Hello my little ghouls! If you've got brains on the menu this Halloween, I've got five deliciously gruesome ideas for you. There's a giant sushi brain, a wobbly bloody panna cotta, cupcakes hiding strawberry jam blood clots, chewy popcorn brains and little chocolate brains filled with peanut butter. Whether you're feeding a hungry zombie or just your friends, these will give them something to scream about!
1 - Sushi Brain
This giant sushi brain hides an avocado filled with chive cream cheese under a layer of seasoned sushi rice. Thin slices of smoked salmon are folded over the outside to make those creepy brain wrinkles, with red caviar down the centre. You can slice it up to share and serve it with soy sauce labelled "Ashes of Vampire".
2 - Bloody Brain Panna Cotta
If you want something that makes people hesitate before picking up a spoon, may I present this bloody brain panna cotta? A brain jelly mould does the clever work, turning a creamy dessert into something alarmingly anatomical. The blood clots are made with apple and blackcurrant juice, gelatine and red food colouring.
3 - Blood Clot Brain Cupcakes
Why stop at a brain on top when you can hide a blood clot inside too? These cupcakes have a strawberry jam centre tucked into a dense buttermilk cake, with pinkish-grey buttercream piped over the top. You only need a plain piping nozzle to make the squiggles and they can wander in all sorts of directions, which is excellent news if neat decorating isn't your thing. Then someone takes a bite and discovers the jammy surprise.
4 - Bloody Popcorn Brains
These little brains are sweet, chewy and much easier to shape than they look. Popcorn is coated in melted marshmallows, white chocolate and butter, then shaped into two halves and pressed together while still warm. A line of red-tinted jam down the middle supplies the blood, with any lovely lumpy bits doing duty as blood clots. This is one occasion where lumpy jam is exactly what you want! Oil your hands before shaping them so that you end up with brains on the tray instead of marshmallow stuck to every finger.
5 - Brain Chocolate Truffles
These brain truffles are one of my favourite Halloween treats. Inside each pink shell there's peanut butter and dried cranberries, so you get that sweet, salty combination with a little chewy fruit. A silicone brain mould gives them all their squiggly detail without any fiddly piping. The recipe makes a dozen, which sounds like a respectable number of brains until you taste one and start eyeing off the next. Pop them on a platter for your fellow ghouls and see how long they last!
So tell me Dear Reader, which of these brains would you eat first?
And if you are looking for another recipe to make this week try my GIANT Xiao Long Bao. I'll show you how to make it from scratch from the pastry skin to the filling. The recipe is on my Substack! x
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