7 Halloween recipe ideas using Aldi products

Aldi has released some eerie-sistable recipes, perfect for your horrific Halloween party or to give to terrifying trick-or-treaters.

From toffee apples and Frankenstein cake pops, to scary spaghetti peppers and mummified sausage roles - there's something for every taste.

Here is a list of some fang-tastic food ideas that are the perfect accompaniment to the festive season.

Images: Aldi

Homemade toffee apples

A quick and easy recipe perfect for kids and adults at any Halloween party.

Serves: 6 people

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 6 x Funsize Apples
• 1 x 200g bag Dominion Dairy Toffees
• 20ml Milk

Method

1. Take the toffee out of the wrappers.
2. Put into a large bowl and add the milk.
3. Microwave the toffee for 5-8 minutes until melted, stir well.
4. Put the apples onto lollipop sticks or skewers and dip into the melted toffee, stir round until well coated.
5. Repeat with the others, returning the toffee back to the microwave for a minute or so if it becomes too hard.
6. Put into the fridge to set hard.

Vegan Pumpkin Cake

This wickedly wonderful vegan pumpkin cake is the perfect pudding to be served at a party and one for all the family!

Serves: 8 people

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 300g prepared pumpkin or butternut squash
• 50g chai seeds
• 225g plain flour
• 160ml maple syrup
• 180ml Solesta light in colour olive oil
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp bi carb of soda
• 50g caster sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 150g icing sugar
• 25g of either almonds, hazelnuts or walnuts
• 25g dried sweet cranberries or apricots
• A little yellow and red food colouring
• Warm water
• 1 x 23 cm ring mould, with indents to look pumpkin like – lightly greased with some oil

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180c/350f/gas 4
2. Chop the pumpkin into small chunks and boil in a little salted water for 10 mins until soft – drain well and mash
3. Put the warm pumpkin mash into a bowl, sprinkle over the chai seeds and pour over the maple syrup – mix well and allow to soak
4. Put the flour, caster sugar, baking powder, bi carb and salt in another bowl Wisk well with a whisk
5. Pour the olive oil into the pumpkin mix and stir together
6. Add this to the dry mix and beat to mix
7. Put the cake mix into the mould and bake for 25 mins
8. Test with a wooden cocktail stick – the stick should come out clean, then you know it’s cooked
9. Allow to cool in the tin before turning out
10. Sieve the icing sugar and mix a little warm water and food colourings into the sugar until you have a thick but pourable icing and the right colour
11. Drizzle over the turned out cake
12. Chop the nuts and the dried fruit over the top. Build this up to make it look more impressive!

Halloween Showstopping Dark Chocolate Cake

A show-stopping devilishly good dark chocolate cake, topped with Aldi truffles, blueberries and blackberries.

Serves: 12 people

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 x 20cm Loose Bottomed Baking Tins
• 2 Packets Chocolate Cake Mix
• 120ml Vegetable Oil
• 400ml Water

Ganache:

• 450g Dark Chocolate, chopped
• 700ml Double Cream

To Decorate:

• 50g Dark Chocolate
• Cookies and Cream Biscuits
• Moser Roth Truffles (Salted Caramel and Marc de Champagne)
• Red Laces
• Blueberries
• Blackberries

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180° C/Gas Mark 6.
2. Grease and line the baking tins.
3. In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the cake mix, oil and water and beat for a few minutes until smooth with a light consistency.
4. Divide the cake mix between the three cake tins and bake for 30 minutes until well risen and a cocktail stick comes out clean.
5. Remove the cakes from the tins and leave to cool.
6. Heat the cream until almost boiling then pour over the chopped chocolate and stir until smooth and glossy – leave for 15 minutes until cooled/thickened.
7. When the cakes have cooled, slice in half to create 6 layers.
8. Stack the cakes using the ganache as a filling.
9. When all 6 cakes are stacked, cover with more ganache and smooth to create a neat coating.
10. Melt the 50g of dark chocolate and pour on top and allow to drip down the edges.
11. Decorate the top of the cake using the remaining biscuits, truffles, sweets and fruit.

Stuffed spaghetti Scary Peppers

These spooktacular spaghetti peppers are perfect for all the family as a Halloween teatime treat.

Serves: 4 people

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 mixed colour Peppers
• 200g Cucina Spaghetti
• 20ml Solesta Olive Oil
• 150g Butternut Squash flesh
• 1 small Onion
• 100g Chestnut Mushrooms
• 1 x 400g tin Sweet Harvest Chopped Tomatoes with Herbs
• 1 Quixo Vegetable Stock Cube
• 200ml boiling Water
• 1 flat tsp Stonemill Garlic Granules
• Sea Salt
• Splash of Sunflower Oil

Method

1. Cut the tops off the peppers and carefully remove any pith and seeds from inside – keep the tops for use in a salad another day. 
2. With a small sharp knife, cut some faces into the sides of the peppers.
3. Peel, halve and finely chop the onion.
4. Wipe and finely chop the mushrooms.
5. Finely chop the butternut squash.
6. Sauté the onion in the olive oil in a large saucepan for about 5 minutes on a low light until softened but not brown. Add the mushrooms and the butternut squash and stir, cooking for another couple of minutes.
7. Add the tinned tomatoes and the garlic granules.
8. Dissolve the stock cube in the boiling water and add this to the pan.
9. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 15 minutes.
10. Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in some boiling salted water with a splash of sunflower oil until just tender – about 5 minutes.
11. Add the spaghetti to the sauce and mix well.
12. Carefully fill the pepper faces with the mix, allowing it to spill out of the eyes, mouth and nose – and ending up with a spaghetti hair do. 

Kiwi Monsters

These google-eyed green monsters are a horrifically healthy snack, perfect for when on the go or in a school lunchbox.

Prep time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 6 Kiwi Fruit
• 2 Strawberries
• Mini Marshmallows
• Chocolate Chips
• Cocktail Sticks

Method

1. Peel the kiwi fruit, slice into 3 or 4 pieces and reassemble.
2. Slice the strawberries to make the tongue.
3. For the eyes, wet the chocolate chips, stick them onto the marshmallows and hold them in place with a cocktail stick.

Mummified Sausage Rolls

These sausage rolls are easy to make and perfect for a haunted Halloween house party.  

Serves: 8 people

Prep time: 35 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 454g Pork Sausages
• 1 sheet Puff Pastry
• 2 tbsp Caramelised Onion Chutney
• 2 of either Peas/Sweetcorn/Olives
• 1 Egg

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
2. Remove skin from the sausages and discard so just left with the meat.
3. On a large piece of cling film spread the sausage meat into a long sheet and flatten to 14cm width.
4. Spoon a thin column of the chutney along the middle of the sausage meat.
5. Seal the chutney in by bringing the sausage meat around on both sides using the cling film and press the meat together.
6. Freeze the sausage log for 10-15 minutes to make it easier to work with.
7. Remove the pastry from the fridge and cut into 1cm thick strips.
8. Lay the strips on a piece of baking parchment unevenly.
9. Place the sausage meat log onto the pastry strips.
10. Wrap the strips roughly around the sausage meat from top to bottom leaving a 4cm gap half the way down for the face.
11. Cut the log into 8 pieces.
12. Stud the two “eyes” into the face gap.
13. Put the sausage roll onto a baking sheet and brush with beaten egg.
14. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes.

Frankenstein Cake Pops

These delicious cake-pops are the perfect accompaniment to any party spread and are frighteningly fast to whip up.

Serves: 12 people

Prep time: 50 minutes

Cooking time: 8 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 x 280g slab Madeira Cake
• 200g White Chocolate
• 2 x tsp Green Food Colouring
• 4 tsp Milk
• 50g Dark Chocolate
• 12 pop sticks or lollipop sticks

Method

1. Trim and cut the madeira cake into 12 oblong shapes.
2. Carefully put a stick into each.
3. Put onto a tray lined with some non-stick paper and freeze for 30 minutes.
4. Break up the white chocolate and put into a heatproof bowl.
5. Put the bowl over a pan of simmering water and melt the chocolate, make sure the bottom of the pan does not touch the water.
6. Once the chocolate has melted, add the green food colouring while the bowl is still over the pan of hot water.
7. Add the milk if the mixture is too thick, then stir well.
8. Dip each cake pop into the green chocolate to cover (keep them upright as they cool, you can make some holes in a potato and stand them in there while they cool and to decorate).
9. Allow to cool and harden then melt the dark chocolate the same way as you did the white chocolate.
10. Dip the tops of each cake pop in the chocolate to give Frank some hair.
11. Using the end of a toothpick, make some eyes and a stitched mouth. Allow to cool.

Find more recipes on the Aldi website here.