POISON-APPLE COCKTAILS

10 MINS, PLUS 48 HRS OPTIONAL STEEPING TIME

This recipe is for adults only, but for a childfriendly version mix 500ml cloudy apple juice with 80ml ginger cordial and top up with 200ml fizzy water. Garnish as below with plenty of ice and slices of apple and ginger. You can use plain vodka for the grown-up drink or make my spiced apple version if you like.

MAKES 4

For the spiced apple vodka

— 3 green apples, thinly sliced

— 3 cinnamon sticks — 70cl vodka

— 2 tbsp soft light-brown sugar

For the cocktails

— 150ml spiced apple vodka or plain vodka — 80ml ginger cordial — soft brown sugar or demerara sugar, to coat the rim of the glasses — plenty of ice, to serve — 1 red apple, thinly sliced, to serve

— small piece of ginger, cut into thin strips, to serve

— 500ml cider or sparkling apple juice

If you are making the apple vodka, place the apple slices and cinnamon sticks in a large Kilner jar and pour over the vodka. Seal the jar and give it a good shake, and store for at least 48 hours before using.

To use, strain the vodka, discarding the apple slices and cinnamon sticks, and stir in the sugar to dissolve. Store the vodka in a bottle in the fridge; it will last indefinitely.

To make the cocktails, mix 150ml of the vodka with the ginger cordial.

Coat the rim of four tall glasses with brown sugar. Add plenty of ice, a couple of apple slices and some ginger strips to each glass.

Divide the vodka mixture between the glasses and top with the cider or sparkling apple juice.

Use a good, flavoursome pumpkin or squash for this recipe; ones for carving can be tasteless.

SERVES 4-6

For the pastry (or use 400g shop-bought shortcrust)

— 230g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

— 150g very cold butter — 1 egg yolk

For the filling

— 500g pumpkin or squash (unprepared weight), peeled, deseeded and diced into 2cm cubes — 3 tbsp olive oil

— 10 sage leaves

— 2 medium leeks, thinly sliced

— 35g butter

— 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or crushed — leaves from ½ small bunch of parsley or chives, finely chopped — 200g Caerphilly or cheddar, coarsely grated — good grating of whole nutmeg, about 1 tsp

— 1 egg

— 250ml double cream — 2 black olives

Put the flour in a large bowl with a pinch of salt and grate in the butter. Rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Beat the yolk with two tablespoons of ice-cold water then add to the bowl, mixing briefly but assertively, using a knife, to combine. You may need a splash more cold water, but don’t add too much as this will make for tough pastry. Mix just enough to bring the dough together, then wrap in parchment paper and rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Roll out the chilled pastry on a lightly floured work surface to a circle about 3mm thick and large enough to line a 20cm tart tin. Line the tin with the pastry and trim the edges (gather and wrap the trimmed bits, and place in the fridge). Place the tin in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas mark 4.

For the filling, toss the pumpkin or squash with the oil, sage leaves and some salt and pepper on a baking tray, and roast for about 15-20 minutes, until very soft and bronzed in places.

Meanwhile, fry the leek in the butter in a pan over a moderate heat, until completely soft, about 8-10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for two minutes, until fragrant. Remove from the heat.

Stir the roast pumpkin, parsley or chives, and cheese into the leek. Season with the nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste, then set aside.

Line the chilled pastry case with greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the paper and beans and bake for another 5-10 minutes, until the pastry is crisp and pale golden.

In a jug, beat the egg into the double cream and season well.

Roll out the reserved pastry on a lightly floured worktop to about 3mm thick. Cut into thin strips about 2.5cm wide and of various lengths, to make ‘bandages’.

Spoon the pumpkin mixture into the pastry case and pour over the cream. Lay the pastry strips across the tart, overlapping them a little. Leave space between the strips for the eyes.

Bake for about 40 minutes, checking from 30 minutes onwards, until the pastry is crisp and golden brown, and the pie mix is bubbling beneath. Allow to cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes before serving, with the two olives placed between the ‘bandages’ to look like eyes.

Filled with cherry jam and baked with a lean cooking time, these rich brownies ooze out their ‘guts’ as you bite into them. Decorate them however you fancy, with ghoulish things such as edible spiders or eyeballs.

SERVES 6-8

— 200g dark chocolate, broken into pieces — 125g butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing the tin

— 3 eggs, beaten

— 200g soft light-brown sugar

— 100g plain flour — 100g cherry jam — spooky cake decorations of your choice, perhaps spiders, to serve

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas mark 4 and line a 20cm square cake tin with greaseproof paper.

Heat the chocolate and butter in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, or use a microwave on low, gently stirring from time to time, until melted. Beat the eggs and sugar together until creamy and voluminous, then fold in the flour, before finally stirring in the melted chocolate and butter. Don’t over-mix.

Pour half the mixture into the prepared tin, then add the jam, dotting it over the mixture in different places (it doesn’t need to uniformly cover the chocolate mixture). Add the remaining brownie mixture on top, covering up the jam as best you can.

Bake for 18-25 minutes, or until the brownie is just firm to the touch and the top has cracked at the sides in a few places.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before decorating in a spooky fashion to serve.