There’s a particular kind of Halloween recipe that starts with “these are so easy!” and ends with you using tweezers to attach pupils to a strawberry. We would have eaten the strawberry some time ago.
These three Halloween brownie desserts require rather less patience. There’s a generous platter for a party, a chocolate graveyard pudding for sharing, and warm brownie sundaes for anyone spending the evening pretending to be out.
All three use ready-made brownies, with supermarket ingredients and straightforward assembly. You can make something delicious and suitably sinister without spending your Saturday piping bandages onto twenty individual mummies.
A big platter makes hosting easier: everyone helps themselves, and you get to stay at the table. For Halloween, we’re going for an abandoned banquet, with dark fruit, piles of brownies and broken chocolate. Whoever left had excellent taste and a fairly urgent reason to run.
Serves: 8–12 as part of a dessert spread
Preparation: 20 minutes, plus chocolate-setting time
Ingredients
- One Premier 24 or Deluxe 24 brownie box
- 400g dark grapes
- 150g blackberries
- 100g dark chocolate
You’ll also need a large platter or food-safe board and baking paper.
Method
- Make the chocolate shards. Melt the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl in 20-second bursts, stirring between each. Spread thinly onto baking paper and leave somewhere cool until firm, then break into jagged pieces.
- Arrange the brownies. Build a few small stacks on your platter, then place the remaining brownies around them. Turn some sideways to show their fillings and leave others with their toppings facing up.
- Add the fruit. Wash and thoroughly dry the grapes and blackberries. Snip the grapes into small bunches and tuck them around the brownies, letting a few trail towards the platter’s edge. Add the blackberries in clusters.
- Finish with chocolate. Lean the shards against the brownie stacks, leaving enough space for guests to pick things up without dismantling the arrangement.
Set the scene
A dark tablecloth, mismatched plates and LED candles will do most of the decorating. Keep the brownies clearly visible and the lighting bright enough to appreciate them. There’s atmospheric, and then there’s accidentally eating a grape stalk.
Prepare ahead: Make the chocolate shards the day before. Wash and dry the fruit earlier in the day, then assemble shortly before serving.
This is a rich sharing pudding with brownie pieces buried in chocolate mousse beneath dark biscuit soil. Chocolate shards and crushed raspberries give it an unsettling appearance without anything requiring an edible face.
Use a ready-made mousse you’d happily eat on its own. It’s a substantial part of the pudding, so this is worth more consideration than the serving dish’s resemblance to a burial plot.
Serves: 6–8
Preparation: 20 minutes, plus chocolate-setting time
Ingredients
- One Bestseller 12 brownie box
- 400g ready-made chocolate mousse
- 100g Oreos, including the filling
- 75g dark chocolate
- 100g raspberries
You’ll need a shallow serving dish, approximately 20cm square or similar.
Method
- Make the chocolate shards. Melt the dark chocolate in short microwave bursts, stirring regularly. Spread thinly onto baking paper, leave to set and break into irregular pieces.
- Prepare the soil. Blitz the Oreos, including the filling, in a food processor. Alternatively, seal them in a food bag and crush with a rolling pin. You want dark, crumbly soil with a few small lumps.
- Bury the brownies. Spoon the mousse into your dish. Cut each brownie into two or three generous pieces and push them into the mousse at different depths, leaving some tops exposed.
- Cover and decorate. Scatter over the biscuit soil and stand the chocolate shards at uneven angles. Lightly crush half the raspberries with a fork and spoon around the edges, letting their juice bleed into the crumbs. Finish with the remaining whole berries.
Bring the dish to the table with a large spoon and let everyone help themselves. It’s rich enough for modest first portions, although we wouldn’t put money on anyone declining a second excavation.
Prepare ahead: Assemble the mousse and brownies up to a day ahead and refrigerate, covered. Add the biscuit soil, chocolate and raspberries shortly before serving to keep the topping crisp. Follow the mousse’s storage instructions and use-by date.
For two people, or one person who has turned off the porch light and is refusing to acknowledge the doorbell.
Warm brownies and vanilla ice cream would already make a convincing evening. Raspberry sauce adds a little sharpness and runs through the melting ice cream in a suitably alarming fashion.
Use whichever brownie flavours you fancy. Salted caramel and triple chocolate both work beautifully here.
Serves: 2
Preparation and cooking: 10–15 minutes
Ingredients
- Four brownie bites from your favourite Bad Brownie box
- 2–4 scoops vanilla ice cream
- 150g fresh raspberries
- 1 tsp caster sugar, plus extra to taste
- 1 tbsp water
- Grated dark chocolate or chocolate shards, optional
Method
- Make the sauce. Put the raspberries, sugar and water in a small saucepan. Heat gently until the berries release their juices, then simmer for 3–5 minutes.
- Mash and taste. Break up the fruit with a fork and add a little more sugar if needed. Keep some sharpness to balance the brownie and ice cream.
- Warm the brownies. Divide between two microwave-safe bowls and warm in 5–10-second bursts, checking each time. Stop when just warm; fillings and toppings can heat quickly.
- Build your sundaes. Add the ice cream, spoon over the warm raspberry sauce and finish with chocolate, if using. Serve immediately.
Take your bowl to the sofa and put on your scariest film. You can question someone else’s decision to investigate the basement while feeling quietly pleased with your own situation.
Prepare ahead: Make the raspberry sauce up to two days ahead, refrigerate in a covered container and reheat gently. Warm the brownies and add ice cream just before eating.
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