Three Halloween baking recipes that are perfect for kids

This recipe, from Princes, takes 20 minutes to prepare and 20-25 minutes to cook.

Ingredients:

• 1 x 395g Princes Apple fruit filling and topping
• 375g block puff pastry
• Plain flour for rolling
• 2 tbsp sultanas
• 40g Madeira cake, crumbed (any plain cake will work)
• 1tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 small egg, beaten
• 2 tbsp golden caster sugar
• 6 edible eyes (for decoration)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200 C/180 C fan/gas 6.
2. Divide the pastry into 3 equal pieces and roll each piece out to a rectangle measuring 14cm x16m. Using sharp knife trim the edges so they are straight.
3. Mix the pie filling, cake crumbs, sultanas and cinnamon.
4. Spread a third of the apple filling into the middle of each sheet of pastry, leaving a 5cm gap on each of the long edges.
5. Cut pastry that is not covered with apple filling into strips about 1cm apart. Fold the pastry strips into the middle over the apple filling, occasionally over lapping strips.
6. Chill in the fridge for 15 minutes. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle over sugar. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until pastry is golden brown.
7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool, before decorating with the edible eyes 

Ghost cupcakes recipe

This recipe is from baking author Alix Carey, in collaboration with Thermapan.

Ingredients

For the chocolate cupcakes

• 150g plain flour
• 50g black cocoa powder
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs room temperature
• 200g caster sugar
• 80ml vegetable oil
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 120ml buttermilk or sour cream

For the marshmallow ghost icing

• 4 egg whites large
• 200g caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Black icing pen or dark chocolate

Method:

For the chocolate cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C and line a 12-hole cupcake tray with cupcake cases
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt until well combined then leave to one side.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar with the eggs and oil and mix until combined well.
4. Add half the dry mixture into the wet mixture and fold it together. Add the buttermilk then add the remaining dry mixture and fold through again until just combined. Be careful not to over mix, you only want to mix until you can no longer see any flour bits.
5. Spoon or pour the mixture to fill the cupcake cases half-way. Be careful not to over fill the cases as this could cause them to rise too high and over-flow.
6. Give the cupcake tin a tap on the work surface to remove any big air bubbles then bake in the centre of the oven for 19-21 minutes until well risen and springy to touch. You can test the internal temperature of the cupcakes to make sure they’re cooked with a thermometer. The temperature for a cooked cupcake should read between 90-98C.
7. When baked leave the cupcakes to cool in the tins for a few minutes, the remove and leave them to cool on a wire rack.

For the marshmallow ghosts

1. Add the egg whites and sugar to a heatproof bowl and set it over a pan of simmering water.
2. Whisk the mixture continuously for about 4-5 minutes until the mixture begins to loosen and all the sugar has dissolved. The temperature when testing with a thermometer should be 71C.
3. Bring the bowl off the heat and whisk the mixture for 5 more minutes on a high speed until soft, glossy peaks begin to form. Be careful not to overmix to avoid losing the marshmallow texture.
4. Fit a piping bag with a round tip piping nozzle and pipe meringue ghosts onto each cupcake.
5. Using a black icing pen or melted dark chocolate and the tip of a cocktail stick decorate each swirl with ghost eyes and a mouth.