Ghostly Custards Recipes

Steps:

• In a bowl, combine the first seven ingredients; beat on low until smooth. Place eight ungreased 4-oz. custard cups in two 8-in. square baking pans. Fill each cup with 1/2 cup pumpkin mixture. Pour hot water around cups into the pans to a depth of 1 in. Bake at 325° for 40-50 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from pans to cool on wire racks. Before serving, top each with dollops of whipped topping in the shape of a ghost; add chocolate chips for eyes.

Steps:

• Line cookie sheets with waxed paper. In 2 (1-quart) saucepans, separately melt vanilla candy coating and chocolate candy coating over low heat, stirring each constantly, until smooth.
• Ghost cookies will be dipped in vanilla coating; bug cookies will be dipped in chocolate coating. Coat and decorate a few cookies at a time as coating sets up quickly. For each ghost or bug, place cookie in coating; lift out with fork, letting excess drip off. Place cookies, coated side up, on cookie sheets.
• For each ghost, place 2 miniature chocolate chips on each coated cookie to resemble eyes and 1 regular chocolate chip for mouth. Let stand 10 minutes until set.
• For bugs, cut pretzels into curved pieces for legs. Dip one end of each curved piece in chocolate coating; place 3 legs on each side of each cookie. Cut 2 short pieces for antennae. Dip one end of each pretzel piece in coating; place 2 antennae on top of each cookie. Place 2 candy-coated baking bits near antennae for eyes. Let stand 10 minutes until set.

Steps:

• Cook and stir milk, vanilla extract, and butter in a saucepan over medium heat until simmering. Remove mixture from heat before it comes to a boil.
• Whisk eggs, sugar, and cornstarch together in a bowl until sugar dissolves.
• Set saucepan back over low heat. Pour in egg mixture slowly, whisking constantly, until custard thickens enough to coat the bottom of a spoon, 5 to 10 minutes.

Steps:

• Line large cookie sheet with waxed paper or parchment paper. Unroll fruit snack rolls; cut into 1-inch strips. With kitchen scissors, cut 3/4-inch-long fringe on one long side of each fruit snack strip. Cut each fringed roll into 2-inch pieces.
• To make each "broomstick," wrap piece of fringe around one end of pretzel, uncut edge toward long end of pretzel; press to seal. Place "broomsticks" on cookie sheet.
• Drop rounded 1/2 teaspoonfuls of melted vanilla baking chips crosswise onto pretzels; shape to resemble "ghosts" seated on "broomsticks."
• Press 3 miniature chocolate chips onto each "ghost" for eyes and nose. Let stand at room temperature about 45 minutes or in freezer about 5 minutes or until set. Peel candies from waxed paper.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200 degree F.
• Brush a whole garlic head with olive oil. Wrap it in foil and bake for 2 hours. Let garlic cool enough to handle, then cut off the top of the garlic head and squeeze the soft cloves out onto a cutting board. Using the side of a broad knife, mash the cloves slightly. (This may be done up to a week in advance. Refrigerate roasted garlic.)
• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
• Butter 8 (4-ounce) ramekins. Blend the custard ingredients together thoroughly. Pour into the ramekins and place them in a baking pan. Place the pan in the oven and carefully add hot water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, but you may leave the custards in the water bath to keep warm for up to 20 minutes. You may wish to prepare the Salsa Fresca and the Vinaigrette while the custards bake, and the Herbed Hazelnuts while the custards stay warm after baking.
• To serve, turn the custards out of their ramekins onto plates. Spoon warm Vinaigrette over each one and sprinkle with warm Herbed Hazelnuts.
• Whisk the vinaigrette ingredients together in a small saucepan and heat gently. Set aside to keep warm.
• Melt the butter in a skillet and saute the hazelnuts with their seasonings until the nuts are well coated. Chop coarsely.
• Mix all the ingredients together. For best results, let salsa stand at least half an hour before serving or incorporating into recipe. Use within 24 hours. (The Vinaigrette calls for 1 cup. Enjoy the remaining 2 cups in Tortilla Soup or just with chips.)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Beat the butter and sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 4 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low; beat in half of the flour mixture, then all of the milk, then the remaining flour mixture until just combined.
• Divide the batter among the muffin cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating the pan halfway through, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer the pan to a rack and let cool 5 minutes, then remove the cupcakes to the rack to cool completely. Using a serrated knife, trim off the tops of the cupcakes so that they are flat.
• Place the dark chocolate and white chocolate chips in two separate bowls. Add 4 teaspoons coconut oil to the dark chocolate and the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons coconut oil to the white chocolate. Melt each bowl of chocolate in the microwave at medium power, stirring every 30 seconds, until just liquid and smooth.
• Working with one cupcake a time, spoon 1 heaping tablespoon of the dark chocolate on top, spreading it evenly over the top with the back of the spoon. While the dark chocolate is still liquid, spoon 1 teaspoon of the white chocolate in the center of the cupcake. Drag a toothpick or skewer through the center of the white chocolate outward to form a "tail." Repeat with the remaining cupcakes.
• Rewarm the dark chocolate until liquid again, if necessary. Scrape the chocolate into a resealable plastic bag, snip off one corner and pipe small dots of dark chocolate on the white chocolate ghosts to form 2 eyes. Pipe a third dot twice as big to form a mouth. Let the chocolate set for 10 minutes before serving.