Halloween tea party

ROUND UP YOUR LITTLE DEVILS FOR A SPOOKY GET-TOGETHER WITH A SPREAD OF PERFECTLY FRIGHTFUL FOOD

Sausage mummies

A spooky take on sausage rolls using frankfurters

Serves 10
Ready in 55 minutes
Price per serving 28p

500g Asda Puff Pastry
plain flour, for rolling out
10 frankfurters (from a jar)
1 medium egg, beaten
Asda Squeezy Mustard

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Roll the puff pastry out on a lightly floured surface to the thickness of a £1 coin. 
   
   
2. Cut the pastry into 1cm strips. Wrap the strips round the sausages, stretching the pastry slightly as you go, and working to about two thirds of the way up the sausages.
   
   
3. Wrap another strip of pastry round the top of each sausage, leaving a space for the mummy’s face, to look like a head bandage.
   
   
4. Place your sausage mummies on a baking tray and brush with the beaten egg. Cook in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until the pastry is lightly golden. 
   
   
5. Use the squeezy mustard to make eyes on each mummy’s face. Serve the mummies warm or cold.

Cheese pumpkin biscuits

We made pumpkin shapes, but you can make these biscuits using any Halloween cutters

Makes 16 biscuits
Ready in 1 hour, plus chilling time
Price per biscuit 12p

200g plain flour, plus a
little extra for rolling
½ level tsp dry mustard powder
¼ level tsp cayenne
125g butter, chilled
100g Asda Extra Mature Cheddar, grated
25g Asda Grana Padano or Parmesan, grated
1 large free-range egg, lightly beaten

1. Sift the flour, mustard powder, cayenne and a pinch of salt into a bowl. Cut the butter into small cubes, add it to the flour and then rub it with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
   
   
2. Stir in the cheeses. Add the egg and 2tsp cold water and mix with a blunt knife until it forms clumps. You may need another teaspoon of water, but be careful not to make the dough too sticky. Gather the dough together with your hands, wrap it in clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 minutes, if possible.
   
   
3. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Line two baking trays with baking paper. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface to the thickness of a £1 coin.
   
   
4. Cut out biscuits using pumpkin cutters (or any other Halloween cutters) and place them on the baking trays, leaving small gaps between them.
   
   
5. Bake in the oven for 14-16 minutes. Leave to cool on the tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely before serving.

Bleeding-ketchup cheese and bacon muffins

The ketchup in these muffins looks like streaks of blood. For veggies, leave out the bacon and Grana Padano or Parmesan, and use 100g Cheddar instead

Makes 10
Ready in 50 minutes
Price per serving 30p

4 rashers back bacon
150g plain flour
1½ level tsp baking powder
½ level tsp mustard powder
¼ level tsp cayenne
50g Asda Extra Mature Cheddar, grated
25g Asda Grana Padano or Parmesan, grated
1 large free range egg
100ml semi-skimmed milk
3tbsp olive oil
10tsp tomato ketchup

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/ Gas 4. Line 10 bun tins with paper cases. Grill the bacon and then chop it.
   
   
2. Sift the flour, baking powder, mustard powder, cayenne and a pinch of salt into a bowl. Stir in the bacon and cheese.
   
   
3. In another bowl, lightly beat together the egg, milk and olive oil. Quickly fold into the flour mixture, taking care not to overmix.
   
   
4. Divide half the mixture between the cake cases. Put 1 teaspoon ketchup in the centre and then cover with the remaining mixture. Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes.

Eyeball trifles

Cherries pushed into lychees look just like bloodshot eyes!

Serves 10
Ready in 35 minutes, plus chilling time
Price per serving 59p

2 tablets Asda red jelly
30 cocktail cherries or glacé cherries
2 x 425g cans Asda Lychees in Syrup
2 x 425g cartons Asda Long-life Ready to Serve Custard
150ml whipping cream, whipped, or Asda Aerosol Real Dairy Cream
2 chocolate flakes, crumbled

1. Prepare the jelly as instructed on the packet and pour into individual glasses.
   
   
2. Push the cherries into the holes in the middle of the lychees and put three into each glass. Chill in the fridge until set.
   
   
3. Just before the party starts, top the jellies with the custard. Whip the whipping cream until it just holds its shape and pile or pipe on top of the custard, or squirt with aerosol cream.
   
   
4. Crumble the flakes and sprinkle them over the top of the trifles.

Witches’ hats

Yummy easy-to-hold treats

Makes 10
Ready in 40 minutes, plus setting time
Price per serving 28p

25g butter
200g mini marshmallows
100g Asda Rice Snaps
10 ice cream cones
10 chocolate digestives
100g Asda Dark Chocolate 100s and 1000s

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan, then add the marshmallows and stir over a low heat until melted. Remove from the heat, add the rice snaps and stir gently until they are all coated.
   
   
2. Spoon a little of the rice-snap mixture into each cone. Place the biscuits on top and turn the cones upside down – the heat from the rice-snap mixture will make the biscuits stick. Put the hats on a tray.
   
   
3. Melt the chocolate in a bowl standing over hot water, making sure the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Drizzle a little chocolate over each cone and sprinkle with 100s and 1000s. Leave in a cool place to set.

Halloween games

1. Make a big bowl of spaghetti and let it cool. Put in a bucket along with some well-hidden plastic spiders. Get the children to take turns grabbing scoops of pasta and looking for the spiders. The child who finds the most spiders is the winner.
   
   
2. Give each child a pencil and paper and see who can make the most words from the letters in ‘Halloween’.
   
   
3. Divide the kids into two groups and pick a ‘mummy’ in each. Each group races to wrap the mummy up in toilet paper – avoiding the face, of course!