingredients together. Pour into a pan/ bowl and pack in very tightly. The tighter it’s packed, the less likely it will fall apart when cutting the cheesecake. Freeze for 10–20 minutes as you prepare the filling.
  • After this, first mix the cream, cheese and sugar in a mixer or a bowl.
  • Mix the whipped cream and add all the ingredients, mix well adding canned pumpkin puree.
  • Lastly add milk and give it a nice mix for a desired consistency.
  • Pour the mixture on the already prepared crust and set it in a deep freezer before serving. Enjoy!

 

Halloween Banana Creme cookie

Ingredients                                      Quantity

Medium bananas, frozen                        3

Vanilla (optional)                                   1 tsp.

Big chocolate cookie                              2

Chocolate chips                                    1/2 cup

Packaged whipped cream

Cherry

Strawberry sauce or sauce of your choice

 Method:

  • Slice bananas into rounds and place in an airtight container in the freezer. Until bananas are frozen solid.
  • Put 2 bananas in a bowl or food processor and mix well into a paste.
  • Combine all ingredients in a mixer and mix well, except the chocolate chips and chocolate cookie
  • Using a small knife or spreader, place about 1 1/2 tablespoon of whipped cream and banana mix (or enough to cover one side of the cookie) on the inside of one cookie. Place the sliced banana on top along with the ½ cup mini chocolate chips and gently place another cookie on top like a sandwich.
  • Drizzle strawberry syrup and put two cherries on top of the cookie for a Halloween effect. The cookie now resembles a frog. Happy Halloween!

 

 

Spider Brownie

 

      Ingredients                                                    Quantity

 

Butter                                                                250 gms

Breakfast sugar                                                  400 gms

Eggs                                                                   6

Refined Flour                                                     200 gms

Dark Chocolate                                                  400 gms

Coco Powder                                                      40 gms

Walnut                                                                100 gms

Grain sugar                                                         200 gm

 

Method:

  • Preheat oven to 325°F. Line the bottom and the sides of a baking tray with parchment paper
  • Combine the butter, cocoa, sugar and chocolate in a medium size bowl. Set the bowl in a wide skillet of low simmering water. Stir the butter cocoa mixture from time to time until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth and hot enough. Remove the bowl from the skillet and set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot.
  • Using wooden spoon, stir in the chopped walnuts, add the eggs one at a time, stirring quickly after each one, when the batter looks shiny, thick and well mixed, add the flour and stir until it is well mixed. Then beat for a while with the wooden spoon. Spread the batter evenly in the lined pan.
  • Bake for 20-25 mins until a tester inserted into the center comes out just slightly moisture with batter.
  • Let the brownies cool completely. Lift up the ends of the foil or parchment paper liner, and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Serve hot with vanilla ice cream.

 

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