According to Wikipedia, Jack-o'-lantern or Jack O'Lantern is a character from the traditional Halloween celebrations : it is a hollowed-out pumpkin, lit from the inside with a candle in which a grimacing face is carved. I don't know which costume to wear yet but I've prepared a pumpkin for Halloween on Saturday night. To tell the truth,, I'm not sure whether it's 100% frightening or grimacing, I would say it even looks pretty nice. What do you think? I named the pumpkin after MiniCook and if it is not 100% scary, at least it has the merit of having lots of seeds that will be a delight as an appetizer or a salad!

I could not stop my Halloween spree, so, I had fun like a kid making muffins with a recipe for Carrot cake with a spider web frosting and even a little sugar paste spider on top. Look at the pretty pictures we took with Astrid, the lovely photographer from Lovely Jubbly photography.

And if you are hosting a Halloween dinner this weekend, here are some recipe ideas for the occasion:

Pumpkin soup
Macaroni with carrots, risotto style
Pumpkin pie
Carrot cake (reduce cooking 25 minutes if you do it in muffin version )

.
Salty pumpkin seeds

Prep: 10mins
Cooking: 10-15mins

Use seeds from a medium-sized pumpkin

- medium pumpkin seeds (about 1/2 glass of seed once rinsed)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon of paprika (optional)

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

Rinse the pumpkin seeds and dry them between 2 paper towels.

In a bowl, pour the seeds, salt, pepper and paprika and mix thoroughly.

Pour over the oven plate on a sheet of baking paper and spread over the entire surface of the plate. Bake at mid-height of your oven, cook 10 to 15 minutes depending on your oven and flip the seeds with a wooden handle halfway.

Store in an airtight container. Serve as an appetizer or sprinkle on a salad.
.
.

Royal Spider Web Icing

- 12 to 15 muffins Carrot Cake (or any type of muffins) medium-sized

Royal Icing:
- 240g icing sugar
- 1 egg white
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice

- 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder or chocolate food pencil

Icing: Prepare the glaze by mixing 120g icing sugar, 1/2 egg white and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and whisk for a few minutes. Adjust the proportions if necessary, by adding a little sugar or a few drops of lemon juice to obtain a fluid mixture, thick and not too liquid.

If you do not have a chocolate food pencil, set aside three tablespoons of this mixture and add 2 teaspoons of chocolate powder to make the spider lines of the pattern (add a few drops of lemon juice if it's too pasty). Put the chocolate icing in a syringe (or in a small cone of wax paper made with a piece of tape).

Dip each muffin head down into the bowl of icing. Using the syringe or food pencil, draw a spider web on each cupcake. Allow the icing to dry for 2 hours.

You can also shape one or more spiders with sugar paste or marzipan to decorate or draw one on each muffin.