Fabulous treats (with no tricks) for Halloween

As we approach Halloween why not cook up some tasty seasonal treats for you and your children. Yorkshire Businesswoman member and regular food and recipe contributor Freda Shafi shares some of her amazing recipes with us.

It’s my favourite season. Halloween and Bonfire night; I always make sure I indulge my inner child. More so with these fun recipes. Seasonal comfort food is also on the menu as the darker nights draw in; so pumpkin soup is on repeat and I added to cauliflower cheese - it tastes delicious!
I hope you enjoy this month’s extra recipes
Freda x

Spicy pumpkin soup
This pumpkin soup is just the ticket for October. It’s full of nutrition and packed with flavour too.

Ingredients
1/2 large pumpkin, peeled and roughly chopped
1 onion diced
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp ground coriander
Pinch chilli flakes
2 cloves
5 pepper corns
6 tbsp vegetable oil or ghee
1 tsp fresh grated garlic
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
500ml chicken / vegetable stock
Salt to taste

Garnish
Pumpkin seeds
Tandoori spice (pre mixed available in most Asian grocery shops)
Olive oil

Fresh double cream (optional)

Method
Heat 6 tbsp oil in a large saucepan. Add the diced onion and stir fry until tender.

Add the pumpkin and stir fry for a few minutes.

Introduce all the spices and combine well before adding the stock.

Leave to simmer on a moderate heat until the pumpkin is tender

Take a hand held food processor and grind until the soup becomes a smooth consistency.

Garnish – tandoori pumpkin seeds

Heat the oven to 180C or 160 fan forced
Place the pumpkin seeds into a pan of boiling water with 1 tsp of salt and boil for 6-8 minutes

Remove from the water and lay onto a lined baking tray.

Dab with some kitchen towel to remove any excess water
Sprinkle with some olive oil, coating them generously

Using a sieve sprinkle generously with the ready mixed tandoori spice until well coated

Place the baking tray into the preheated oven and bake the pumpkin seeds for 10-15 mins until golden brown
Serve the soup into individual bowls then spoon a few teaspoons of the pumpkin seeds each portion
Add some extra chilli flakes if you like a little more heat and a dash of cream for extra indulgence.

Devilish pumpkin cake with chocolate icing
This is a great one for the children; they’ll never know there is a healthy element hiding in this cake! And it’s a brilliant way to introduce a wholesome and seasonal vegetable into cake batter.
If you’re not a fan of pumpkin, you can make standard sponge cake batter instead

Ingredients
For the cake
280g self raising flour
280g golden brown caster sugar
2 tsps mixed spice / or alternatively 1 tbsp ground sweet cinnamon
180g melted butter
1½ tsp baking powder
3 large free-range eggs
300g peeled and grated pumpkin

Icing
200g plain chocolate chopped
100g unsalted butter

Method
Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4.
Line a 20cm round baking tin with baking paper
Put the flour, sugar, spice / cinnamon and baking powder into a bowl and combine

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, melted butter, and then combine with the dry ingredients making sure it is fully blended.
Add the grated pumpkin. Pour the mixture into the lined tin

Bake for 35-40 minutes until cooked through. Use a skewer to check (if needs be) the skewer should come out clean when inserted into the cake

Chocolate icing:
Melt the chocolate over a boiling pan of water or in the microwave on a medium heat. Transfer to a saucepan and add the butter and combine both elements well until smooth and thickened.
Set aside to cool; enough to pour over the cake
Pour the icing over the top of the cake - allowing it to drip and drizzle over the edge

Using the white chocolate icing pen or other white chocolate icing piped through a thin nozzle bag, start to draw a pattern by making several circles over the surface as shown in the photo. Then create lines for the web pattern . Throw on some pretend spiders to add drama Transfer the cake to a cake stand and serve

Cauliflower and pumpkin cheese.
Who else loves of a classic cauliflower cheese? Have you ever tried adding pumpkin to it. A sprinkle of spiced pumpkin seeds to garnish. Let’s just say, try it and leave it at that.

500g pumpkin peeled and diced
500g cauliflower florets
White sauce :
100g butter
500ml milk
5oz cheese
1 tsp mustard
Salt and pepper to season

Place the cauliflower florets in a saucepan of boiling water and par boil for 6-8 mins until tender
Drain and leave to one side

In another saucepan melt the butter add the flour and stir vigorously with a hand held whisk to create a roux

Add the milk and continue to stir until a thick sauce is formed (add more milk if necessary)
Add the grated cheese, mustard, salt and pepper to season. Check the seasoning by tasting; add more if necessary.

Place the sliced pumpkin and par boiled cauliflower in a medium ceramic ovenproof dish.

Pour the cheese sauce carefully over the cauliflower and pumpkin and place in a preheated oven 200C / 180 C (fan forced)
Cook for 25 to 30 minutes until the cauliflower cheese is bubbling and the top is golden brown
Enjoy!

Pumpkin scones
These are incredible. If you’re a scone lover and you like both sweet and savoury scones here’s one for you. They are perfect as a breakfast or a snack during the day. Enjoy with some of your favourite treats including cheese and pickle

Ingredients
450g self raising flour
150g butter
2 large eggs (free range ideally)
4 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp strong English mustard
1/2 tsp ground cumin
50g cheddar cheese grated
300g pumpkin peeled and roughly chopped -Olive oil, Salt and pepper to season
1 beaten egg to wash the scones whilst baking
To serve
Red pepper chutney
Sliced cheddar

Method
Pre-heat the oven 180C / 170 fan forced
Place the chopped pumpkin on a baking tray with a few tsp olive oil, salt and pepper

Place into the heated oven and roast until soft and slightly crisp on the outside

Once cooked gently mash to a pulpy consistency (not too pasty)
Combine the flour, butter and ground cumin using your fingertips. It should resemble fine breadcrumbs.

Add the eggs and a little milk to bring the dough together
Lay the dough flat on some baking paper

Place the mustard, the pumpkin and the grated cheese onto the dough
With your hands, gently fold the dough inwards from each corner. Gently knead to spread the mixture evenly

Take some flour and loosely dust into a flat surface and over the dough and roll to 3cm thick

Take a scone / cookie cutter and start to cut the scones out. Keep bringing the excess mixture together each time you cut a batch until you have approximately 12-15 scones
Brush with egg wash
Place into the heated oven and bake for 15-18 minutes until cooked through
Serve with cheese, chutney and a sprinkle of fresh herbs as shown
Enjoy

Spooky Spider cookies
Here’s one for the kids and the big kid in us all! I love to make these with my children, they never tire of them are they are so easy to make from scratch. It gets them in the kitchen with you over half term, rolling, baking and having lots of fun. You have to admit these are pretty cute to look at!

Ingredients
Cookies
225g butter
275g plain or all-purpose flour
100g caster sugar or coconut sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger (optional)

Spiders
Chocolate muffins
You can create these at home a few days earlier following the recipe below or if you don’t have the time, shop bought muffins will do
Nutella
Chocolate squeeze tube ganache
Edible eyes 👀 (you can pick these up from most supermarkets in the baking section)

Method
Preheat the oven 180C / 160 fan forced
Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy
Add the other elements ; the sifted flour and spices
Mix with your hands to create a dough
Refrigerate for 1 hour

Take small (golf ball size) chunks of dough and roll firmly in the palm of your hands

Place them on a lined baking tray at least 2” apart

Place your thumb in the centre to create a well or indentation

Place in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes until slightly golden

Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack

Place the muffins in a bowl and smash with the back of a fork

Add 2 tsp Nutella to make a stickyish dough, that you can roll into small marble sized balls

Take small pieces and roll into marble sized balls
Make the same number as the cookies

Place the balls into the centre of each cookie in the indents

Squeeze the chocolate ganache from the squeezy tube to create legs

Use the ganache to stick down the edible eyes as shown

No instructions required for this- they’re basically apples dunked in melted plain chocolate, then decorated with a few sparkly bits for fun. Ordinarily they’re dunked in toffee but this year I’m using plain / milk chocolate and sprinkles as shown
Enjoy!

Easy chocolate Bonfire apples