My favorite month of the year, October, is finally here! As many of you know from reading my articles over the years, Halloween is my favorite holiday. My husband and I celebrate to the max. We watch scary movies, visit haunted houses, take ghost tours, dress up in elaborate costumes, transform the house into a haunted glowing spectacle and pass out candy bars to the trick-or-treaters.

I often bake scary treats, and over the years I have included many of my recipes and tips in my Halloween themed articles. Lately my husband and I have really been getting into cocktails. We spent many summer evenings on the patio sipping our flavorful concoctions. This year I want to keep the patio party going well into the cool autumn months. Just as my style of cooking changes seasonally, so too should my cocktails. And with Halloween coming, I have the perfect chance to combine fall flavors with spooky garnishes and serve up some fun and flavorful BOO-zy cocktails. 

First things first, Halloween cocktails need fake blood! I prefer to skip the food coloring when it comes to creating the look of fake blood. I opt instead to use a mixture of pomegranate juice and sugar. Not only does it look great, but it adds a sweet tartness to your cocktail, and it’s simple to make.

Next you need a spooky garnish. An edible eyeball can be made from lychee fruit. Lychee is a tropical fruit that is unique in appearance and flavor. It's native to China but can grow in certain warm regions of the U.S like Florida and Hawaii. Lychee is also known as "alligator strawberry" for its red, bumpy skin. Lychees are round or oblong in shape and are 1 ½ to 2 inches in diameter. Their opaque white flesh is fragrant and sweet, with floral notes. It is readily available as a canned fruit, which requires no prep. Fresh lychee must be peeled and the pit or seed removed from the middle. 

Finally, you need to conjure up the perfect spirit, pun intended, to make a spooky dark cocktail base for your pomegranate blood and lychee eyeball. And it just so happens that spirit is black vodka. Blavod brand can be purchased at Binny’s. Blavod, known as "the original black vodka," tastes just like regular vodka but will instantly turn every cocktail into a dark, mysterious drink. 

Don’t forget to grab some plastic spiders to garnish your glass, a witch’s cauldron to use as an ice bucket and elegant glassware that looks like it came straight from Dracula’s castle, and you’ll be set to enjoy cocktails that scream Halloween!

Pomegranate syrup (aka cocktail blood)

• 1/2 cup pomegranate juice
• 1/2 cup sugar

Bring the sugar and pomegranate juice to a boil over high heat in a medium saucepan. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until thickened, about 8-10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Lychee eyeball

• 1 (20 ounce) can lychee in syrup
• 1 pint fresh blueberries

Drain juice from lychees. Do not discard. Refrigerate for future use in cocktails. Stuff blueberry in lychee and pierce with toothpick. Place on sheet pan and refrigerate until ready to use in cocktail. Optional, drizzle with pomegranate blood before serving.

Black widow cocktail

The Black Widow Cocktail is a sleek and sinister Halloween beverage with a sharp bite. The smooth black currant liqueur mixed with the vodka and coffee-flavored Kahlua make an unforgettable cocktail.

• 2 ounces Blavod Vodka
• 3 ounces Cream de Cassis
• 1 ounce Kahlua
• 1 ounce Ginger Beer
• 2 Blackberries

1. Muddle the blackberries in bottom of rocks glass.
2. Pour the vodka, cream de cassis and Kahlua into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into glass.
3. Splash the top of the cocktail with the ginger beer and garnish with lychee eyeball.

Pomegranate apple cider mimosas

Yield: 6

• Pomegranate blood for the rim
• 1 750mL bottle chilled champagne
• 3/4 cup pomegranate juice
• 3/4 cup fresh apple cider

1. Rim each champagne flute with a small amount of fake blood.
2. Add about an ounce or so of pomegranate juice to the bottom of a champagne flute. Add another ounce of apple cider. Fill it up with champagne and serve.

Apple butter old fashioned

Ok, so this cocktail isn’t scary or Halloween themed, but it’s delicious, and I highly recommend having one this fall!

• 1/4 cup fresh apple cider
• Juice from 1/2 a lemon
• Dash of orange bitters
• 1 tablespoon apple butter
• 2 ounces bourbon
• Ginger beer
• Thinly sliced apples and cinnamon stick, for garnish

1. In a cocktail shaker, combine the apple cider, lemon juice, orange bitters, apple butter and bourbon. Shake to combine.
2. Strain into your prepared glass filled with ice. Top with ginger beer. Garnish with cinnamon and apples.

About

Lincoln Land Community College offers credit programs in Culinary Arts, Hospitality Management and Baking/Pastry, and non-credit cooking and food classes through LLCC Community Education.

Cooking or food questions? Email epicuriosity101@llcc.edu.