This year again, I didn’t want to deviate from the desire to offer you recipes for Halloween. It seems that more and more people are celebrating it, I imagine that it may be a remedy for the ambient gloom, a way of “going crazy” for a few hours in disguise. Since the creation of the blog, I have created a number of them, which you will find by clicking HERE. There is something for everyone, from starters to desserts: soups, biscuits, savory dishes, etc. Don’t hesitate to take a look 👁!
This time, it’s a ball of pumpkin cheese and charcoal crackers that I offer you. This is the type of recipe that I discovered in Quebec and that we find in the United States. I made a version with rather French products and just kept the cheddar for the wink. For color and taste, I pan-fried small diced butternut squash with a little maple syrup. They should be melting but keep their shape. We then mix the different cheeses, the dried fruits, a little butter and the diced butternut squash. Form a ball and wrap in cling film. We surround the ball thus filmed with rubber bands to represent the shape of the pumpkin (see the photo below) and we forget it for a few hours in the refrigerator.
All that remains is to unwrap the cheese “pumpkin” and coat it with grated mimolette. To complete the illusion, place the stem of a butternut squash on top. It can be stored in the fridge until ready to serve.
Black charcoal crackers are very easy to prepare. The dough is prepared in a few minutes and once ready, we spread it, we pre-cut it and we put it in the oven. All you have to do is let it cool before serving. All you need is 5 g of vegetable charcoal to make these crackers (I buy it in a big jar at the pharmacy). I recommend that you mix the flour and the charcoal from the start, for a very homogeneous color.
When serving, we offer the pumpkin cheese ball with the black crackers: a nice orange and black effect perfect for the buffet of a Halloween party! 👻🎃
Pumpkin cheese ball and charcoal crackers:
Pumpkin Shaped Cheese Ball
A ball of cheese with dried fruits and pan-fried butternut chunks shaped into the shape of a pumpkin for a successful Halloween party!
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Ingredients
For the cheese ball:
- 50 g grated sharp cheddar
- 200 g Philadelphia cheese at room temperature
- 200 g Petit Billy type goat cheese
- 200 g butternut squash flesh, cut into small cubes (about 110 g after cooking)
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- 40 g crushed hazelnuts
- 10 g + 20g salted butter
- 150 g grated mimolette
- salt pepper
For the decoration:
- the tail of 1 butternut
- 3 or 4 rubber bands
Instructions
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Take 200 g of flesh from a butternut squash and reserve the tail.
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Cut the flesh into small dice.
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Put 10 g of butter to melt in a pan then add the diced butternut squash.
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Cook for 10 minutes over medium low heat, stirring regularly.
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Add the maple syrup and cook for another 5 minutes.
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Remove from heat and let cool completely.
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Put the grated cheddar, the Philadelphia cheese, the goat cheese in a salad bowl with the crushed hazelnuts and the butter.
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Mix the ingredients, salt and pepper then add the butternut cubes (at this stage, they have reduced and weigh less than before cooking).
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Gently fold in the butternut cubes, trying not to crush them too much.
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Place a large piece of cling film on the work surface and place the mixture on it.
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Form a ball, removing air bubbles, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
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Take out of the fridge, grate the mimolette and gently roll the pumpkin-shaped ball of cheese in it.
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Arrange the reserved butternut tail on top and serve with the seed crackers.
Charcoal Crackers
Homemade crackers with seeds and vegetable charcoal.
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Ingredients
- 145 g small spelled flour T 110
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 40 g olive oil
- 60 g dry white wine
- 25 g pistachios
- 25 g pumpkin seeds
- 25 g black sesame
- 25 g sun-dried tomatoes (not in olive oil)
- ½ teaspoon fleur de sel
- 5 g charcoal
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 180°C in convection.
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Mix flour and vegetable charcoal.
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Put this mixture with the salt, oregano, oil and white wine in the bowl of a food processor, then pulse 3 or 4 times to combine.
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Add the pistachios, pumpkin seeds, sesame and dried tomatoes previously cut into small pieces using scissors.
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Mix again then take the dough out of the robot and mix it between your hands to obtain a very malleable ball.
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Spread it fairly thinly on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
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Using a pizza wheel, pre-cut triangles of about 5 cm on each side (do not detach them from each other).
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Bake for 12 minutes, then let cool a little and remove the crackers.
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Place them on a rack.
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Do not hesitate to put them back in the oven for 5 minutes if they are not crispy enough.
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Serve the same day or store in an airtight container.
