If you're planning on hosting a Halloween party you're probably starting to think about your menu and all the delectable spooky themed treats you want to serve.

Although it might be tempting to buy a trolley full of frozen food - and jam pack your oven with vol-au-vents and quiches - why not go the extra mile and experiment in the kitchen.?

Follow our recipes for a mixture of sweet and savoury dishes, that experiment with design as much as they do flavour - includes ideas for a starter, main and dessert.

Mummified sausage rolls

Recipe by Aldi

Serves 8 people

Prep time: 35 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

454g pork sausages

1 sheet puff pastry

2 tbsp caramelised onion chutney

For the eyes 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.

Pumpkin Fondue

Recipe by Aldi

Serves: 4 people

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

1 whole pumpkin

30g butter

30g plain flour

1 clove garlic

100ml white wine

150ml dream

250g grated Emmental cheese

100g grated Mature Cheddar/Blue Cheese (optional)

1 tbsp black pepper

Bread croutons, chopped veg, shredded ham - to dip

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
  2. Cut the top off the pumpkin and hollow out the seeds.
  3. Roast in the oven whole for 35 minutes. While it's roasting, finely chop the garlic and fry in the bottom of a large pan in the butter.
  4. Add the flour and cook for 2-3 minutes.
  5. Add the white wine and stir until smooth.
  6. Add the double cream and cheeses and season with black pepper. Reduce the heat to low and stir until the cheese has melted and the mix is gooey and stringy.
  7. When the pumpkin is cooked, scrape some flesh from the edges - be careful to leave a good thick wall.
  8. Add the scraped pumpkin to the cheese.
  9. Serve the cheese inside the roasted pumpkin, with your choice of dippers on the side

Batty Orange Drip Cake

Recipe by Dr Oetker

Serves 12

Ingredients:

For cake:

75g Dr Oetker fine dark cocoa powder

175g baking margarine

350g dark muscovado sugar

2 tbsp treacle

3 medium eggs

250g plain flour

4 tsp Dr. Oetker baking powder

To decorate:

165g unsalted butter

1 large orange, finely grated

2 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice

350g icing sugar

3 tubes Dr. Oetker neon orange gel food colour

150g bar Dr. Oetker 72% extra dark fine cooks’ chocolate

3 tubes Dr. Oetker black gel food colour (optional)

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C (160˚C fan oven, 350˚F, gas 4). Grease and line 2 x deep, 18cm round cake tins. Put the cocoa powder into a bowl and whisk in 350ml cold water.
  2. Beat the margarine, brown sugar and treacle together until well blended. Whisk in the eggs and the liquid cocoa mixture. Sift the flour and baking powder on top and carefully blend the ingredients together to form a thick mixture.
  3. Divide the mixture equally between the tins and bake in the oven for 50 minutes until risen and just firm to the touch. Turn out on to a wire rack to cool completely.
  4. To decorate, put 125g of butter in a large bowl and beat until smooth. Stir in the orange rind and juice. Gradually sieve and mix in the icing sugar to make a smooth, creamy paste. Squeeze in all the orange gel food colour and mix well to make a vibrant orange shade.
  5. Trim the tops off the cakes if necessary, to make them completely flat. Spread one with a layer of orange icing and sandwich together. Spread more icing smoothly round the side of the cake – running the warmed blade of a palette knife flat against the cake helps to achieve a smooth effect. Spread the remaining icing smoothly on top of the cake, making sure the top edge is smooth and flat. Transfer to a serving plate or board. Leave aside in a cool place.
  6. For the bats, using a bat shaped cookie cutter, trace 3 shapes on a sheet of baking parchment. Turn the sheet over and place on a chopping board. Arrange a thin plastic stick or wire down the centre of each shape.
  7. Put 50g extra dark chocolate in a small heatproof bowl and place over a saucepan of barely simmering water to melt.
  8. Transfer the chocolate to a small uncut piping bag, snip off the end and pipe round each bat shape, and over the end of the stick or wire to make sure it is held in place within the bat shape. Leave to set, then fill in the central space with more of the melted chocolate, tapping the board on the work surface to smooth the chocolate. Leave in a cool place to set.
  9. Break up the remaining extra dark chocolate and place in a heatproof bowl with the remaining butter and 2 tsp water. Melt as above, then remove from the water. If you prefer a very dark coloured drip icing, stir in 3 tubes black gel food colour, otherwise leave plain for a naturally extra dark chocolate coloured drip. Leave the drip icing to cool for about 10 minutes until starting to thicken a little.
  10. Using a teaspoon, slowly work your way round the top of the cake, spooning a little of the drip icing at a time on to the top edge of the cake, using a slight zig-zag motion, allowing it to drip down the sides.
  11. Spoon the remaining drip icing into the centre of the cake and carefully spread it over the top to meet the dripping edges. Leave for a few minutes to set.
  12. To serve, carefully peel the bats away from the baking parchment and gently skewer them into the top of the cake.

Tip: The drip icing will stay slightly glossy and fairly soft at room tempreture. If you refrigerate the cake, the icing will become much firmer and duller in colour.