Kelley of
Simply Inspired Meals is hosting this month's Food'N'Flix; she has asked us to watch Halloween movies - anything Halloween related - and be inspired into the kitchen. Read her invitation here.On the Screen
Kelley was gracious enough to give us a starting point on movies to watch, including...
Hocus Pocus, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Beetlejuice, Goosebumps ,Goosebumps 2, Corpse Bride, Poltergeist, The Goonies, ET, Halloween, Ghostbusters, Haunted Mansion, Hotel Transylvania, Halloweentown, Sleepy Hollow, Casper, Harry Potter, The Addams Family, Addams Family Values, Monster House, It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, Gremlins.
We had watched a few that never inspired posts before. And I had already watched and blogged about several of them.
And not for Food'N'Flix, but I have also shared a Creepy Eyeball Martini and Cobweb Eggs.
So, I asked the boys for suggestions of 'scary' movies that would fit into this theme. They both remembered that the Indiana Jones movies scared them quite a bit when they were little. We dug out the DVDs and settled in for a marathon of archaeological mayhem.
These aren't exactly Halloween movies, but there are human sacrifices, feasting on monkey brains and other exotics, and - what inspired this post - shrunken heads. Or rather one shrunken head when Walter Donovan drinks from the cup that Elsa selects for him. He thinks it's the Holy Grail and will grant him eternal life. The reality is quite the opposite. See the scene below...
So, I thought back to the Shrunken Head Cider I served in 2014. Sadly, I had to carve the heads all by myself because Jake was busy. And I'm not nearly as artistic as my husband, but my apple-head carving skills would have to suffice.
Ingredients makes one 9" tart
Shrunken Heads
- 4 to 6 firm medium, sized apples
- 2 cups water
- juice from 2 organic limes
- also needed: wire rack that fits over a baking sheet
Tart Crust
- 1-1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- pinch of salt
- 3/4 cup butter
- 2 to 3 Tablespoons liquid (I used 1 T water and 2 T Calvados, a brandy made with apples)
- also needed: tart pan with removable base
Filling
- 1 cup sliced almonds
- 1/3 cup raisins
- 1 Tablespoon butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- juice from 2 to 3 organic limes
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
Procedure
Shrunken Heads
Prepare a bowl with water and lime juice. Core apples and peel. Slice them in half. Carve the faces in each apple, then drop in the water bath. They don't need to be perfect. Remember you're baking them and they will shriveled. So, imperfect is perfect!
Preheat oven to 225 degrees Fahrenheit. Pat apples dry and place them on a wire rack over a baking sheet. Bake for 2 to 3 hours - until apples are starting to shrivel. They should be shriveled yet still soft inside, yet not hard and dry.
Preheat oven to 225 degrees Fahrenheit. Pat apples dry and place them on a wire rack over a baking sheet. Bake for 2 to 3 hours - until apples are starting to shrivel. They should be shriveled yet still soft inside, yet not hard and dry.
Remove the shrunken apple heads from oven. Increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
Tart Crust
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour, powdered sugar, and salt together; rub in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Alternatively stir in water and Calvados until the mixture forms a ball. Press gently into a tart pan. Prick crust with a fork to prevent bubbling. Parbake until a light golden brown, approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and let cool slightly.
Filling
Blend almond, raisins, butter, and cinnamon together in a mixing bowl. Spoon the mixture into the parbaked pie crust. Nestle the shrunken heads into the nut mixture.
Drizzle the entire tart with maple syrup and lime juice. Place in the oven and bake for 15 to 17 minutes.
Remove the tart from the oven and let cook until you can remove the side of the tart and place it on a serving platter.
Filling
Blend almond, raisins, butter, and cinnamon together in a mixing bowl. Spoon the mixture into the parbaked pie crust. Nestle the shrunken heads into the nut mixture.
Drizzle the entire tart with maple syrup and lime juice. Place in the oven and bake for 15 to 17 minutes.
Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Happy Halloween...or any other occasion for which you want to celebrate with shrunken heads!
This is fantastic, Camilla! Is it wrong that I want to make this for Thanksgiving? Happy Halloween!
ReplyDeleteThat is a great, spooky looking tart. So creative and fun. I'm sure delicious as well.
ReplyDelete