There's a spooktacular range of food and drink offerings in supermarkets for Halloween.
From pumpkin-shaped burgers to eyeball cheese cakes full of “blood”, jelly spiders and even a Mummy Colin the Caterpillar, there’s something for all the family to enjoy on Fright Night. But which of the items are tricks… and which are treats?
Here, The Mirror’s Natasha “Witch” Wynarczyk gives her expert verdict…
Limited Edition Spicy Fright Pizza £3.50, Morrisons
They say: A stone baked base topped with pepperoni slices, spicy chicken breast and sprinkled with Scotch bonnet chillies and hot chilli sauce for spice fang-atics.
We say: This gave the roof of my mouth a real scare, you’d have to be a monster to find this pleasant.
Halloween Aaahmazing Chocolate Orange Pumpkin Macaron Kit £2.99, Aldi
They say: Decorate your own macarons with pumpkin and green stalk sprinkles and black icing pen.
We say: Kids will enjoy drawing boo-tiful faces on the macarons – and it’s a lot less messy than pumpkin carving.
Cupcake Platter £2.99, Morrisons
They say: The vanilla cupcakes decorated with pink and green frosting are topped with bewitching black stars and edible witch hat decorations.
We say: Get points for looking the part. However, the icing tasted extre-mely artificial so didn’t leave me under their spell.
Halloween Doughnuts four pack £1.25, Tesco
They say: Four ring doughnuts with orange coloured icing and coloured sugar strands.
We say: These have a classic colour palette to brighten up any All Hallows’ Eve party table. Decent value for money and when I sank my fangs into one of them it was light, fluffy and not too sweet.
Halloween Pasta Tricolore pack £1.29, Lidl
They say: Orange, yellow and purple pasta in Halloween shapes including spiders, pumpkins and bats.
We say: You can’t go wrong with pasta, and kids will be delighted by the freaky characters. Serve up with blood-red tomato sauce to make your feast totally frightening.
M&S Yummy Mummy Colin the Caterpillar £12,
M&S, £9, Ocado
They say: Chocolate sponge roll filled with chocolate buttercream, coated in a layer of Colin’s classic milk chocolate and a layer of creamy white chocolate too.
We say: This is not just a Colin cake... it’s a spooky Colin cake. He’s had a yummy mummy makeover, and is now the perfect showstopper to keep under wraps until your guests arrive.
Oozing Eyeball Cheesecakes £6, M&S/Ocado
They say: Creamy cheesecake filled with tangy “blood” raspberry compote and dipped in white chocolate, topped with an edible eyeball.
We say: A nice creepy concept, but I couldn’t un-see that the eyeballs looked a bit too much like another body part! Cake fell apart into a massive mess.
Spooky Sliders £4.75, Marks & Spencer/ Ocado
They say: Four mini beef burgers with cheddar and onion hiding under pumpkin-shaped golden puff pastry.
We say: Give your friends and family pumpkin to talk about with this fun buffet item. The burger meat was juicy and the pastry had the perfect amount of flakiness – it was love at first bite.
Taste the Difference Pumpkin Spice Cake Autumn Edition £2, Sainsbury’s
They say: Pumpkin cake topped with cream cheese buttercream and dusted with cinnamon.
We say: Oh my gourd... pumpkin spice is everywhere come October, and this year is no exception. This offering from Sainsbury’s is moist, with a good balance of spiced flavours to sweetness.
Trolli Tarantula Sweets £3.49, Lidl
They say: Spider-shaped sweets in fruity flavours.
We say: Arachnophobes look away now... these are a scarily good likeness to the eight-legged beasts, although working out what the ‘fruity flavour’ was spun me into a web of mystery.
Raising the spirits...
BACARDI Spiced £16, all major supermarkets
They say: The limited-edition bottles are the perfect decoration to take your Halloween
parties to the next level with its new Bat-inspired design.
We say: We are a sucker for this batty bottle. Mixed with cola or ginger beer, this classic spiced rum is a spookily good drink for all creatures of the night.
Project #173 Pumpkin Spiced Rum £19.95, masterofmalt.co.uk
They say: With a good quality rum at its heart, this features a warming medley of spices. It’s an autumnal twist for classic rum cocktails, so great for Halloween parties.
We say: Reading the tasting notes made this sound like a monster mash-up, but the hints of spice and pumpkin flavours were actually delicious. A gourd one to serve up to your guests.
Dead Man’s Fingers Spiced Rum, £26, all major supermarkets
They say: Ghosts, ghouls and ultra-violet disco bottles. This Halloween, celebrate all things that hide in the darkness with Dead Man’s Fingers exclusive UV Halloween limited edition bottle.
We say: The price is a little steep but it doesn’t get more ghoulish than this rum, which becomes illuminated under UV light.
