Witches’ Fingers & Eyeball Appletinis

Halloween has always been a special day for me - silly costumes, sugary sweets and Halloween FOOD - whats not to love?! *insert evil cackle here*

What other day of the year can you legitimately eat jelly spiders with gusto whilst wearing a witches hat and shrieking BOO without looking like a complete freak? When else can you boast of eating spicy bat wings, maggot risotto and cat sick pie without your sanity being questioned?

I. Love. Halloween. Fact. Growing up Halloween was a big deal in The Little Welsh household. Mama Welsh would prepare a feverishly ghoulish feast of ‘flesh’ and ‘blood’ sandwiches (ham and jam respectively of course), Wotsits finger stumps and her prize -winning cauldron cake. Needless to say I'd be bouncing off the walls on a sugar high for some time after.

My first venture into Halloween cooking came in the form of some rather scrumptious looking chocolate chip cookies which I generously offered to the eager neighbourhood trick-or-treaters. What those poor kiddies weren't to know was that the cookies were laced with a rather potent chilli powder. The consequences of my Halloween baking weren't to be realised until the following morning on my way to school when I had to dodge the puddles of vomit which contained something that suspiciously resembled chocolate chip cookies, as well as the obligatory sweetcorn. Anyhoo I’ve moved on from playing rather amusing cookie tricks on unsuspecting children and have created more grown-up and sophisticated nosh while still maintaining that element of Halloween fun. This year I shall be presenting my guests with Halloween cocktails and canapes - neither of which contains chilli powder, promise! These will be perfect for a spooky dinner party and are even suitable to make en masse if your hosting a festive house party?

Eyeball Appletini

This recipe makes 2 Appletinis:

• 6 radishes
• 3 green olives stuffed with pimento
• 100ml vodka
• 60ml Apple Schnapps
• 30ml Appletizer

1. Pour all the liquids into a shaker filled with ice and shake, shake, shake!
2. Pour into a chilled martini glass
3. Shave away bits of the radishes’ skin leaving thins lines to resemble blood vessels
4. Make a small hollow in one end of the radish
5. Chop the end off a pimento stuff olive and place it curved-side down into the radish hollow
6. Float your eyeballs in your Appletini and enjoy!

Boiled witches fingers with Mama Welsh’s blood and guts chutney

This recipe makes 4 witches fingers:

• 2 thin frankfurters cut in half
• 1 small yellow pepper - cut out 4 small triangles
• Small blob of ketchup
• 100g ripe tomatoes roughly chopped
• 1/2 onion peeled and chopped
• 10ml white wine vinegar
• 20g Demerara sugar
• 1tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1tsp wholegrain mustard

1. To make the fingers, make 3 small incisions into the middle of each frankfurter to resemble knuckles and boil for 3 minutes
2. Carve out a thin layer at the end of each frankfurter and glue each triangle on with a blob of ketchup
3. For the chutney, throw all the remaining ingredients into a large pan and gently heat until the sugar dissolves then bring to a boil
4. Cook over a medium heat for 30 minutes until the mix looks syrupy
5. Allow to cool and pour into a sterilised (boiled) jar and seal
6. Arrange your fingers in a bowl of chutney and serve to your hungry guests

 The Little Welsh is a blog run by Emma Selby, a Welsh foodie living in London, about everything she eats from homemade treats to restaurant reviews. If you would like more recipes then follow her blog

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