Make your kids’ Halloween party a graveyard smash with spooky snacks and eerie activities

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This article was published 20/10/2015 (3998 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Party-themed recipe books are a great source of inspiration and instruction. With Halloween on a Saturday this year, there’s a whole afternoon to gather a few kids for a late afternoon monster mash before heading out into the night to scare the neighbours into handing out goodies.

Tricky Treats: Ghoulish Goodies to Serve Up on Halloween by Susanna Tee (GMC Publications Ltd., 48 pages) is a fun book of recipes that will guide you on some spooky food prep to fill up the ghouls.

Tricky Treats has a nice mix of fruity treats and other “unsweet” edibles, but it also has some really fun-to-look-at-and-eat sweet treats. Older kids will be able to help out with some of the more complicated projects that involve piping icing and moulding ready-made fondant into simple shapes.

There are a couple of things that smaller children will be able to do (like the apple treat below), and there are some adults can do ahead of time. If you want to make any of the recipes with youngsters, be sure to carefully read through the instructions and prepare your supplies ahead of time.

This week, we’re going to help you plan a little party for the youngsters, since a busy party is a fun party. You’ll need at least two adults to both run games and prepare some food. You’ll find instructions for a few games that are enjoyable and easy to organize. Once everyone has burned off a little energy and they’re feeling hungry, there are three recipes from Tricky Treats.

As a bonus, our movie and theatre guy, Randall King, shares a list of kid-friendly Halloween movies for after the games and the pancakes. The kids can have the fun of assembling the Vampire Apple Wedges with just a little supervision. The fruit snake should be assembled ahead of time (make two for a fun edible centerpiece). The pancakes should be prepared by a second adult while the kids are finishing up their games.

 

Vampire Apple Wedges

Have the adult cut the apples and let the kids assemble the “mouths.” It’s easy to cut marshmallows with little scissors.

You will need:

2 red apples
35 mini marshmallows
Smooth peanut butter

Cut the apples into four pieces and remove the cores. Cut out a wedge from each piece to make a mouth. Cut the mini marshmallows in half to make fangs and attach inside the mouth with a little smooth peanut butter. Makes 8.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snarling Strawberry Snake

This is a larger item to share around the table.

You will need:

8 strawberries
2 bananas
Strawberry lace (a candy shoelace)
Chocolate writing icing
Lemon juice, for brushing (optional)

Thickly slice the strawberries and bananas. Arrange them on a plate to make a snake shape.

To make the snake’s head, cut out a wedge from a strawberry to make a mouth, insert a length of strawberry lace or small piece of strawberry to make a tongue, and pipe on chocolate writing icing to make eyes. (If you can’t find it in a tube, just use a little honey and two small candies to make the eyes). Serve at once or brush with lemon juice to stop the bananas turning brown. Makes 1.

 

 

 

Dead Fly Pancakes

For this one, you’ll need one adult to keep the kids busy while another cooks and preps the pancakes. Pass a tray with some cheese cubes or devilled eggs for a little protein boost. Top with ghosts made of heavy cream and chocolate for petrifying but yummy pancakes. (The raisins are the “dead flies.”)

125 ml (1/2 cup) whole rolled porridge oats
125 ml (1/2 cup) milk
175 ml (3/4 cup) self-rising white flour
2 ml (1/2 tsp) baking powder
125 ml (1/2 cup) raisins
1 extra large egg
Sunflower oil, for brushing
300 ml (1 1/4 cup) heavy cream (whipping cream)
20 chocolate chips

Put the oats in the milk and let soak. Meanwhile, sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Stir in the raisins.

Make a well in the centre and break in the egg. Gradually beat in the milk mixture, incorporating the flour until smooth.

Brush a large, nonstick frying pan or griddle with oil and heat gently. Drop tablespoons of the mixture into the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes on each side until golden. Transfer to a serving plate and let cool slightly.

Meanwhile, pour the cream into a bowl and, using an electric whisk, whisk until it holds its shape.

When the pancakes have cooled, add a dollop of the cream on top of each to look like ghosts and add two chocolate chips to look like eyes. Serve immediately. Makes 10.

 

Excerpted with permission from Tricky Treats: 20 Ghoulish Goodies to Serve Upon Halloween by Susanna Tee (GMC Publications, $13.95)