Trick or Treat?

Candy corn, toffee apples and a witch’s brew, get ready for a wickedly indulgent Halloween

Witch’s Brew (Serves 1)

1 pumpkin
1tsp honey
6tsp fresh lemon juice
4tbsp bourbon
¼tsp fresh ginger, ground
¼tsp cinnamon, ground
6tbsp ginger beer

Cut the pumpkin in half, remove the seeds and stringy fibres, and discard the innards. Cut into small cubes and peel. Place in a pan of boiling water and cook until tender. Purée down to a liquid and leave to cool. Next, place 2 tablespoons of pumpkin purée, the honey, lemon juice, bourbon, ginger and cinnamon in a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously. Strain over ice into a large glass. Stir in the ginger beer, and garnish with a cinnamon stick or jellied sweets.

Candy Corn (Makes 25)

3½oz granulated sugar
6tbsp light corn syrup
2tbsp unsalted butter
4½oz icing sugar
½oz powdered milk
½tsp vanilla extract
3 drops each yellow and orange food colouring

Combine the granulated sugar, corn syrup and a splash of water in a saucepan. Cover and cook for 4 minutes. Add the butter, and bring the sugar syrup to 110ºC. Remove from the heat. Pulse the icing sugar and powdered milk until smooth. Add the sugar syrup and vanilla extract and stir to form a dough. Once cool, divide into 3 equal pieces.

Add 3 drops of yellow food colouring to one piece of dough and knead well, add orange colouring to the second, and leave the third white. Roll each piece of dough into an 18-inch strand. Cut each strand in half and roll each piece into a strand that is about ½ an inch thick and 22 inches long. Lay the strands side by side and press them together. Cut into 4-inch pieces. Then, press each piece into a wedge, keeping the orange section wide and making the white part come to a tip. Cut each wedge into individual candies.

Toffee Apples (Makes 8)

8 green apples
400g caster sugar
1tsp vinegar
4tbsp golden syrup

Cover the apples with boiling water to remove the waxy coating and help the caramel to stick. Dry thoroughly and twist off any stalks. Push a wooden skewer into the stalk end of each apple. Cook the sugar in 100 millilitres of water for 5 minutes until the sugar dissolves, then stir in the vinegar and syrup. Boil to 150ºC. (You can test the toffee by pouring a little into a bowl of cold water. It should harden instantly.) Dip and twist each apple in the hot toffee until covered, let any excess drip away, then place on wax paper to harden.