Top Halloween Cocktail Recipes

Halloween is one of those events that seems to be a lot about the kids – what, with trick or treating and costumes, baking scary cupcakes and having their friends around for a party.  But if you don’t have kids or yours have gone to someone else’s party, then there’s no reason that a few Halloween cocktails can’t be made up to celebrate the event for the adults!

Simple combinations

Cocktails can be as complicated or as simple as you like – depends on how much you feel like imitating Tom Cruise!  For those who want simple options, the Black Devil Martini is a great starter.  All you need is two ounces of dark rum to half an ounce of dry vermouth for a deep red coloured martini that looks a lot like blood.  Frost the edge of the glass with orange sugar crystals and pop a black olive or two on a stick to garnish.

The Witches Brew is another must-have cocktail recipe for Halloween and makes a longer drink.  Take that personalised tumbler that the kids got you for your birthday and add in one ounce of pineapple juice and another of cranberry juice.  Add the same amount again of 7UP or another lemon and lime fizzy pop then put one and a quarter ounces of coconut rum, such as Malibu, by tipping along the side of the glass so it pools into the bottom.

Punch

An easy option for self-service drinks at a party is a punch and for Halloween, there has to be plenty of red involved.  Take your large punch bowl and put ice in the bottom.  Next up add ten ounces of vodka, five ounces of triple sec, two ounces of bitters and about ten ounces of freshly squeezed blood orange juice (or use the stuff from the carton if you prefer!) before finishing with around twenty ounces of black cherry soda.  Stir everything together.  Take the punch glasses and rim them with grenadine for that fresh blood look then use a ladle to add the punch.

Sangria is great drink to serve at parties in the same way as punch and with a little preparation, the Severed Hand Sangria will get a few shrieks as well as complements!  The night before the party, take a few latex gloves and fill them with filtered water.  Tie them up and pop them in the freezer overnight.  In the punch bowl, combine two bottles of red wine, around thirty ounces of sparking water and the same amount of freshly squeezed orange juice.  Also add three ounces of brandy or Cointreau depending on your preference and three tablespoons of brown sugar.  The fruit element comes from two thinly sliced oranges, two pink grapefruit cut similarly, two lemons and two limes, all thinly sliced and finally a cup full of natural sour cherries.  Once the ingredients are mixed, take out the latex gloves, remove it and pop the hand shaped ice cubes into the bowl – spooky!

Armed with your creepy cupcakes and spooky sandwiches, you will be ready for the perfect adults-only Halloween party!

Baking with the Kids for Halloween

Halloween is fast becoming a major event in the UK as it has been for many years in the US and this means more and more kids wanting to host or attend a Halloween party.  But this also makes for a great reason to get that personalised baking set they bought you for your birthday out of the cupboard and enjoy some baking time with the kids.

Party treats

With ghosts, witches, pumpkins and other spooky elements, there are plenty of inspirations for Halloween and plenty of great ideas how to make something with the kids within the theme.  One really simple idea involves decorating biscuits to make Spider web biscuits to serve your guests.

All your need for this recipe is eight rich tea or other buttery biscuits, 100g of dark chocolate and 3 tablespoons of icing sugar as well as a few drops of lemon juice.  Melt the chocolate either on the stove or in the microwave until it is smooth and shiny then spread some on each biscuit.  Leave them for around ten minutes to set.  Meantime, mix the icing sugar with lemon juice to make an icing paste.  Use a pastry bag with a very fine nozzle and start in the centre, drawing three circles, each one a little bigger.  Then use a fine knife to drag the icing from one circle to another to create the web, or join them with more lines of icing if you prefer.  Let them set and you have perfect Spider web Biscuits.

Gruesome cakes

Graveyard cupcakes really look the part on the Halloween buffet table and by using a chocolate cake mixture from a box, the kids can really get involved with the job from the start.  As well as a 500g cake mix you will also need 800g of chocolate icing, 150g digestive biscuits and 24 oval or rectangular shaped biscuits such as Nice.

Make up the cakes as instructed on the box then add the chocolate icing, leaving one quarter of it for extra decoration.  Fill a pastry bag with the remaining icing and use a plain tip then write RIP on the rectangular biscuits at the top end.  Stand each decorated biscuit in the cupcake to resemble a gravestone coming out of the ground then sprinkle each cake the digestive biscuit crumbs to appear like dirt.

Traditional sweets

One of the most traditional sweet treats for Halloween has to be the toffee apple and these too can easily be made at home.  Use 100g pre-made toffee along with six Granny Smith apples and some wooden sticks like those found in ice lollies.  Insert a stick ¾ way into an apple then place them on a lined baking tray.  Mix up the toffee with two tablespoons of water and ½ teaspoon of vanilla essence on a low heat until melted and smooth.  Dip each apple into the toffee until each is covered then put back onto the tray until they set, pop them in fridge if you need them quicker than leaving them to air-dry.

Helping Kids Enjoy Halloween

Now the kids are back at school, parents’ attention begins to turn towards the next two months and there is a lot going on.  Next month sees Halloween after the half term break then Bonfire Night close its heels and then before we know it, it is Christmas.  Halloween is an event that is ever growing in popularity with the shops filling up with everything spooky already.  For some kids, it is great fun but for others it can be a bit too scary.  So how can you help kids enjoy Halloween and make sure they are safe?

Trick or treat

Most kids will say trick or treating when you ask them what their favourite part of Halloween is – mostly because of the sweets involved.  The biggest part of this is the dressing up element and most kids adore doing this at any excuse.  Of course, dressing them up in dark clothes on a dark night can seem like a bit of a recipe for disaster so one easy tip is to pop a little glow in the dark tape on the costume or on their trick or treat bag.  Makes for a fun look but also makes them easier to spot when walking around the neighbourhood.

Some people elect to let their kids wear masks as part of the costumes but one thing to watch is that they don’t cover their eyes, noses or mouths as this can be uncomfortable or worse.  Another solution is to go with face painting instead – great fun in the lead up to going out and means there is no mask to get in the way.  Older kids might elect for coloured or decorative contact lenses to add to the look but avoid these for the younger kids.

Halloween activities

If you aren’t going out trick or treating or are having a party, then getting the house ready for the event is another fun activity.  The carved pumpkin is a staple of the Halloween decorations so why not let the kids sketch their design onto the pumpkin and do the carving yourself or let the older kids take on the job.  If they want to scoop out the pumpkin, use an ice cream scoop rather than a knife.

Adding candles is another tradition but can be a bit of a risk around kids.  Replacing them with a glow stick or a flameless candle will give the illumination without the risk of a real flame to deal with. 

Dealing with Fright Night

Some kids find Halloween a bit terrifying and don’t want to take part in the activities.  They can even get spooked when people are knocking on the door.  One solution to help with this is to get a reading book on Halloween, even a personalised one that makes them the central character in the story.  This will make it seem less scary and help them understand what all the ghosts and witches are about.  That way the next year, they may even want to join in the trick or treating or Halloween parties!