Think flying bat cheesecakes, skeleton-faced curry bowls and cookies in otherworldly purple. This Halloween collection brings together flavours from Japan, the Philippines, Italy and beyond – proving the spookiest night of the year tastes better when you venture past the expected.
Whether you're baking treats for neighbourhood trick-or-treaters, cooking for a Halloween-themed dinner or cocktail party, there's something here for every occasion. You'll find quick crowd-pleasers like toffee apples alongside more elaborate witches' cauldron cake pops and showstopping three-layer pumpkin spice cake.
From naturally raven-black squid ink pasta to emerald-green spinach soup that looks straight from a witch's cauldron, these recipes show Halloween is about more than just decorations – it's about flavours that genuinely thrill.
You can also try carving a pineapple this Halloween, bringing together the season with Australia's tropical spring vibes.
This theatrical dessert is a showstopper for kids and adults alike – complete with peppermint-spiked cheesecake, a dense brownie foundation and spooky chocolate bat decorations.
Credit: Bake With Anna Olson
Adam Liaw transforms a family-friendly Japanese curry into Halloween fun by serving the dish topped with rice moulded into skeleton faces using nori seaweed cutouts. For this finishing touch, simply mould a cup of cooked rice into a large ball. Using scissors, cut shapes from the nori to make a skeleton face on the rice.
Credit: Adam Liaw
These miniature chocolate cupcakes are transformed into adorable mummies using a flower petal piping tip to create realistic bandage effects with silky Swiss buttercream frosting.
Credit: Bake With Anna Olson
Naturally purple from ube (purple yam), these crinkle cookies offer a fudgy centre surrounded by a crackled white sugar coating, perfect for adding unexpected and bold colour to your Halloween spread.
Credit: Page Street Publishing / Catherine Zhang
This garlic-loaded ramen features a creamy broth enriched with thirty whole garlic cloves braised with pork belly, plus fried garlic powder and spicy garlic oil for ultimate vampire protection.
The vampire slayer ramen express Credit: Mandy Lee
Transform classic pumpkin pie into an impressive layer cake featuring warm autumn spices, buttery frosting and candied graham crackers between each tier, perfect for feeding – and wowing – Halloween crowds.
Credit: Sydney Kramer
The humble peanut butter cookie becomes the stage for elaborate chocolate work and arachnophobe's Halloween nightmare: truffle-bodied spiders with eight perfectly piped legs, hand-moulded eyes and spatters of "blood."
Spider peanut butter cookies Credit: Kirsten Tibballs
Part dessert, part interactive experience, these raspberry shakes get the gore treatment with dripping berry syrup and syringe props filled with crimson sauce. Guests inject these syringes of "blood" into their milkshakes for extra drama.
Jelly donut bloody murder Credit: Chris Middleton
With their clammy, stretchy texture and dark black sesame filling filling visible through translucent "skin," these traditional Asian sweets can take on a creepy appeal when served for Halloween.
Credit: Hetty McKinnon
To create these adorable cake pops, chocolate cake pops are dipped in dark chocolate then decorated with orange buttercream flames and a green bubbling potion, transforming them into miniature witches' cauldrons.
Credit: Bake With Anna Olson
Keroppi – Hello Kitty's beloved frog friend – shows that cute can also be a little creepy with the right amount of iridescent green icing and a Halloween googly-eyed makeover.
Keroppi matcha lamingtons Source: SBS / SBS Food
Dramatic jet-black squid ink pasta, balanced by the citrus brightness of mandarin, provides intriguing witching hour dinner party atmosphere. For a similar colour palate but different ingredients, try squid ink pasta topped with a pop of bright-orange salmon roe.
Credit: Sharyn Cairns
Buttery shortbread biscuits are shaped like severed fingers complete with knuckle marks, almond fingernails and red jam "blood" for a deliciously gory Halloween centrepiece.
Ghoulish shortbread fingers Credit: Kirsten Tibballs
American campfire s'mores meet freaky festive fun in these jar desserts. Layers of homemade marshmallow, chocolate sauce, graham crackers and toasted marshmallows are topped with candy eyeballs. They're made for campfire ghost stories.
Credit: Bake With Anna Olson
These glossy toffee-coated apples are a classic and nostalgic Halloween treat. Serve plain, or coat the crimson toffee with crushed black Oreos for a graveyard dirt effect, popping candy that crackles when bitten, freeze-dried raspberry powder for a "blood spatter" effect, or edible gold leaf for an enticing Snow White-poison apple effect.
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Channel your inner witch with this bubbling cauldron of emerald spinach soup – the kind of potion-green brew that delighted (or terrified) you as a child. Elevated here with salty prosciutto shards and crispy garlic crumbs, it's spellbindingly good.
Credit: Petrina Tinslay
Ingredients like tahini, dates, cashew nuts, coconut oil are combined with pumpkin and chocolate in this deceptively healthy Halloween treat.
Credit: Hardie Grant Books / David Frenkiel
Airy pumpkin mousse sits atop a spiced graham cracker crust, finished with candied praline pecans for an elegant seasonal dessert and lighter spin on traditional pumpkin pie.
Credit: Bake With Anna Olson
This grown-up rocky road adds sophistication to the gothic colour palette of Halloween, with rum-soaked currants, Turkish delight and glacé cherries and pistachios folded through milk chocolate.
Richo’s rocky road Credit: Richo's Bar Snacks
