Til Death Us Do Party

Bring life and soul to your Day Of The Dead-themed gathering with our shockingly good Halloween nibbles.

Make a graveyard with snippedchive grass and a selection of hard cheeses – such as Cheddar, red Leicester and Stilton – cut into tombstones, coffins and skulls, plus crosses set in plinths made of goats’ cheese rounds. Serve on a cheeseboard with grapes and savoury biscuits.

Tear off a leg and share!

SERVES 12 | READY IN 1HR 35 MINS, PLUS COOLING | PRICE PER SERVING 42p

• 25g chilled butter, cubed

• 500g Asada Strong White Bread Flour, plus extra for kneading

• 1 sachet Asda Great to Bake Easy Bake Yeast

• 2 level tsp caster sugar

• 1 level tsp salt

• 1 egg, beaten, plus poppy seeds, sesame seeds and black olives, to decorate Houmous, to serve

1) Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the yeast, sugar and salt.

2) Add 325ml lukewarm water and stir with a spoon to make a soft dough. If it's too sticky, add a little flour.

3) Knead on a lightly floured surface for 10mins. Flatten. Knead for 1-2mins.

4) Cut three-quarters of the dough in half and make a figure-8 shape for the body. Roll the rest into 8 legs. To attach, brush with water and push in with the handle of a wooden spoon.

5) Cover with lightly greased clingfilm and leave in a warm place for 30-40mins, or until doubled in size.

6) Brush with egg. Sprinkle with the seeds. Bake in a preheated oven at 220C/ 200C Fan/Gas 7 for 25 mins, or until the base sounds hollow when tapped. Cool.

7) Slice the top off a body round and scoop out the dough. Fill with houmous. Add olive slices for eyes.

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Make an outer ring of tortilla chips followed by a smaller inner ring of chopped lettuce. To fill the centre, spoon in chopped tomatoes, refried beans, chopped red onions and a generous serving of guacamole. Put some soured cream in a food storage bag and snip of one corner. Pipe over the top to make a spider’s web pattern.

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Cut a few filo pastry sheets into 10cm squares. Put 1tsp Chosen by you 50% Less Fat Sweet Chilli Light Soft Cheese in the centre. Pull one corner up and over the cheese to the other corner. Fold the pointed tip back over. Dampen the edges with water and press to seal. Pull the 2 remaining edges up to form wings. Using a slotted metal spoon to hold the wings in place, lower each one into a deep fat fryer flled with vegetable oil and cook at 170C for 2mins each. Add 2 small pieces of red chilli pepper to make the eyes.

Sweet ’n’ scary skulls with a delicious crunch.

SERVES 12 | READY IN 2HRS 30MINS | PRICE PER SERVING 38p

• 100g softened butter

• 75g caster sugar

• 1 egg, separated

• 200g plain flour

• 1/2 tsp mixed spice

• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

• 1 ball stem ginger, finely grated

• 500g icing sugar, sifted

• Food colouring in black, plus your choice of assorted bright colours

• 50g white fondant, to decorate

1) Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 200C/180C Fan/ Gas 6. Cream the butter and caster sugar together until light and fufy. Add the egg yolk and beat well.

2) Sift the four and spices over the mixture. Add the ginger and mix to a soft dough. If the dough is dry, mix in 1-2tsp of syrup from the ginger jar. Wrap in foil and chill for 15mins.

3) Draw a skull shape about 15cm long on a piece of cardboard and cut it out.

4) Roll out the dough to 5mm thick. Using the skull template and a sharp knife, cut out 12 skull shapes. Lift onto the baking sheets and bake for 10mins, or until pale golden. Leave to cool, then transfer to a wire rack.

5) Beat the egg white until frothy. Add the icing sugar. Beat for 4-5mins until thick.

6) Colour 4tbsp of this royal icing black. Spoon into a piping bag with a small plain nozzle. Trace an outline inside each biscuit, then outline the mouth and the eyes. Leave to dry.

7) Colour small quantities of the royal icing different colours, then thin down with drops of water to a pourable consistency. Use to cover the biscuits inside the outer line, except the mouth and eye areas, then fll these in with black icing.

8) Leave to dry. Decorate with flowers and balls made from fondant, and pipe coloured icing in swirls.

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Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper. Peel some bananas and trim one end of each. Insert a wooden skewer into the cut end. Dip each banana into natural yogurt, sprinkle with a little desiccated coconut, then press in chocolate chips for eyes. Put on the baking sheet and freeze for 30mins or until needed. Serve over ice.

Get everyone into the party spirit with our Halloween witches’ brew

SERVES 8 | READY IN 40MINS | PRICE PER SERVING 70p

• 1L cider

• 125g sugar

• 1 stick cinnamon

• 500ml cranberry juice

• 8 apples

• 150ml rum

1) Put all the ingredients, except the apples and rum, in a large pan and heat until just simmering. Cover and simmer for 30mins.

2) Peel some of the apples, then cut Jack-o’-Lantern faces into all of them. Add to the punch 5mins before it has finished simmering. Finally, stir in the rum and serve warm.