Hungry Halloween

Halloween, or what them olden folks called ‘All Hallows Eve’ (from Old English ‘Hallowed’ meaning holy or sanctified) appears upon brief inspection be a pretty contentious historical phenomenon.

While we may have been lulled into the assumption that it is all fancy dress and fancy food, behind the scenes those clever types have been waging war over its origins.

Its etymology is unarguably Christian, however the actual tradition is believed by most to come from the Celtic festival of ‘Samhain’ which marked the end of summer: a time to take stock of the current food situation before the imminent cold situation. This time was when spooky supernatural things were thought to be closest.

According to this belief it all got mixed up along the way, possibly because the church wanted to smooth the path for converting pagans by accepting their practices, possibly not.

‘Believed by most’ does not by any stretch of the imagination mean all, however one thing is certainly clear:
we in our modern times have decided to cover all that religious, spiritual stuff with fun and food, and sacrilege though it may be, if you can’t beat ’em, you’d better join ’em.

And what could be more fun than making cheesy hands and feet and cupcake spiders? Eh?

Cheesy hands and feet (pizza) (makes 8-10 mini pizzas)

Base

• 600g strong white flour
• 2tsp dry yeast
• 2tbsp olive oil
• 2tsp brown sugar
• 400ml warm water
• Salt/ Pepper

Topping

• Tomato puree
• Chopped tomatoes
• 300g mozzarella
• Whatever else you would like to top your pizza with

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/ gas mark 6

1. Sift the flour into a large bowl with the yeast, sugar and a little salt and pepper
2. Make a well in the middle and add the olive oil and most (but not all) of the warm water
3. Mixing with a fork gradually draw in the flour until you have a springy dough. Add the remaining water, as much as necessary without it becoming too sticky
4. Knead the dough a little, then pace it in a floured bowl with a damp cloth on top and put it in a warm dry place for an hour or so, or until dough has risen
5. Meanwhile draw some hand and foot templates (slightly larger than actual size) onto baking paper and cut them out
6. Place the dough on a well floured surface and divide into about eight or ten small balls
7. Roll these out one but one and place your templates on top. Cut around the template with a knife
8. Place your hand and foot bases onto a baking tray, drizzle olive oil onto the base, then a thin, even layer of tomato puree
9. Spoons some chopped tomatoes on and then cover in sliced mozzarella. Put whatever other topping you desire on top (sliced olives make good fingernails)
10. Place in the oven for 12-15mins or until cooked and golden

Cupcake spiders (makes 12-18)

Cupcakes

• 170g softened butter
• 120g self-raising flour
• 50g cocoa power
• 3 eggs
• 1tsp baking powder

Icing

• 150ml single cream
• 150g dark chocolate
• Chocolate sprinkles
• Strawberry laces
• Sweets for eyes

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/ gas mark 6

1. Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl and add the butter and eggs, and a pinch of salt
2. Electric whisk them all together and spoon into a cupcake tray lined with cupcake cases
3. Place in the oven for around 10-12mins (or till when you stick a knife into one it comes out clean)
4. Leave to cool
5. Meanwhile for the icing, melt the chocolate and cream in a bain-marie. Leave to cool and then place into the fridge to harden to a buttery spreadable texture
6. Spread the icing onto the cupcakes, cover in chocolate sprinkles and add sweets for eyes and strawberry laces for legs!