Halloween/ Hallowe’en/ Allhalloween or Saint’s Eve is a celebration observed in many countries each year on October 31st. It is dedicated to remembering the dead- saints, martyrs and all the faithful departed.
One theory states that the tradition originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.
Over time, Halloween evolved into a day of activities like trick-or-treating, carving pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns, festive halloween gatherings, halloween costume parties, lighting bonfires, telling scary stories, watching horror movies, visiting haunted attractions and eating special halloween spooky treats.
This spooky recipe of mine is going to my gourmet Facebook bloghop group
Healthy Wellthy Cuisines, wherein participating bloggers share recipes every fortnight on a pre decided theme. This time the theme is #SpookyHalloweenatHW
This time I am the Theme Admin. Keeping in mind the Halloween Times, I suggested we make something spooky and scary.
Do checkout what my fellow bloggers made for this theme-
I have never tried making anything spooky so this theme was really challenging for me too;) Challenges always push you to give your best.
And what’s life without any adrenaline rush;)
I chose to make these very creepy and spooky and scary witches Fingers. And why?
I had saved a few pins of witch fingers cookies on Pinterest a longtime ago but never mustered the courage to make them. This theme gave me the chance to come out of my fears and try them out.
Believe you me, the result is damn thrilling but very scary ;) Instead of making cookies I made breadsticks.
These Witch Fingers Breadsticks are actually breadsticks shaped into witch fingers. I thoroughly enjoyed making them and shaping them. The whole process of giving simple bread dough a creepy look was very exciting.
How I wish I could share the expressions of my family after seeing this scary layout. I got many compliments for creating something so creepy!!
I served these breadsticks with blood red tomato soup and this not only completes the scene but is also a meal itself. You need to have guts to pick that finger from the board, dunk it in that bloody soup and take it to your mouth. I am not exaggerating but this is coming straight from my heart. For soup I have used my Lentil Tomato Beet Soup recipe.
For the nails I have used Almonds. You can either use blanched almonds or full or halves.
To give the fingers bloody look and to make them more realistic I have brushed them with red gel food colour. I have used the color around the ‘nails’ and on the ‘stumps’.
Do let me know if they scare you :)
Let’s see how to make these creepy spooky fingers, I mean breadsticks.
INGREDIENTS:
Whole wheat flour- 1 ¼ cups (150 grams)
All purpose flour- 1 ¼ cups (150 grams)
Rice flour- ½ cup (70 grams)
Salt- 1 teaspoon
Oregano- 1 tablespoon
Black pepper powder- ½ teaspoon
Oil- 2 tablespoon
Lukewarm water- 200 milliliter
Instant dry yeast- 1 teaspoon (5 grams)
Sugar- 1 teaspoon
Milk- 1 tablespoon
Almonds- 9-10
DIRECTIONS:
Start by warming the water. Just make it lukewarm, don't make it hot. ( If the water is either too hot or not warm enough the yeast will not froth).
Take the water and add sugar to it. Mix it well.
Now add yeast to this warm water and sugar solution. It should start bubbling.
Keep aside the water and yeast mix for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a bowl take whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, rice flour, salt, black pepper powder, oregano and oil.
After 10 mins you will see a frothy and bubbly mix of yeast.
Now add the yeast mix to flour. Start adding this yeast water little by little. Mix well with hands or you can use a stand mixer also. Make a smooth firm dough.
Keep the dough in a greased bowl at a warm place for about an hour.
Let it rest until it doubles in volume.
After an hour, when the dough rises to double its size, take it out on a greased surface.
Punch it to release the air and give it a good knead for about 3-4 minutes.
Grease two baking trays or line them with parchment paper.
Preheat the oven at 180*C.
After that, divide the dough into 17-18 equal portions.
Roll out each portion into a ball.
Roll each ball into a log shape. Make depressions in this log with your fingers to give the knobbly finger shape.
You can either use a knife or a toothpick to make some creases.
Add an almond to the tip of this prepared finger for the fingernail and press down gently to make sure it’s secure.
Place all these prepared fingers on the baking trays, leaving about a centimeter of gap between them.
With the help of a brush, apply milk on all the fingers.
Place the trays in the preheated oven for 15 minutes at 180* C.
After that lower the temperature to 160*C and bake them for another 15 minutes.
Once done, switch off the oven and slightly open the door of the oven.
Leave the trays in the oven for some more time (for about half an hour).
This step will give them crusty crust.
After that take out the trays and gently remove all the breadsticks and with the help of a paintbrush apply red color on fingernail beds and stub area.
Serve them with hot Tomato soup.
(I have used my recipe of Lentil Tomato Soup to make this soup Lentil Tomato Beet Soup ).
Enjoy & Spookify!!
NOTES:
-I have used whole wheat flour:All purpose flour in the ratio of 1:1.
You can skip whole wheat flour and make them with all purpose flour too.
-I have used instant active dry yeast, so my measurements are according to that.
-For the flavoring I have used oregano. You can use mixed herbs, rosemary, thyme, garlic powder or any other flavoring too.
-I have used olive oil.
-I have served with tomato soup. You can serve with any soup of your choice.