Food stylist Michelle Noerianto’s Halloween tips

Food stylist Michelle Noerianto shares her secrets for making your baked Halloween treats look totally amazing.

Food stylist Michelle Noerianto has pulled together her top ideas and tips to help you make the most of your Halloween treats.

From funky marshmallows to daring desserts, you can’t ask for a better step-by-step guide to turn your Halloween into a spooky spectacular for the eyes and the taste buds.

Halloween baking stylist ideas

1. Debut the web

Spook up your Halloween cupcakes this year with some easily prepared chocolate spiders webs. Try microwaving Nestlé Bakers’ Choice White or Milk Choc Melts and pipe onto trays lined with baking paper into spider web shapes. When the chocolate webs have set, lift them gently using a spatula and place onto your iced cupcakes or muffins. White webs look great on the dark chocolate cakes. A few whisps of white fairy floss will add to the web-like feel.

Halloween baking stylist ideas

2. Inject yum fun

Use a piping bag filled with strawberry syrup or jam to decorate your favourite cupcake, doughnut or mini pavlova recipe. Kids will enjoy squirting the oozy red blood into the sweet before taking a bite.

Halloween baking stylist ideas

3. Customise cookies

Witch’s hat cookies are a simple fun idea that the kids can help prepare. Use Nestlé Bakers’ Choice Milk Choc Melts to make the cones, then the little ones will love customising their own with coloured cake decorating gels, fondants and candy.

Halloween baking stylist ideas

4. Gleam and glitter

Sprinkle baked treats like gingerbread, cupcakes or slice liberally with totally on-trend edible glitter. If you’re adding food colouring to your cupcake frosting, glitter in the same colour will give the dish extra sparkle.

Halloween baking stylist ideas

5. Bloody brownies

Brownies look spectacular when they’re marbled with some red, white and brown. Present in a mason jar with Halloween lollies for the ultimate Halloween gift.

Halloween baking stylist ideas

6. Daring dessert

Turn a regular trifle like this into something a little more spooky. Layer up orange and black lollies with layers of cake and whipped cream. Sprinkle cocoa on top of your trifle along with some crushed chocolate biscuits to create the look of soil and add biscuits shaped into headstones. Hey presto, graveyard trifle!

Halloween baking stylist ideas

7. Spider skills

Pipe a dramatic spider’s web into a no-bake cheesecake or on top of a plain cake using buttercream or ganache. The less is more approach can be very bold and graphic especially in a classic black and white theme.

Halloween baking stylist ideas

8. Shock and roll

Mummy sausage rolls are easy to achieve by wrapping hot dogs or small sausages in thin strips of puff pastry. Serve with mustard dots for eyes and a spicy tomato sauce to dunk in.

Halloween baking stylist ideas

9. Hue cue

Forget ghastly green this year! The on trend colours for ghouls and goblins are passionate purples and peachy oranges. You can’t go past the monochromatic blacks and whites either especially when paired with splashes of silver or red. Tie any lolly gifts or baked treats with raffia, string and a swing tag.

Halloween baking stylist ideas

10. Mallow marrow

Pipe meringue into bone shapes and bake on a baking tray until crisp. Serve the bones on top of a shot glass of bright red velvet mousse for dipping or with melted chocolate if you like to make a mess. (Created with Nestlé Bakers’ Choice).

For more recipe ideas, go to taste.com.au or check out the Taste Test Kitchen now.

Originally published as Food stylist Michelle Noerianto’s Halloween tips